"Doesn't Really Matter" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from the soundtrack to the 2000 film Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and her seventh studio album, All for You (2001).

Based on a previously discarded poem Jackson wrote, the lyrics are about her film character's love for The Nutty Professor.

The track received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its upbeat sound and Jackson's breathy voice.

It was Jackson's 19th single to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making her only the third singer, after Madonna and Whitney Houston, to achieve this feat.

To promote the single, Jackson performed it on British television program Top of the Pops and at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

[3][4] To help inspire Jackson, director Peter Segal brought a rough cut of the film to Flyte Tyme Studios where the singer was recording her seventh album, All for You.

[8] Its upbeat pop sound is akin to Jackson's 1995 single "Runaway", a stark contrast to the sparse R&B of her previous album, The Velvet Rope.

[18] In the New York Daily News, Jim Farber viewed the track as innovative, noting that it "dodges current clichés" and has "the yearning freshness of a summer breeze".

[8] Carol Cooper of Sonicnet wrote that Jackson's vocals "deserve special mention for the deft way she speed-sings verses and choruses so as to accent their underlying rhythmic patterns".

[21] Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly viewed the track as "effervescent", and cited it and R. Kelly's "Just a Touch" as the only two consequential R&B songs on the soundtrack.

[24] Neumu's Anthony Carew found the song "surgically clean" and the production "suitably slick", noting that Jam and Lewis were "so self-conscious of their skills they cut-in the word 'edit' as a cute cut-up gimmick".

[25] Chuck Taylor of Billboard called the song "frothy" and "a leftover from another time", but argued that it was "innocent fun" and "a smile-bearing throwback" that highlighted Jackson's "still-youthful vocal musings".

[10] Dotmusic's Gary Crossing was more critical, calling it a "disappointing fare" with a "bland" vocal mix, writing that "apart from the key changes there's barely anything of interest here".

[29] Following its CD and cassette single release on August 8, 2000, "Doesn't Really Matter" climbed to number one, selling 96,000 copies during its first full week of sales.

[57] The music video for "Doesn't Really Matter" was directed by Joseph Kahn, with the setting portraying a futuristic city inspired by Tokyo.

It showcases Jackson in an abstract anime-based environment, featuring an AIBO, which was the very first consumer Artificial Intelligence robot and was created for the companionship of adults and elderly people.

[17] Jackson contacted Kahn to direct the music video,[60] explaining that she wanted to experiment with make-up and costuming in order to take risks.

During this scene, the AIBO and various objects in her room are shown, including a television displaying Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, and a pair of moon shoes.

They dance through the apartment block hallway as their shoes morph into black futuristic high-heels, walking into an area filled with display screens and a circular platform.

In the next segment, Jackson is shown in the passenger seat of a car driving through a tunnel, as scenes from Nutty Professor II: The Klumps appear as a reflection in the front window.

[63] Rod Stafford Hagwood of the Sun-Sentinel included "Doesn't Really Matter" among several videos which set fashion trends and increased the popularity of "bright colorful clothes" among youth.

[58] However, Luke Bather of Highsnobiety was critical of the music video, calling the CGI "primitive" and describing how it portrays a dystopian future where everyone feels "bizarrely happy" while only being able to watch The Nutty Professor on television.

[59] Jackson performed "Doesn't Really Matter" on the August 4, 2000 episode of the British music chart television program Top of the Pops.

[66] She also performed the song at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards on September 7, opening the show from a three-tiered aerial set with 10 backing dancers.

She finally allowed the CD's release after a month's negotiation, stating that she appreciated seeing a new aspect of "Doesn't Really Matter" arranged in an Asian style.

[83] Puerto Rican flautist Néstor Torres recorded a jazz version of "Doesn't Really Matter" for his seventh album, This Side of Paradise, released on March 13, 2001.