: The video won Best Choreography at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for Best Female Video. Chart Performance and Impact
: The song explores the "Freudian concept" of seeking immediate gratification, applied here to a woman taking control of a relationship. It emphasizes choosing self-worth over "loveless materialism". Janet Jackson - The Pleasure Principle
: Critics have described its musicality as a "sonic groover" with synths that "bump like busted shock absorbers" and screeching electric guitars. The Iconic Music Video : The video won Best Choreography at the
Directed by Dominic Sena and premiered on June 1, 1987, the music video is arguably more famous than the song itself. : Critics have described its musicality as a
: The lyrics include a nod to Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi," a connection Jackson would later revisit by sampling Mitchell in her 1997 hit "Got 'til It's Gone".
While it was the only single from Control to miss the Billboard Hot 100 top 10, it was a massive success in specific categories. Janet Jackson - "The Pleasure Principle"
Uniquely for the Control album, this was the only track not produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Instead, it was written and produced by , a keyboardist for the Minneapolis funk group The Time.