Janet Jackson

A partial list of nominees for tonight's MTV Video Music Awards:Best Video of the Year* Peter Gabriel, "Digging In the Dirt"Best Male Video* Lenny Kravitz, "Are You Gonna Go My Way"Best Female Video* Janet Jackson, "That's the Way Love Goes"Best Group Video* Depeche Mode, "I Feel You"Best Rap Video* Digable Planets, "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)"Best Dance Video* Janet Jackson, "That's the Way Love Goes"Best Metal/Hard Rock Video* Aerosmith, "Livin' On the Edge"Best Alternative Music Video* Nirvana, "In Bloom" (Band In Dresses Version)

It's a long, long way from the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles to a plush office in the Capra Building of Sony Studios. But when you enter the headquarters of John Singleton's New Deal Productions, it's quickly apparent that the 25-year-old Wunderkind writer-director hasn't forgotten his roots.While the hushed corridors outside are swarming with suits, inside Mr. Singleton is kicking back in a T-shirt and jeans as he pumps up the hip-hop soundtrack and watches a trailer for his eagerly anticipated new film, "Poetic Justice" (which opens July 23)