Remembering Michael Jackson

There is so much that can be said, and will, both good and bad about the all too sudden passing of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. This was a man who grew up in one of the poorest cities in the country, whose murder rates are always among the top in the nation as well. This was a man who had spent 80% of his life under immence scrutiny and under the public eye. This was an icon who had always said that he felt more comfortable on a stage than anywhere else and it showed in his personal life. This was a man who systematically was not only the greatest artist in his own right, but owned some of the greatest music ever recorded. But this was also a man who was accused of horrendous things, and even though he had been acquitted or had settled with some of the families, those accusations will forever tarnish his image in some people's eyes. But this was also a man who influenced generations and revolutionized his industry in ways no one had, has or ever will again. This was also a scarred little boy stuck in a mans body who never, ever truly got over the abuse he suffered at the hands of his manager and father. Last night, Thursday June 25th, 2009, the world lost it's last great icon.

Although I don't have a personal memory that actually involves meeting the man, I like so many others of my generation, have a personal attachment with his music. I've always loved his dancing and would hit the dance floor anytime it came on. Songs like "Man in the Mirror" were great songs that would make you think, but also came off so sincere that you knew this was someone who wasn't just singing about it like many of today's artist. "Thriller" revolutionized not only the music industry as being the greatest album of all times, but it revolutionized the music video industry. His great performance in "The Wiz" showed that he had proven himself as more than a music icon, but the icon of an entire generation.

I remember being a DJ in college and during a hip-hop show I co-hosted with a friend, we used to play "The Way You Make Me Feel" religiously. We would take it out of the records, one of the few actual songs from records we'd play, and put on the long dance version and just dance ourselves in the studio. I remember dancing to Michael Jackson at my wedding, the only one as everyone else just sat back and watched. That was what his music did to people, if you really felt it, you'd get lost in it.

Alot of awful things will and already have come out. Entertainment Tonight disgustingly paid for the exclusive rights to the last photo ever taken of Michael Jackson, stretched out on the gurney as the EMS take him out of his home. Keith Olberman tried, but failed to rationalize why so many would come out to the hospital and home of this man. And I'm sure that many more will drag the man's name through the mud in an effort to tarnish a legend in the way that the American public and news media is well-known for doing. They will try to make people forget the humanitarian that Michael Jackson was, by saying he was a recluse. They will diminish what he had done for so many children to give them the childhood he never had by saying that he had an unhealthy relationship with them. They will say he wasn't a good father, but by all accounts, minus the episode in Germany, he was a great dad. They'll diminish his career by saying his albums after "Thriller" all were flops, but that was the best selling album of all times, anything else would be lesser of an album based on pure numbers.

As loved as he was as an artist, I hope that Michael Jackson gets the respect in death that he failed to receive in life. Good night sweet prince, may you finally find peace.