Follow TV Tropes

Following

Music / Millie Jackson

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b2b69482_8333_4a15_9709_300ea6e18d58.jpeg
Way she look, there ain't no shame in her walk

You take my pride and you throw it up against the wall
You take me in your arms, baby and bounce me like a rubber ball
I'm not complainin at what you're doing, you see
'Cause this hurting feeling is, ooh, so good to me
- "Hurts So Good"

Millie Jackson is an African-American soul and R&B singer, noted for her racy, often ribald songs, some of which included long spoken sections.

Born Mildred Virginia Jackson in Thompson, GA, lived with her grandmother prior to moving to Newark, NJ, to live with her father in 1958. She grew up influenced by the music of artists such as Etta James, Isaac Hayes, and Gladys Knight. Her first single to chart was "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)", in 1971, which many thought was a gospel track due to its title. However, to its salacious lyrical content, the single was canceled, but still managed to chart on the R&B charts. It would also be the first signal of her proto-rap style which consisted of spoken (or "rapped") sections in her songs. In 1972, Jackson had achieved her first R&B Too Ten single with "Ask Me What You Want." She kept busy performing in nightclubs and gained a second Top Ten single with "My Man, A Sweet Man" in 1972. It peaked at number seven. A year later, Jackson, would have a third Top Ten single with the mid-tempo "Hurts So Good," which would be her highest at that time on the R&B charts as it peaked at number three and made a dent in pop's Top 40 listing.

In January of 1975, Jackson released the record that would introduce what would later codify her trademark rap style of crude, vulgar language. The album was Caught Up and it featured singles such as "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right," for which she received two Grammy nominations and "The Rap", the song that would exemplify her crass spoken word style. Jackson has admitted that she was never taught to sing and never thought she could to begin with. Consequently, she began to talk (or what was commonly known at the time as rapping) on her songs in a brash, lucid manner to make up for her perceived shortcoming and had her fourth Top Ten single with a cover of Merle Haggard's "If You're Not Back in Love by Monday", which peaked a number five.

Over the next decade, Millie would maintain her popularity with several Top 100 singles such as "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love" and "Love Is a Dangerous Game" and in addition to her successful music career, wrote a touring play entitled Young Man, Older Woman which toured for four years. Nowadays though, she has turned her attention to the broadcast booth as a radio program host on an afternoon radio show in Dallas, TX. Her daughter, Keisha, also had a stint as an R&B artist during the late 80's and early 90's.

Despite what her last name might suggest, Millie is not related to the Jackson dynasty in any way; something she still frequently corrects people about to this day.

Discography

  • Millie Jackson (1972)
  • It Hurts So Good (1973)
  • I Got To Try It One Time (originally titled Millie) (1974)
  • Caught Up (1974)
  • Still Caught Up (1975)
  • Free And in Love (1976)
  • Lovingly Yours (1976)
  • Live in Tokyo (live album) (1976)
  • Feelin' Bitchy (1977)
  • Get It Out'cha System (1978)
  • A Moment's Pleasure (1979)
  • Royal Rappin's (with Isaac Hayes) (1979)
  • Live & Uncensored (1979)
  • For Men Only (1980)
  • I Had To Say It (1980)
  • Just a Lil' Bit Country (1981)
  • Hard Times (1982)
  • Live And Outrageous (Rated XXX) (1982)
  • E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion) (1983)
  • An Imitation of Love (1986)
  • The Tide Is Turning (1988)
  • Back to the S**t! (1989)
  • Young Man, Older Woman (1991)
  • Young Man, Older Woman: Cast Album (1993)
  • Rock N' Soul (1994)
  • It's Over (1995)
  • The Sequel, It Ain't Over (1997)
  • Not for Church Folk! (2001)

I Had to Trope It:

  • Early-Installment Weirdness: She originally did straight-faced R&B/Disco early in her career, before she became notorious for her raunchy, spoken raps.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Jackson was an early pioneer of the Dirty Rap, and wasn't above bringing that raunchiness in-front of the camera, as the page image can attest to.
  • Ur-Example: Not only broke ground as the first prototypical female rapper, but her raunchy rhymes were also a big influence on the Dirty Rap subgenre, long before 2 Live Crew gained infamy for it. Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B followed Jackson's example as raunchy female rappers decades later.


Top