Now that Janet Jackson's beat her waistline into submission, she's ready to knock Mariah Carey off of her popstar throne. Sources say sexy Janet, 40, who just shed 60 pounds, is pressing her brilliant music producer boyfriend Jermaine Dupri to help her top the charts again - just like he did for Mariah, 36.
It was Jermaine, 32, who co-produced Mariah's The Emancipation of Mimi CD, which has sold 10 million copies worldwide. Now he's finishing Janet's new CD, 20 Years Old, her first since 2004, when she had her infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction.
"Janet is feeling trim, feisty and sexy and wants to do battle with Mariah," a source tells Star People. "Janet and Mariah have had a fairly cordial relationship over the years, but make no mistake, she wants to beat Mariah at her own game. She considers Mariah her only real competition to regaining her standing as the queen of R&B music."
The impending battle puts Jermaine in a tough position, the source says, "because he's such good friends with Mariah - but he goes home to Janet at night!" As for Mariah, another source says, "Mariah thinks that if Janet can sell more records, 'God bless her.' But I think she'll believe it when it happens."

(Star Magazine)