Entertainment

Janet & Missy Elliott's Song Brings The Heat

by Kristie Rohwedder

Please sound the alarm, because “Burnitup!” by Janet Jackson and Missy Elliott has arrived. No, this is not a drill. And yeah, the song is perfection. It’s like the old saying goes: If you ask Janet Jackson and Missy Elliott to record a song together, that track will be unstoppable. Thursday, “Burnitup!” premiered on BBC Radio 1, and the second single off of Jackson’s to-be-released album Unbreakable is a high-energy, dance club-ready banger that could (and should) dominate the airwaves. If you can sit perfectly still while listening to “Burnitup!,” then I assume you are literally a marble statue.

In the first verse, Missy E. sets the tone for the track:

Whoooo, I’ma shut this downKitty cat, meow, meow, meow, meow, meowHit it with the he to the he to the howMiss Jackson, oh she wear the crownBrand new sound, got a brand new styleComing with the banger like boom boom pow

Buckle up, listeners, because Queen Jackson's latest jam brings the heat. You've been warned. In the chorus, Janet lays out the plan for the evening:

When the DJ play this we gon' dance like no one's watchingHey Mr. DJ bump the track and won't you turn it upI’ma dance all night and I don't care who's out there watching usJust give me that fire, I'ma show you how to burn it up

Sounds great! I'm 110% on board. (This interpretation could be way off, but I like to think "burn it up" = "dance like Queen Janet.") In the third verse, Janet sums up what it's like to listen to this song:

Ain't no sittin' down, gotta keep it upMe and Missy got the whole room jumpin' up

No truer statements have ever been sung. Like I said before, it's impossible to not move your body when "Burnitup!" is in your ears.

Ready to dance like no one's watching? You can check out the song at BBC Radio 1's site (it begins at the 55:29 mark).