Singer-songwriter Janet Jackson released her fourth studio album, "Rhythm Nation 1814," released on September 19, 1989, by A&M Records. In celebration of her recent announcement, the socially conscious album "Rhythm Nation 1814" will be inducted into the US Library of Congress. This album serves as a platform for Janet to address her concerns with the world, but perhaps surprisingly, given her background, she manages to do so without sounding too pushy or out of touch. It ended being the biggest selling album in the United States in 1990. All seven singles hit the top 5 in the United States, which no other album has matched. It spawned four number 1 singles, including one in 1989, 1990, and 1991, becoming the first album to have a number 1 single in three separate years.
The album definitely sounds as if it came from 1989; it still packs a great punch, and Janet injects each song with enough personality to make it memorable. If "Control" had chronicled Janet’s personal call for independence and established her as an artist in her own right, "Rhythm Nation 1814" put forward her views of the world and cemented her legacy as a bona fide superstar, breaking several records.