"Twenty Foreplay" | ||||
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Single by Janet Jackson | ||||
from the album Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 | ||||
Released | January 8, 1996 | |||
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Recorded | 1995 | |||
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Length | 6:06 (U.S. version) 5:20 (international version) 6:20 (Slow Jam Fantasy Mix) |
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Label | A&M | |||
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Janet Jackson singles chronology | ||||
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"Twenty Foreplay" is a song by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson from her first greatest hits album, Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995). It was released as the album's second and final single on January 8, 1996.
The song starts off as a soulful ballad before changing to a mid-tempo R&B groove. The title is a play on the word "foreplay" and "24 hours a day". The U.S. version of "Twenty Foreplay" is lengthier than the international version which was edited in order to fit two more songs on the international release of Design of a Decade: 1986–1996. The Slow Jam Fantasy Mix was produced by Jorge Corante and is the complete version of the song which contains an extra second verse. To date, Jackson has never performed the song live.
"Twenty Foreplay" saw moderate success in Europe, peaking at number twenty-two in the United Kingdom, but fared better on the UK R&B Chart, peaking at number 5. It was certified Silver for sales in excess of 200,000 copies. It peaked at number forty-one in the Netherlands (on the physical sales-based Single Top 100 chart), and number seventy-four in Germany. It fared better in Australia, where it reached the top thirty. It charted inside the top thirty-five in Scotland and the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, but was unable to enter the Billboard Hot 100 or the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs as the song was not given a commercial release in the United States.
The 1950s look of the video was inspired by Dorothy Dandridge, whom Jackson considers to be America's first African American sex symbol. The video was shot in black-and-white and depicts Jackson in the glamorous Hollywood life such as movie premiere, press conference, and videotaping of her on the backlot of a movie set. The video has never been released commercially.