"Somebody once said It's the soul that matters" Remembering Michael Jackson #TheVoiceOfOppressed

It was a time of rebellion. The global economic crisis, the fall of the Guinea- Bissau War of Independence, the Vietnam war, the death of Che Guevara, the Naxalite uprising in India, anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu, The JVP insurrection in Sri Lanka, the Cultural Revolution in China, these were the situations around the world in the late 1960's and early 1970's. 

At that period, pop music was popularly growing in the United States, creating a global marketplace. Music bands such as 'The Beatles', 'The Rolling Stones', 'ABBA' were world-famous. Millions of people were crazy for Beatles concerts; they often ran out of tickets, fans from all over the world united under the name of 'The Beatles'. Pop culture developed like a wildfire in the minds of young people to the extent that it became emotionally chunked with their lifestyle. 

 

Image: Anndromediaid

Michael Jackson must have spent his childhood with all these circumstances mentioned above. He is the eighth child out of nine of the Jackson family, born in Indiana on August 19, 1958. Jackson and his siblings were introduced to music because his father was already a musician. Jackson made his professional debut in 1964 with his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon with the team name 'Jackson 5'. In 1971 he started his solo debut with the album 'Off and Wall'. Later his music videos 'Beat it', 'Billie Jean', 'Thriller', 'Bad', 'Dangerous', 'HIStory' all broke the musical record ever made in history. 

Singing with the rhythm and dancing at high speed without missing a beat requires incredible skill to do both together. There is no doubt that Jackson acquired that skill through rigorous training and he was able to do that amazingly well. In all his songs, sadness, excitement, joy, humor, all these emotions mixed up together and served as a heavy feast to the fans around the world. 

Voice against color, race, social oppression was expressed through his songs. He broke the racial boundaries through his music and transformed his music into a tool of rebellion. Because Jackson was the overall voice for the oppressed, he won the hearts of people who could even die for him. His thoughts and actions were as big as his music reaching out to people around the world. 

Image: Ivabalk

Do we all remember these lines from a famous song by MJ?

"Some things in life they just don't want to see

But if Martin Luther was livin'

He wouldn't let this be, no, no" 

These are taken from 'They Don't Care About Us' which expresses conflicting racist emotions between the black and white which had set fire among people's minds in the 90's. But the worry is, what was then has not changed until now in terms of racial discrimination. George Floyd's case which happened in 2020 is a perfect example of this. It could only be possible with MJ brought Martin Luther King as a parable in his song. 

Nothing like Jackson's song speaks about the problems that were at that time. Yet, those who are involved in classical music will dismiss such pop music as mere gimmicks because they don't know the world of pain. Here we must acknowledge that Michael Jackson's music has captivated people for twenty years and that it is the basis for the entertainment industry to intervene as a lucrative business. 

Controversy is the constant in the life of any celebrity; Michael is no exception. Like as the coin has two sides, everybody has good and bad pages in their life. It's better if we only admire the art of any artist, rather than looking into their personalities. In that way, MJ got real, unwavering moonwalkers around the world (His fans are known as 'Moonwalkers') 

"My fans truly are a part of me, we share something that most people will never experience" MJ

He had said this often that he considers his fans as his extended family, blood-related. 

Whenever he goes on the world tour for his music concerts, fans follow him like crazy to express their love, hug & kiss him and some even shed tears of joy by seeing him. Although, it's doubtful whether a man gets such wild love from people anymore in coming ages. 

Image: Jodiii

Finally, there is only one thing to say, the styles that Jackson started in all genres of music from pop, soul, rock, hard rock, rap to current hip hop, continue to thrive to this day, it is also true that he had no rivals when Michael Jackson stood at the peak of his fame. MJ has gone down in history as a legend, but he's always the King of Pop. 

This incredible soul left the earth on 25th June 2009. As long as the existence of art in this world, there is no death for the artist who makes it & MJ will always be living with people #WeMissYouMJ 

 

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