Janet Jackson crosses generational lines at Borgata

Since she famously broke away from the tight reins of the Jackson clan, shed the good-girl image she had as a child entertainer, and promoted her sensual, self-empowered smash Control in 1986, Janet Jackson has proved to be one of pop's most fiercely independent artists.

Now 44 and without a label to release new music (she left her last label, claiming it bungled the promotion of Discipline in 2008), Jackson seems more confident than ever.

Earlier this year, her book True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself topped the New York Times best seller list. She just signed a film-production contract with Lionsgate to develop and produce features. And on Friday and Saturday, she sold out shows at Atlantic City's Borgata Casino, singing her sleek hits to a multigenerational crowd that knew the words to every song.

Jackson held the audience in thrall just by her entrance, strolling down a set of stairs, hair radically short and slicked back, poured into a skintight, charcoal-color, leatherlike jumpsuit with cutouts on the sides and a bosom-revealing bodice. While a crew of dancers decked in white spun around her, Jackson kicked into the night's first block of hits with a hint of braggadocio in her chirpy, multitracked voice. She smilingly imitated a trombone slide on "The Pleasure Principle" and played up her brand of cocky command on "What Have You Done for Me Lately" and "Control." "Rhythm Nation" and "Nasty" were hardened industrial numbers, the latter allowing Jackson her most dramatic vocal moments by turning the line "nasty boys don't mean a thing - ahhh" into something that would make Mick Jagger jealous. She even borrowed a bit of Motowny brass during the finale of "Together Again," where photos of her and her late brother Michael filled the screen.

The sound was pure Minneapolis, a tech-heavy take on sprightly R&B produced and cowritten by Jam & Lewis. For all the fast funk and salty midtempo pop like a merry "Miss You Much," a joyous "Escapade" (where she showed off her patented high-pitch giggle), Jackson's finest moments were the slow ones. Dripping with languid melody and yearning soulfulness, ballads such as "Let's Wait Awhile" and "Come Back to Me" allowed her breathy voice both a tender quaver and a seductive purr.