Millie Jackson Proves That She Can Do More Than `Rap' On New Album, `Between The Sheets'

Jet, Oct 18, 1999

Before Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown, there was a raspy-voiced female performer who didn't hold back any punches named Millie Jackson.

Her XXX-rated rappin' style, digressing from the song to speak frankly to people about what's really going on between the lines of the lyrics, won her a reputation as the "bad" girl of song back in the '70s with albums like Caught Up, Still Caught Up and Feelin' Bitchy.

She's back and this time she's doing more than just rappin' on her new album Between The Sheets, released on the 7N label, distributed by BMG/Buddha Records. Jackson shows that she's also a singer on the project, which addresses love in all different ways.

The album, to be released this week, features songs like Hurts So Good, If You're Not Back In Love By Monday, All The Way Lover and Loving Arms, all taken from previous Jackson albums.

"I want to show people that I can do more than mess with folks and curse ... My rappin' got me over. No other woman was doing that at that time. That got me in the door. I learned how to sing on the job. But by the time I learned how to sing, no one wanted to hear that. A lot of these songs were lost on those `dirty albums.'"

Jackson, who can be seen in Sprite commercials, says that people "make up adjectives" to describe the rappin' that she made famous.

"I was considered filthy and dirty on records. Now, the rest of the world has caught up with me," she chuckles. "Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim make me look like a church lady. For my time I was that bad. But they have taken it another step further."

Fans will be surprised at how much Jackson sings like Gladys Knight on the album, says Jackson.

She laughs, "I try not to let Gladys show up. But then I'll do a run and think, `Who let Gladys in here?'"