Containing autobiographical themes, a majority of the album's lyrics came as the result of a series of changes in her life: a recent annulment of her marriage to singer James DeBarge, severing her business affairs from her father and manager Joseph and the rest of the Jackson family, hiring the A&M executive John McClain as her new management, and her subsequent introduction to Jam and Lewis. The album has been praised by critics as both an artistic feat and as a personal testament of self-actualization. It has also been regarded as a template upon which numerous female artists have modeled their careers, particularly Black women.
When Jam and Lewis agreed to produce Jackson's third studio album, they wanted to appeal primarily to the African American community, in addition to achieving crossover success on the pop music charts. Before their association with Jackson, Jam and Lewis had originally planned to record an album with tracks they wrote for Sharon Bryant, but she found their lyrics and sound to be too "rambunctious". The duo presented the same set of recordings to Jackson, who gave her input and took co-writing and co-production credits for the album's content. Jam and Lewis recalled that to collaborate with Jackson on the material, they spent the first week simply getting to know their new client. Lewis explained, "We got into her head. We saw what she was capable of, what she wanted to say, where she wanted to be, what she wanted to be. We put together some songs to fit her as we saw her, as she revealed herself to us. It was as simple as that."
For the song "What Have You Done for Me Lately", which was originally penned for one of Jam and Lewis's own records, the lyrics were rewritten to convey Jackson's feelings about her recent annulment from James DeBarge. The song was chosen as the lead single for Control, as Jam and Lewis felt it best represented Jackson's outlook on life. "Nasty", which in Jackson's opinion was the most innovative song on the album, was inspired by her experience with street harassment in Minneapolis by a group of men outside the hotel she resided at during the recording of Control. She recalled, "They were emotionally abusive. Sexually threatening. Instead of running to Jimmy or Terry for protection, I took a stand. I backed them down. That's how songs like 'Nasty' and 'What Have You Done for Me Lately' were born, out of a sense of self-defense." Jimmy Jam wrote and played the keyboard arrangement, with Jackson playing the accompaniment. Background vocals were sung by Jackson, Jam and Lewis. The distinctive triplet swing beat of the song was developed by Jam on an Ensoniq Mirage keyboard. "Let's Wait Awhile" was centered on safe sex and abstinence, a subject of significant social commentary at the time. Jam commented that it is common practice for songwriters to use current events as a means of inspiration for lyrics and that the AIDS pandemic had raised awareness about sexually transmitted diseases. He commented, "The theme of the song ('Let's Wait Awhile') was Janet's idea. She's not a preachy person. She's not telling people how to live their lives. All she's doing is offering an opinion."
Control debuted at number 84 on the Billboard 200 on March 8, 1986, and at number 26 on the Top R&B/Black Albums on March 1, 1986. After twenty weeks, it topped the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Black Albums chart, selling 250,000 copies in a single week, a record for an album by a female artist. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) first certified Control gold in April 1986, denoting 500,000 units shipped within the United States. Two months later, in June 1986, the album was RIAA certified platinum, denoting 1 million units shipped. Three years later, Control was RIAA certified fivefold platinum in October 1989. By 1990, Control had sold 5 million copies in the United States and Since its debut, Control has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
