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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

King of Music


Let me preface this by saying that I've been holding off on doing a Michael Jackson tribute post because I knew that the blogs would've been saturated with them, and I felt as if I needed to do something different. But then I thought, this is the passing of an icon...and if I can't do a tribute for him, then I shouldn't be doing tributes at all, let alone calling myself a lover a music. Without a doubt, the passing of Michael Jackson is definitely a serious loss to the music industry. He set the bar remarkably high...which seems untouchable by anyone else today. He broke boundaries, created classics, redefined what a music video is and should be, defined pop as a genre...the list goes on and on. His songs are so classic and timeless, to a point where I can find myself putting them on repeat and listening to them for hours...and thats definitely saying something in the era of ring tone music that we are in right now.

I'm sad that we lost MJ. I grew up to his music. I remember trying to emulate that lean from the Smooth Criminal video. I remember his Remember the Time with all of those stars in it...and thinking that his music has to be something special to bring all of those people together. I laughed at his Jam video with Michael Jordan. I knew just about all the steps to Thriller. His videos are so classic...words can't express how deeply they've effected all of the music we love and listen to today. Without MJ breaking boundaries with his music and redefining what genres are and how you can transcend them, there probably wouldn't be as great of a mix of music that we have today. There would be no great r&b...the Jackson 5 was the original boy band. No *N-sync, no 98 degrees, no Justin Timberlake, no Ne-Yo, no Usher, no Chris Brown...so much he has effected, and continues to effect by his music even today.

Most people choose to dwell on his personal life...but dammit, he's been scrutinized since he was 9 years old. His life has become a laughing stock almost, and its a damn shame that we're only now in his passing realizing how great he was and the legacy he left. MJ will definitely be missed by me...and there never will be another King of Pop...scratch that...King of Music.

The sketch above is only fitting.

2 comments:

12kyle said...

i'm still processing the fact that he's not here. we grew up on his music. i could care less what they say about his personal life. did he have issues? yeah...who doesn't? at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. you can't deny the impact that he had on people. period!

good sketch, too

Charles (Illumistrations) said...

I feel you. My childhood is littered with MJ classics to the point where there's no denying his greatness. And its sad that it took his passing for people to put all the other stuff aside to actually appreciate what he has done for R&B/pop and music as a whole. He will greatly be missed.