10.08.2006

Janet Jackson featuring Khia - So Excited

This is the second single off of Janet Jackson's latest studio album 20 Y.O. As a followup to the downtempo "Call On Me" which featured some additional vocals from Nelly, this one is a clubbanger.

The Herbie Hancock "Rockit" sampling original beckons you to turn it up and just let go and do that dance you don't want anyone else to see. The track has an old school feel, but in a good way. Janet is sexy with her whispered vocals, and Khia is sassy with her small portions on the track. Khia's portion sounds like it has been sampled in from another track, which is sorta true. Khia has done her own X-rated all rap, all Khia version, with a totally different instrumental. Jermaine Dupri's ad-libs are distracting and random but they work.

Junior Vasquez is the only confirmed remixer for this one. He premiered his remix at his birthday bash some time back. He maintains the old school feel of the track and adds in some additional breaks elements and some of his usual dancefloor fierceness. He references the Freestyle classic "Let The Music Play" by Shannon in his mix. It's used just enough to call attention to the classic without being absolutely obvious in the edit. But in the full club mix, he makes the references more obvious. Junior did remixes of Shannon's track a few years ago. The remix has the feel of something Junior would have done in the early 90's, or during the Sound Factory and maybe even the Arena eras. Many splashes of elements from the original mix have been thrown in and those work quite well. However, Junior did leave in Khia's portions in the mixes.

There may be other mixes announced for the song in the future, but given what Junior has done with this song, we may not need any more mixes. Hip Hop and House DJs can easily play this in their sets. The edit of Vasquez's mix is short and tight for the radio stations.