“The Pleasure Principle” is the sixth single released from Janet Jackson’s Control album. The song was written and produced by Monte Moir, who is a member of the Minneapolis funk group The Time, along with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The music video is considered one of her finest works, as she danced all around an empty loft and performed intricate choreography with a chair, leading her to win an MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography in 1988.

The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart for two weeks in June of 1987, and topped Billboard’s R&B chart for a week in August 1987.