Any Time, Any Place

Did You Know?

• The music video for "Any Time, Any Place" ends with the message "any time, any place ......be responsible".
• The song held the number-one position on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for ten weeks.
• A remix video featuring the "R. Kelly Mix" was also released.

Composition

"Any Time, Any Place" is an R&B ballad co-written and co-produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Set in common time with a slow tempo, the song is in the key of C minor, with Jackson's vocal range spanning from B♭3 to D♭5. Lyrically based on sexual liberation, it features saxophone, fingersnaps, and sounds of rain and thunder. The chorus finds Jackson singing about public lovemaking, unconcerned with who is around. A remix by R. Kelly was also produced.

Critical reception

Music critics gave "Any Time, Any Place" positive reviews. Jose F. Promis of AllMusic called it "superb" and "subtle, sophisticated, syncopated, and jazzy". Larry Flick from Billboard described it as a "grinding R&B ballad" that benefits from R. Kelly's remix. Another Billboard editor, Andrew Hampp, termed it "a stone-cold classic". Troy J. Augusto from Cash Box wrote that the single release prunes the original seven-minute song into a "tidy and most attractive 4 1/2-minute winner". Chuck Arnold of the Philadelphia Daily News called it a "delicate, aching ballad". James Hamilton from Record Mirror Dance Update named it a "dreamy sweet warbler", while Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine noted it "provides a genuine climax".

Live performances

Jackson performed "Any Time, Any Place" on Saturday Night Live alongside "Throb". During the Janet World Tour, she selected a man from the audience and sat on his thigh. An instrumental interlude of the song was included on the Velvet Rope Tour in 1998 before "Rope Burn", where Jackson brought an audience member onstage and gave a lap dance. The October 11, 1998, show at Madison Square Garden was broadcast by HBO as The Velvet Rope: Live in Madison Square Garden. Due to censorship laws, the song was omitted from the Hong Kong release of the tour video. The song later appeared as an interlude on the Rock Witchu Tour in 2008, where a male audience member was strapped into a harness and suspended midair. It was repeated at the 2010 Essence Music Festival and included on the 2011 Number Ones, Up Close and Personal tour. On the Unbreakable World Tour, the performance sampled Kendrick Lamar's "Poetic Justice". It was also performed at the 2018 and 2022 Essence Music Festival, on the second leg of the State of the World Tour in 2018, and during her 2019 Las Vegas residency Janet Jackson: Metamorphosis, where a male fan was strapped to a chair. The song was included on the 2023 Together Again Tour.

Legacy and samples

Hip-hop artist Da Deputy sampled "Any Time, Any Place" in 2012 for "Private Resort". That same year, Kendrick Lamar and Drake heavily sampled the song for their single "Poetic Justice", titled after the film starring Jackson and Tupac Shakur. Producer Scoop DeVille recalled that several artists, including 50 Cent, wanted the sample before he gave it to Lamar. Jackson later sampled "Poetic Justice" during her performances of "Any Time, Any Place" on the Unbreakable Tour. Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip released a freestyle over the song's instrumental on December 21, 2012. A gospel version appeared in the pilot episode of Issa Rae's web series The Choir, and Raheem DeVaughn recorded a cover in 2015.