Although I grew distant from his music over the past few years, I will always remember the brief time that I considered Michael Jackson better than any other artist. It was back in 2001, when I was actually watching specials about him on VH1, and I was drawn to the song "Black or White". I remember seeing the video for "Thriller" back in 1998, and it scared me back then to the point that I didn't know if it was a good idea to like this guy. But I actually watched his videos when I was younger, although I had no memory of them at the time. I knew that my mom was a giant fan of him. If you played "Ben" during a game of "Name That Tune", she'd guess it instantly. Then in August 2001, I bought my first Michael Jackson album, "Dangerous". I remembered listening to "Black or White", "Remember the Time", "Jam", and "Who Is It" simultaneously, and I sought out to catch up on Michael Jackson's career.
I recorded his final music video "You Rock My World" when it premiered on VH1, and I was tuning into this channel to get a better feel for his music, which got me into seeing videos for "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", and "Billie Jean". I also got around watching the "Thriller" video, and I even got to see a 40 minute long version of the "Smooth Criminal" video. VH1 helped me a lot on liking Michael Jackson's music. I remember turning it on there every time that they aired the miniseries on the Jacksons.
On the day that his final album "Invincible" was released, I got in my mom's car and finding that she got it for me while I was at school. Then, the peak of my Michael Jackson obsession came in Halloween 2001 when I dressed up as Michael Jackson. I had no idea who to dress up as for that Halloween until I came across a mask listed as "Plastic Man". I instantly identified that it was the white skinned Michael Jackson. So I came up with a combination of white shirts and black pants to resemble the 90s style of Jackson. I didn't have a glove that had the diamonds on them, but I did have a black glove, because I knew it was something useful. I had a good time playing that character.
My Michael Jackson obsession came and happened so fast that I caught up with Michael Jackson's chronology by the time that he started dangling his son, doing a bizarre special for ABC, and getting tried for child molestation again. After a while, I fell out of my interest for Michael Jackson. Not because of his behavior. It's because I didn't find anything relevant about his music anymore at the time. Also, I felt that his career has been responsible for the careers of many rap, hip-hop, and R&B singers that I did not like. I was in a stage that I kept labeling him into my least favorite genre of all time.
But looking back on it yesterday, I figured out that even though he was a soul singer from the beginning, there was a reason that he was the "King of Pop". He actually crossed over into the unlikeliest genres that would suit him. That's why the "Thriller" album is the best-selling album ever because he made the pure pop sound blend in and work well. He was willing to cross over into pop and even rock music, as evidenced by "Beat It". It became clear to me why these R&B/Hip-Hop amateurs like Chris Brown, Rihanna, and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em weren't selling albums as Michael Jackson would. They have really contributed to the decline of the music industry and even the US economy because of one factor: they were failing to sell music using the sound that was only made for one musician. They can get far in this business by doing that, but they know that they'll be considered as D-list celebrities compared to him. Usher could have even been listed as an opening act for Michael Jackson if the concerts in London had ever happened.
Few artists have achieve the success that Michael Jackson had who wanted to be artists like him. Only Justin Timberlake, my real favorite singer, has come close to being like him, and I hope he never goes down the way he did. Britney Spears was a reflection of Michael Jackson's career. She had the same career success as him and the same scrutiny as him. But at least she still has a shot at longevity as of right now. But more importantly, they had put themselves in a different league and leaders of their own generation. For that, Britney and Justin are the exception, and everyone else is the rule. It's tough nowadays in this music industry to sell records like him. They have a legacy to live up to and a career too extreme to top.
He has shaped up this entertainment lifestyle to the way it is. From the music to the television (particularly MTV). Even the media paparazzi had been impacted by him. In these times, we see TMZ, US Weekly, and OK Magazine becoming street smart when it came to digging up the dirt in this business. They wouldn't be this notorious without scrutinizing Britney, Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Miley Cyrus, and Paris Hilton until there's nothing left of them. But no one got it worse than the guy they dubbed "Wacko Jacko". When someone has become the most successful person in entertainment, the media is ready to strike. They probably started when his head got burned while shooting the Pepsi commercial in 1984, which could be an appropriate start to his mid-life crisis. Then they went even further and harsher when Michael changed skin color, opened up Neverland, and got married twice. Michael unfortunately fell for their tricks like a chump. That's probably how his career declined in the first place, because he was trying to honor every command that came his way while trying to enjoy life for himself on his own.
Michael became just another person that passed before their time, and it always happens to the more successful and more talented stars. Those careers give you every reason to go down the path that they took, and they give you every reason to avoid the path that they took. Michael was different, because he held on longer than anyone expected. It made people believe that he could defy the odds again and continue to make music. It's tough to balance the things you like and hate about being a celebrity, and it has to take a lot of skill, faith, and patience to do that. Michael has been able to try to shut out scrutiny to his best abilities to work on what he does best and was able to become one of the biggest celebrities of all time. He has succeeded in what most of the other celebrites can't accomplish as high as he did, and I thank him for what he offered.
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