It has been said that Jay-Z is the greatest rapper of all time, but that statement can be challenged. It has been said that Whitney Houston is the greatest vocalist of all time. Aretha Franklin fans would beg to differ. But no one would question the statement that Michael Jackson IS THE GREATEST ENTERTAINER OF ALL TIME! NO ONE! If they do, they are damn fools. Now, this blog or article is not to recap MJ’s accomplishments because we all just about know that. I want to bring some insight on him how he influenced the world, his youthfulness and his “blackness” and of course, obviously music.
I’m going to start with his blackness. First, of all, aside from skin tone, I’m not sure what makes a person black or white for that matter, but for year’s people has questioned MJ’s identity. Now, we all know that MJ was black for sure. But once he was affected with the disease vitiligo, people thought he was trying to be “white”. I honestly don’t know. Maybe. But don’t you recall him wearing gloves on his hand ALL THE TIME? Now, while he made it a fashion, he could have been covering up the blotches he had. We all know Michael was not too comfortable with his appearance (as a lot of us are). He’s had several nose jobs to prove this. Now, you’re probably thinking about his hair! Boo! Some men just love having long straight hair. Hell, Snoop Dogg walked around with curls in his head and no one thought he was gay or trying to be a woman. Prince wear freaking heels, eye shadow and pants with his ass out! But any Prince fan will tell you he is as straight as 6 o’clock. So we got all the physical attributes to him trying to be “white” out of the way, what about the people around him. Think of any, any, any MJ video. The cast is either diverse or his main lady is black. Not to say there would be anything wrong with him having a white woman or Asian woman in his video, but that would only had fuel to the fire. He has done concerts with Jay-Z and according to Rev. Al Sharpton; he was the only celebrity who has claimed to look up to James Brown to actually show up to his funeral. MJ never got too big (in his head) to pay homage to those he adored. Yall saw him at the 2003 BET Awards. So all in all, whatever MJ was going through, I don’t think he had a problem being black or being around blacks. Take into consideration he grew up when things were still segregated early in his life. Maybe he thought blacks had it too hard and felt that if he were white people would treat him better. You just never know what’s going on in a person’s head. If he DID feel the need to bleach his skin and straighten his hair, it was his prerogative! Besides, only a black man can say, “that ain’t my baby” through song.
Now, before I gave it any real thought, I was one of those arrogant hip hop heads who claimed rap is the reason why all cultures can co-mingle. But now, that’s just a fat ass lie! Prior to MJ, there was “black” music, “white” music and Disco. But when MJ stepped off the stage with his brother to a platform so high, HE brought people together with his music. Something that Oprah and President Obama should credit him for. People from Ethiopia, to Asia, to England to Brooklyn to Houston all had one thing in common: their love for MJ. Now, you may read over that and think nothing of it, but seriously, come one now. People will disagree over political views, religious views and different morals and values, but for everyone to like the same music? That’s a pretty big deal. HE broke down color barriers! People didn’t look at him and say, “He’s black and he’s good”. They just saw a GREAT entertainer who could bring people to tears with his presence alone. Now, I’m not saying he’s Christ like, but…ok, lets put it this way: The day he died, according to AT&T, 65,000 text were sent PER SECOND! That didn’t even happen with our first black president! And I’m not trying to take anything from President Obama, but he nor hip-hop is not the sole reason why black and whites can share a common ground.
We all know that Michael was forced to grow up too damn fast and for that, I think that explains a lot of his “issues”. But not all. The dude was definitely a genius and geniuses have their issues! Even Einstein was so genius he did not want to wear clothes because in his head that was not important enough to even waste brain cells thinking about. He was inventing formulas that some of us still can’t solve! But MJ always had love for the youth. You could see it in his home, the people he hung around and his child like behavior. But I don’t think it was ALL because he was young at heart but because of his genius. Sometimes when you’re different, we as adults judge and say “ You’re 25 and you should dress like this. You should act like this. You should enjoy this”. No! MJ was who he was and aside from his managers, publicist and the media only one group of people didn’t’ pass judgment on him: Children. Children and their innocents is a beautiful thing and I can see why Michael enjoyed being around them. He could be himself and they would not look at him as if he was crazy or stupid.
My mom’s generation loved, Elvis, Marvin, The Commodores, and Aretha. My generation loves Bobby Brown, TLC, R.Kelly and Aaliyah. My little cousin’s generation loves Miley Cyrus and Soulja Boy. But all generations love MJ! That honestly doesn’t’ make sense. How is it that so many artists can be put in categories and be a part of a generation but this one man has influenced everyone I named after Aretha? Michael was never a vulgar artist, except through dance but his songs carried more meaning than we could ever imagine. Black or White, You are not Alone, and the socially conscious hit, Man in the Mirror. His dancing was like no other has ever seen before. Watching him perform is mesmerizing. The way he glides across the floor or the way he pop’s his body at every rhythm of the song. And in all this greatness that I think he KNEW he embodied, he still remained humbled at heart.
I truly hate the last 15 years of Michael Jackson’s life was spent in court, torture, media lies and exploitation of him but regardless while MJ will probably continue to be the source of pun of jokes, he will always be respected, admired, imitated, and loved! Now, when you think about it: Isn’t that way ones life after death should be?
