King Forever

I remember listening to Michael JacksonMichael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" while I was high on marijuana for the first (and last) time during the spring of '03. If you think that song is amazing enough when you're not high, you'll be happy to learn that it's absolutely delightful when you are high. Especially the opening to the song... pure intoxication! I think that pretty much all of Michael Jackson's songs have had great openings. "Beat It" comes to mind. And "Black or White" ... but the mesmerizing guitar riff in that song was present throughout. Credit to Slash from Guns N Roses.

I remember when I was 5 years old, I would watch the video for "Thriller" over and over again. And I would dance. Jackson practically invented music videos. Period. The man so was so incredibly innovative. He was the first one that decided that his music video for "Thriller" would have a story, an actual plot line... and characters. That had never been done before. MTV exists today because of Michael Jackson. Were it not for the King of Pop, we wouldn't have music videos. But MTV has regressed to the point where it now has more reality shows than music videos.

The interesting thing about MJ was his ambition. He wrote on his mirror something along these lines, "I will make the biggest record in history." And you know what? "Thriller" went on to become the highest-selling record of all time! I wish MJ had remained musically active throughout the late 1990's and 2000's as he had during the 70's and 80's. I get why people are upset that he's gone; but the way I see it, he's been virtually absent from the music scene since like 1999. I want people to appreciate his underrated songs as much as his hits. "The Way You Make Me Feel" is an awesome tune! But it's underappreciated. MJ was both modest and immodest. He understood that his singing and dancing ability was a gift from above, and he knew that he would live forever through his music.

I still can't get over how creative he was. He was a creative genius. If you watch the video for "Speed Demon," you'll notice that it's done in Claymation (i.e. clay animation). Nobody was doing that at the time. Another thing that stands out in my mind was how he would deliberately mispronounce "come on" as "shamone." He reinvented the English language! I think people should quit talking about the child molestation charges. He was acquitted. Everybody is a judge these days. People think that just because OJ Simpson got off (over 10 years ago!!!), the justice system is broken. But the Simpson murder case cannot be compared to the Jackson case. Although OJ Simpson was found not guilty, in the criminal trial, he was found guilty in the civil trial. Michael Jackson was found totally not guilty! And plus, it's not nice to speak ill of the dead.

I will say this about Jackson's change of colour: it confused me as a child. When "Bad" came out (around 1989?), I remember thinking, "He's not black anymore. Strange." Jackson was very, very versatile. He experimented with different genres of music. And he changed music. Not just music. He changed dance. Watch his complicated dance moves in the video for "The Way You Make Me Feel," and understand how magical his talent was. Jackson was to pop what Elvis was to rock 'n roll, and what Tupac ShakurTupac Shakur was to hip hop.