An R&B and dance album, Jackson enlisted a range of producers to work on material with, including LRoc, Manuel Seal, The Avila Brothers and No I.D., in addition to her longtime partners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and then-boyfriend Jermaine Dupri.

Jackson hand-picked dozens of images to be used in the contest and selected her top four favorites, which were used for the standard edition's cover on American pressings of 20 Y.O.. Three singles were released from the album–"Call on Me", "So Excited", and "With U".

The album debuted at number two on Billboard 200, was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and sold over three million copies worldwide.

concept prior to Dupri's involvement, stated, "the finished project we had before Jermaine took everything over is crazy.

"[8] In 2005, Jackson initially worked with various producers, including The Neptunes,[8] Dr. Dre,[5] Kwamé,[9] and Polow Da Don,[10] but the concept was changed when Dupri was selected to manage the project after becoming a division president at Virgin Records.

[12] For the album, Jackson reunited with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work with her and Dupri.

"Times have changed from when Michael and Janet were out in the '80s", he noted, pointing to the fact that urban artists no longer had to cross over to pop genres before achieving maximum exposure and sales.

In the song, Jackson promises submission for her lover, singing, "If you like it then I'll do it/I'll go head to toe" and "I'm-a keep your body thumping, baby".

The song brings sinuous and dark beats incorporating a rhythmic pattern of heavy breathing and the sound of a jet taking off, which was noted to be a metaphor.

[25] An interlude is the opening for eighth track "With U", which was described as "the follow-up to 1986's 'Let's Wait Awhile'", where a couple postpone intimacy.

"Daybreak", the eleventh song, begins with fairy tale infused chimes before introducing electronic soul handclaps before Jackson starts singing.

[33] Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine heavily criticized the title, saying it did not "let on whether the first letter is plural or singular, whether it's a noun or an adjective.

However, the reviewer feared the acronym was for 20-Year-Old, which would mean a "misguided" move from a woman who was 40, and would illustrate everything wrong with Jackson's direction with the album.

The singer hand-picked dozens of images that span over twenty years of Jackson's career were made available for download for use in creating the design.

[34][35] For the official artwork of the album, Jackson appears sporting big hair and a wrist full of bracelets.

On May 1, 2006, a web-only song called "Weekend" was made available as a "gift" to fans to download via Jackson's official website.

[38] In the lead up to the album's release, Jackson shot covers for Us Weekly, Vibe, Billboard, FHM, GIANT, W, Jezebel, OK!, Ebony, King, Sophisticates Black Hair, Movieline's Hollywood Life, Hype Hair, Men's Fitness, Unleashed, Upscale, and In Touch.

[41][42] On September 9, 2006, Jackson went to France to perform "So Excited" at NRJ's Back to School concert, along with past single "Nasty".

[49] On December 4, the singer opened the 2006 Billboard Music Awards with a medley of "The Pleasure Principle" and "So Excited".

[50][51] During rehearsals for the awards two days prior, she taped a performance featuring two classic singles from her catalog, "Nasty" and "Let's Wait Awhile", which was streamed on American Express' website.

Additionally, it spent two non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, making it Jackson's sixteenth R&B chart-topper and thirtieth top ten single.

[15] The music video incorporates Indian, Asian, and African styles, with a mixture of outfits and hairstyles, with a total of five wardrobe changes.

[59] Following its release, it was reported that the video was blacklisted by MTV following her incident at the Super Bowl halftime show, which was co-produced by the network.

"[32] The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles had mixed feelings, saying "Janet is as crafty and poised as ever.

's sex themes were slightly toned down from its predecessor, Damita Jo, and, "In the opening set of songs alone, Jackson promises to do it all [...] And she manages to do this without sounding especially raunchy.

He also referred to Jam and Lewis's production as "ice-cold beats [that] have melted into a lugubrious, lukewarm pudding—at under an hour, it still feels almost twice as long as Janet.

"[28] The Village Voice's music critic Miles Marshall Lewis commented that Jackson's last two albums also talked excessively about sex, and with the new release, it was getting tired.

[61] Evan Serpick from Rolling Stone disagreed with the album's reference to Control, saying "If we were her, we wouldn't make the comparison.

This was considerably lower than Jackson's previous album Damita Jo, which also opened at number two with 381,000 copies sold across the United States in 2004.

[85][86] On November 13, 2006, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies within the country.