michael jackson music

I was the guest host of a radio show yesterday. The show started at 3 pm (back when we all thought Michael Jackson would be going back on tour soon), and the producer asked me what kind of music I wanted to use for my intros and outtros. I said "Throw on some old Michael Jackson. The pre-nose job Michael Jackson." He did.
I then spent the next 2 hours reflecting on the air about Michael Jackson's talent, as well as his peculiar personality. That's when I got "the news."

While I was certainly shocked at the irony of a man dying right after I'd spent 2 hours talking about him on the radio, I wasn't surprised. Michael Jackson had that kind of effect on music and our world. In spite of the fact that he'd turned into something we couldn't quite understand, we always loved him.

Michael is going to live forever. The life and existence of such an impactful human being can't be captured in his physical manifestation. Most of us never knew Mike the man, but he was always present in our lives. He was nothing like Elvis, he was not the Beatles. He was too interesting for that. He is one of a kind, even beyond the fact that he sold 750 million records.

Here are 5 reasons Michael Jackson is going to live forever:

1) His talent: Michael's music was magical. He was more than just a performer: he was the Pope of Pop. He could go 10 years without releasing a single hit record and still get more fan reaction than the hottest entertainers in the world. No performer on Earth can command the respect that Michael Jackson had at his absolute weakest. He was an industry in himself and the reason that MTV is what it is today – his name alone will generate enough revenue over the next 70 years to support his grand children's grand children.

2) We grew up with him: Few performers are in the limelight from the age of 5 until their death. Michael was a black version of the film, "The Truman Show", where we literally had the chance to watch him grow from a little boy into a full grown man. There is probably no point in your life that you can remember when Michael Jackson wasn't incredibly famous. The world was truly his stage.

3) He was (to be honest) very....uhhhh....interesting: I am not here to disgrace the dead. But let's be real, if we were to talk about Michael Jackson just a few days ago, his talent might not have been the first thing to come to mind. He was a man who told his children to wear head masks for the first several years of their lives. He had an amusement park in his back yard and climbed trees with 10 year old kids. He seemed to have a nose job every week and literally changed his skin color (What the &*^%?). Michael was an odd dude, which will only serve to make films about his life far more interesting than Elvis Presley or anyone else.

4) His story was intriguing: The tales of Joe Jackson violently forcing the kids to practice are common knowledge. We felt bad for the child trapped in a grown man's body, and there was something that made us almost feel that Michael had been born on the wrong planet. Not only was he forced to live under the pressure of the limelight, he was not exactly raised in the healthiest of social environments. This only served to exacerbate his extreme reactions to the pressure of being in the public eye. There is nothing sadder than watching someone cope with a damaged childhood right in front of the world.

5) He was our hero: Growing up, we had two copies of the album "Thriller" in our household. We all remember Michael's amazing performance during the "Motown 25" Celebration. Many of us saw the 1984 Grammys, where women were screaming at the possibility that Michael would take off his sunglasses (after he won a record-setting 8 awards). We all remember waiting anxiously at prime time to watch the 15 minute "Thriller" video when it was released in 1983. Who gets to make a 15 minute video for MTV? Even Beyonce couldn't pull that one off. Then, there's the one white glove on his right hand, the glowing and flowing Jheri curl, the Moon walk, the Penny loafers, and that crazy red jacket everyone wanted to buy. In case you're wondering, yes, I do have one – I'll be wearing it to work tomorrow.....just kidding; well, maybe not.

Michael Jackson's presence was too great and too strong for his life to end in any finite number of years. The best song to reflect the life and death of Michael Jackson is, "I'll be there." He'll be with us forever, for Michael Jackson will always be the King of Pop.

Dr Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book, "Black American Money." He also does regular appearances in national media. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com. To have Dr Boyce commentary delivered directly to your email box, please click here.