“Black Cat” is the sixth single released from Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, a song written by Janet and co-produced by Jellybean Johnson along with her. The song is a hard rock track among dance tracks and love songs on the album. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance category, making her the only artist to be nominated in five different genres (R&B, pop, rap, dance, rock). The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the third single from the album to achieve that status.

The song finds Janet warning her bad-boy boyfriend that he needs to shift his priorities before he loses both her and his life. Two superstitions/folk tales come into play on the track: cats having nine lives and black cats being a sign of bad luck. Janet sees her man as someone whose lives are quickly running out, and also a negative influence on her.

Producer Jimmy Jam encouraged Janet to tap into her rock side with this song:

One night I told her I wanted her to sound like a Rock and Roll queen on it – she usually uses one of her other voices to sing R&B funk. This, you wanted to be funky, but more rocked out. That was what I was trying to get her to do, and she did it in one or two takes.

Jackson employed a real black leopard during her concerts until some fans became concerned about the cat’s welfare. She announced:

While the illusion with the cat was appreciated by most of the audience, if it caused even a few people to worry about the safety of the cat, it’s not worth keeping it."