Jam says new Janet set nearly complete

Producing/songwriting team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are finishing up production on Janet Jackson's eight studio album. Without revealing too much, Jimmy Jam promises that the as-yet-untitled Virgin set will boast a small tribute to Jackson's 1986 effort, "Control" (A&M).

"It's a milestone year for us and for the collaboration," Jam tells Billboard.com. "It'll be 20 years since the release of 'Control,' so there's definitely a little bit of a nod to that on the new album."

As previously reported, some of the album was recorded at Jackson boyfriend Jermaine Dupri's studio. Dupri, who is president of Virgin Urban, is also executive producer of the album.

"Hopefully in January we'll be done with her project," says Jam. "We're trying to have a single around February and the album around April or May. It's up to the record company, but we'll definitely have it done by then. We're real close."

The new offering will be the follow-up to 2004's "Damita Jo," which was released amidst the aftermath of Jackson's controversial Super Bowl halftime show. The set debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 979,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Jam, who serves as vice chairman of the Recording Academy, was on hand yesterday (Dec. 8) to announce the nominees for the 48th annual Grammy Awards in New York (Ed note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated Jam was part of the RIAA; Billboard.com regrets the error.). He and Lewis scored a nod for producer of the year. Several projects they worked on also notched multiple nominations, including Gwen Stefani's "Love. Angel. Music. Baby" (Geffen).

"Interestingly enough, they're all for different things," says Jam of their nominations. "We're up for producer of the year, which is wonderful since it's the body of work that we did throughout the year. But it's really more a testament to the diversity of the artists that we work with."

"There was a point during the summer where we had the No. 1 downloaded track with 'These Boots Were Made For Walking" by Jessica Simpson, and we had 'Be Blessed' by Yolanda Adams at the top of the gospel charts," says Jam. "To have produced two songs that have nothing in common, but to have that be kind of the glue, is cool."

This year, the pair also lent production to Mary J. Blige's "Breakthrough," due Dec. 20 from Geffen.

As for future collaborations, Jam is hoping to pair two of R&B's strongest voices in Sade in Seal. "I've been saying for years and years that the one artist I'm looking forward to working with is Sade," says Jam. "I don't know if that's ever going to happen. I might be 70 years old and still haven't worked with her, but I'd love to do a duet with her and Seal."