Michael Jackson encyclopedia : songs, life and family: Dangerous: In the third section, boy becomes man: Jackson struts through a wall of flames, Henley shirt open, screaming at his enemies like a mad king. It gives way to Culkin rapping in shades and oversized gold chains, which is just as well considering that this is the man who actually spit the bars. Jackson’s embrace of hip-hop not only aligned him with the popular sound of black (and white) youth culture, it adds an aggressive masculinity unseen in his catalogue, and ultimately paved the way for the late period Biggie therapy session. Of course, in the final section, Jackson turns into a black panther. You understand that meaning. So did millions of parents in Tipper Gore America, who flooded Fox and its local affiliates with phone calls, forcing Jackson’s team to re-cut and sanitize the video.
For the most part, the collaborations actually hurt the songs. No, “Monster” isn’t the next “Thriller”, as 50 Cent claimed it to be, but it’s a decent song. Jackson sounds awkwardly retro, the beat shuffles ‘n’ sweeps, and it feels right…until you’re thrown next to 50’s uninspired rap that sounds more fitting for a summer blockbuster theme. The same goes for the highly irritating and incredibly repetitive “Hold My Hand”, where Akon belts out the same thing again and again in an equally monotonous pitch. For a lead single, it’s tepid and incredibly campy. Then there’s “(I Can’t Make It) Another Day”, featuring guitar wizard Lenny Kravitz, who churns out a chalky riff that tires 45 seconds into the song. Jackson himself sounds angry, forceful, and dominating, but altogether it doesn’t beg for a re-listen. That’s sort of a must when it comes to his music.
We will be excluding MJ’s compilations (with one exception), joint efforts with the Jackson 5, and his posthumous albums, which ranged from surprisingly good (Xscape), pretty awful (Michael) and downright pointless (last year’s Scream) See what it takes to be crowned king. Shamone. Edd said: These were tough times for young Michael. His voice was changing, forever altering his beloved cherubic vocals, and a shifting musical landscape began to make his brand of pop/soul obsolete. Although Music & Me had its moments it had more than its share of dull spots.
Michael Jackson family: Mocienne Petit Jackson’s (Michael Jackson’s daughter) books are now available in french! For our dutch visitors: Deel twee van de autobiografische trilogie van Mocienne Petit Jackson begint met een uitgebreide beschrijving van Mociennes ontvoering naar Nederland. Vervolgens lezen we hoe het haar vergaat in het adoptiegezin waar zij samen met haar nichtje Delivrance terechtkomt. Gaandeweg ontdekt Mocienne dat haar vader Michael Jackson is. Wanneer ze vijftien jaar is gaat ze weg bij het adoptiegezin, woont vier jaar lang op een internaat en gaat daarna zelfstandig wonen. We volgen haar in haar volwassenwording, die zich met vallen en opstaan voor ons ontrolt. Mocienne krijgt een vriend en wordt moeder van een zoon. Deze verbintenis is geen lang leven beschoren. Er is sprake van aanhoudende onenigheid met de Raad voor de Kinderbescherming, met diverse rechtszaken tot gevolg. Deze betreffen eerst haar eigen situatie, later die van haar zoon en haar gevecht om hem in haar leven te houden. De ene onverkwikkelijkheid volgt de andere op. Lees het boek hier Thriller Betrayal (Dutch Edition).