"My parents were very strict with where we went and what we did," she says. "They made us do a lot of chores. People laugh when I tell them, but we worked when we were home, and we didn't get paid for it. We got no allowance. My parents had three acres [1.2 hectares], and on a Saturday morning we'd have to get up early and rake every leaf on the yard. There were tonnes of trees and we had tonnes of animals, and we had to keep the animals clean and their cages clean and feed them on a daily basis. And when my brothers were on tour, I was doing everybody's chores."
For Jackson, discipline has always been crucial, then?
"Of course it has, and I think that's what helped us to stay grounded," she says, though the extent to which Michael is grounded is open to debate. "My parents knew what they were doing. You see all these people screaming for you and giving you anything you want ... . My mother and father were quick to say that this is all because of God, and as quickly as you acquired it, he could take it away, so respect it."
Apart from her parents, Jackson says she has few, if any, role models. "I hope that doesn't sound bad. Some of the artists that I've looked up to, they're no longer here, maybe due to drugs or things like that, but musically looking up to them, um, not really. Does that sound weird? I feel like I'm supposed to have someone because everybody has someone, but I don't have anyone. But yeah, it does feel kind of strange."
Despite almost rivaling him in terms of statistics, Janet doesn't quite match her brother for sheer outrageous hubris. No giant statues of her sailing down the Thames nor displays of messianic self-glory. There are eccentric moments - when I ask her who she'd most like to meet, she says the Dalai Lama and Jesus - but the essential difference between Janet and Michael is that Janet can enjoy some semblance of normality. Fame is something she can switch on and off.
"Someone said to me, 'Oh my God, you seem so quiet, and when I listen to your album it's so sensual,' and I'm, like, 'Well, am I supposed to be walking around with my butt hanging out and my boobs up to my ears, with voluptuous lips and high heels all the time?' That person still lives within me, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's there every ... moment of the day."
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