In a press conference to promote her new film, Why Did I Get Married?, Janet has confirmed that as of yet long-term collaborators and friends Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are not taking part on her upcoming album. She also confirmed that she will be working with Ne-yo, Jermaine Dupri and Rodney Jerkins.

Janet, are you finished with your next album? What direction are you taking?

Janet Jackson: “No, I’m working on it. It’ll be out probably first quarter of next year. I’m doing something, still being who I am, I’ll never shy from that. I’m working with a few people. I’m working with Ne-Yo, I’m working with Jermaine, working with Rodney Jerkins…”

(Tyler Perry points at himself and everyone laughs)

Lamman Rucker: “They’ll be doing a duet together.”

Janet Jackson: “This is something different for me because normally it’s myself, Jimmy [Jam] and Terry [Lewis] and always writing music and myself writing the melodies. This is a bit of a departure from [that].”

So Jimmy and Terry are not involved?

Janet Jackson: “As of now, no.”

Janet, what gave you the inspiration for your character?

Janet Jackson: “…I haven’t had children, never experienced that before what Patricia and her husband had gone through. But what really was a pull from myself was – the closest I could come to it was my love of animals, my love for animals. I call them my babies. So there was one in particular that I still haven’t gotten over, and I don’t like to talk about it too much cause it brings up that feeling. It was a difficult scene for me to do, but I had a picture of her actually in the living room while I was doing the scene of she and I when I was a little younger, like in my 20’s. She was my life, and she still is my life, so I drew upon that.”