"Escapade" is a song by American singer

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

from her fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). It was written and produced by Jackson and

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...

. The song was released on January 8, 1990, by

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

as the third single (fourth in the United Kingdom) from ''Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). "Escapade" became the third of the historic seven top-five singles released from the ''Rhythm Nation 1814'' album, reaching number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Escapade" takes place at an exotic carnival setting, also featuring Jackson's trademark intense choreography. The song and its video have influenced other songs and videos from several artists, who have cited influence from its upbeat tempo and joyous feel. "Escapade" won a BMI Pop Award for Most Played Song due to its frequent airplay and popularity among the general public, and was also performed by Jackson in her

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese commercials for

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

. It has been included in each of Jackson's

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

s, '' Design of a Decade: 1986–1996'' (1995), '' Number Ones'' (2009) and '' Icon: Number Ones'' (2010).

Background and recording

"Escapade" is an upbeat song written and produced by Jackson and

for Jackson's fourth

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'', and served as the follow-up to Jackson's prior single "

Rhythm Nation "Rhythm Nation" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, released as the second single from her fourth studio album, '' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). It was written and produced by Jackson, in collaboration with Jimmy Jam and ...

". Jackson, Jam and Lewis came up with the song's theme after hearing the word used in a conversation, deciding it would make an interesting song title due to the word being uncommon. "We usually come up with the music first, then we try to think of a title that fits the way the music sounds", Jam said. "And 'Escapade' we thought was a cool word. It is kind of old fashioned — people don't really say 'Let's go on an escapade' anymore, but it really worked with that track." The song was partially inspired by Martha & the Vandellas's 1965 song " Nowhere to Run", which Jackson originally considered covering for the album, but instead chose to record a new song after a suggestion from producer Jimmy Jam. After the proposal, Jackson and her producers developed the song's initial idea, which was based on having an anthem-like feel, and "Escapade" became one of the first songs to be recorded for the album. Jam also described the song's production and recording process, saying "While she was sitting in one room coming up with the lyrics, I put it on the 24-track. We hooked the drum machine up. On my left hand I played the bass, on the right hand I played the chord. And it was just enough for her to sing to, which we do a lot. Because we like to let her sing to as minimum of a track as we can do, then fill in the track around her so that her part is the main part of the song. With 'Escapade,' she sang it and we kept saying we'll go back and redo the track...we never redid the track. There's a keyboard bass and another thing, and that was it. All we added were the overdubs, little bells ... because we'd gotten so used to the feel of the track, the mistakes and all, we ended up leaving it the way it was."

Composition

"Escapade" is set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

with a key of

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

. Jackson's vocal chords ranges A₃ to E₅. The song is in a medium dance groove tempo of 115

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

with the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

being set like Db–Eb–Fmin.

Commercial performance

"Escapade" peaked at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks in early March 1990, becoming Jackson's third number-one single. It also topped the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

charts, and was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. "Escapade" was notably her sixth consecutive number-one single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, tying a record previously held by

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

over forty years prior. The single also reached number one in Canada and Japan, as well as the Top 15 of Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, and New Zealand, as well as the Top 20 on the United Kingdom singles chart and in Germany, also reaching the Top 25 in Australia and France. However, the song did not have a physical single released in many territories, which affected its chart positions despite strong airplay. Jackson's popularity on music channels such as

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

worldwide also secured her high album sales, with her ''Rhythm Nation 1814'' album more than doubling its domestic sales internationally.

Music video

The

for the song was directed by Peter Smillie and was filmed in the backlot of

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and Amusement park, theme park located in Universal City, California, near Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketin ...

. Set in a Mardi Gras-like carnival. Jackson and her dancers perform choreography in the exotic environment, with several subsequent pop videos using similar themes drawing influence from the clip. It was choreographed by Jackson and Anthony Thomas. An alternate video for the song, filmed at

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

, was used as a commercial for Japan Airlines. It shows Jackson and her dancers performing to a backdrop of the then-new Japan Airlines 747-400's, taxiing, taking off, and landing on the runways of LAX.

Live performances

Jackson has performed "Escapade" on all of her tours, including the Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour, janet. Tour, The Velvet Rope Tour, All for You Tour, Rock Witchu Tour, Number Ones: Up Close and Personal, Unbreakable World Tour, and on the first leg of the State of the World Tour. Jackson included the song on her 2019 Las Vegas residency Janet Jackson: Metamorphosis. It was also included on her special concert series Janet Jackson: A Special 30th Anniversary Celebration of Rhythm Nation in 2019.

Legacy

Several artists have been influenced by the upbeat tempo and joyous feel of "Escapade".

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

said she was inspired by the song and Jackson's ''Rhythm Nation 1814'' album for her eighth studio album ''

Britney Jean ''Britney Jean'' is the eighth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 29, 2013, by RCA Records. The album is Spears's second eponymous record after ''Britney (album), Britney'' (2001), though the album's name ...

'', explaining "I wanted to kind of recreate some of Janet's greatest moments that she's had, "Escapade" and that whole era. That's what I wanted to do, just have a lot of uptempos that were just high energy and a lot of fun."Britney Jean iHeartRadio Album Preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNTJQAw0RlY&t=9m30s The song appears in the video game ‘’ Dance Central 2’’ as downloadable content.

Track listing and formats

International 7-inch single, Japanese mini-CD and cassette single # "Escapade" (LP version) # "Escapade" (instrumental) International 12-inch single # "Escapade" ( Shep's Good Time mix) – 7:16 # "Escapade" (The Get Away dub) – 5:21 # "Escapade" (LP version) – 4:45 # "Escapade" (Shep's Housecapade mix) – 7:54 # "Escapade" (Housecapade dub) – 5:42 # "Escapade" (I Can't Take No More dub) – 4:58 UK and West German 12-inch single, West German CD single # "Escapade" (Hippiapolis mix) # "Escapade" (Hippiapolis In dub) # "Escapade" (One Nation Under a Rhythm mix) West German CD maxi # "Escapade" (LP version) # "Escapade" (Shep's Good Times Mix) # "Escapade" (Shep's Housecapade Mix) UK CD maxi # "Escapade" (We Got It Made 7-inch) # "Escapade" (Shep's Housecapade mix) # "Escapade" (Shep's Housecapade dub) UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Escapade" (We Got It Made 7-inch) # "Escapade" (Housecapade 7-inch) Japanese maxi CD single # "Escapade" (The Get Away 7-inch) # "Escapade" (We Got It Made 7-inch) # "Escapade" (The Good Time 7-inch) # "Escapade" (Housecapade 7-inch) # "Escapade" (Shep's Good Times mix) # "Escapade" (Shep's Housecapade mix) # "Escapade" (The Get Away dub) # "Escapade" (Housecapade dub) # "Escapade" (I Can't Take No More dub) # "Escapade" (LP version)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1989 songs 1990 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Janet Jackson songs Songs written by Janet Jackson Songs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis A&M Records singles New jack swing songs