Michael Jackson: Remembering the Music Genius Five Years Later

by WeAreTheWorld. Sat Jun 28, 2014 3:50 pm

Michael Jackson: Remembering the Music Genius Five Years Later

By: Amy Nelson
June 27, 2014

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Five years have gone by since Michael Jackson has passed, and although the pop icon is no longer around to create new music, his voice is kept alive through the incredible songs he crafted before his death. Songs such as Billie Jean, Remember the Time, and Thriller, are just a few of the classic melodies that are still played by DJs on radio stations and in nightclubs around the world. Michael Jackson was an incredible musician, and remembering the music genius five years later will forever cherish the tunes he has left behind.

One aspect of Jackson’s legacy was the amount of thought, creativity, detail, and money he put into each of his music videos. Many of his videos were produced as short films that told a detailed story describing the content in a particular song. Jackson’s hit single, Billie Jean, was one of the first music videos sung by a black musician (along with Prince and Donna Summer) to receive regular airplay on MTV. The video was released in 1983 and featured Jackson walking on a sidewalk which lit up with each step he took.

Michael Jackson’s Remember the Time music video was released in 1992 from his Dangerous album. The video was shot as a short film with Egypt as the setting and contained innovative visual effects, striking imagery and costumes, and featured cameos by Iman, The Pharcyde, Eddie Murphy, and Magic Johnson.

Earth Song was a touching melody about the things that people are doing to destroy the planet and animals. The video depicts Jackson walking through a forest that has been burnt down and shows images of animals that have been slaughtered for humans’ unnecessary trinkets. The music video was released in 1995 and made a huge impact on many organizations aiming to improve poverty, pointless animal murders, and Earth’s man-made destruction. Michael Jackson’s passion to make the world a better place is definitely worth remembering the music genius five years later along with his gentle spirit and infectious smile.

Jackson impressed the world with Smooth Criminal in 1988 when he performed his famous “anti-gravity” lean in the music video. The short film shows the musician dancing in a 30s night club and battling it out with a few gangsters along the way. The dance sequence in this video was one of his best performances in a music video apart from Thriller.

Black or White was Jackson’s groundbreaking video that promoted equality between ethnic backgrounds and gender. The video shows the singer dancing with people from many different racial origins, making a statement that everyone deserves to be treated with respect no matter what color their skin happens to be. At the end of the video, actors and models of a variety of ethnicities were filmed lip-synching to Jackson’s song. Their faces were morphed into each other reiterating once again that all people should be treated equally.

And of course, Michael Jackson’s most popular music video to date and the world’s biggest-selling album of all time, Thriller, displays the artist’s flawless dancing skills, impressive vocal range, and unique zombie development all within 14 minutes. The short film shows Jackson on a date and soon after, he transforms into a werewolf. He then encounters a group of zombies and turns into one himself. The video, released in 1983, cost half a million dollars to create and was directed by John Landis. (An American Werewolf in London)

Michael Jackson’s talent was limitless as is the list of fan-favorite music videos to remember him by. His music was inspirational, his videos were visually stimulating, and his drive to help improve the human race was encouraging. Michael Jackson was and will always be a music genius, and remembering his amazing talent five years later will keep his memory alive.

Source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]