Monday, June 29, 2009

Remembering MJ - sorta

You guys ever think that no matter what you do - its never good enough?

I dont. That would suck. I think I am pretty much awesome at everything. haha jk. I have been pretty bad at blogging "everyday" like I said. But I mean who can do something EVERY day -blogging, working out, brushing your teeth - pssht impossible.

Anyway, I am going to try to get back on the daily track. I wanted to write about the Confederations Cup final over the weekend but I left my notes at work. So instead I am going to talk about Michael Jackson.

Yeah Yeah - I know everyone is tired of hearing about him but give me a few paragraphs before you go back to watching TMZ (where youll probably hear about MJ anyway).

Alot has been said the last few days about the two ways MJ will be remembered.
1) A musical icon who has and will continue to influence many artists
2) A freak show accused child molestor whos face you could dip a frito in

On example of this debate took place at a church in South Atlanta. Reverend Al Sharpton was speaking to the congregation about how the media has labeled MJ as a freak, molestor, yadda yadda. Ok. First off, why is this being discussed at church? There is no 2nd point I want to make here so Ill make the first one again. Really Michael Jackson at church?

Anyway, as long as I have been aware of MJ - he has been a joke. My first taste of him was when I heard "Fat" by Weird Al. Great song by the way - same album as "My Bologna" (My Sharona) and "The White Stuff" (NKOTB - The Right Stuff). Thanks to Tyson for introducing me to that cd. I'm not sure when I actually realized just how big MJ was - maybe when I saw the video for "Black or White" or when I saw him perform at halftime of one of the Cowboys superbowl victories (remember when the Bills lost 4 superbowls in a row? haha Thurman Thomas).

Anyway, to me and I'm sure to a lot of people my age, MJ was always just an artist that people made fun of and didnt take seriously. I think people 10 years older than me really truly understood what an icon this guy was and just how influential he has been.

It wasnt until I watched alot of the coverage over the weekend that I really started to get a feel for what those previous generations saw. It made wonder who else in my life (celebrity or not) am I over looking right now?Who did I ignore today that might not be there tomorrow? This is kind of skewed from what I usually write about but I think the thought process I went through with MJ over the weekend in some weird twisted way made me stop and think about those important people in my life that I might taking for granted or not appreciating like I should.

I suggest you all do the same because last week at this time MJ was just some freakazoid that everyone made fun of and now he is gone and will be known as the most influential R&B artist of all time. You never know who you looked over today that might not be there next week.

Wow - that was a downer wasnt it? Sorry about that. To cheer you up here is a video. I used to play this song on repeat when I closed down the store at Express. I'm pretty sure people hated me for a few weeks and someday I'll be gone and theyll miss this song.







2 comments:

  1. Wow really? I always remembered him as an icon. The freak stuff for me came way later. We have a picture of me at 1 yrs old dancing in front of the thriller video. I use to call him Ghoul, and ask my mom to play him for me.

    I was thinking this weekend how there are no icons left. Madonna maybe, but with how much easier it is to get your music out in the public today, it seems like there is just a plethora of ok artists, instead of one amazing one. I wonder if we will ever have another star like that.

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  2. Yeah - I see your point about lacking Icons. U2 maybe?

    Fans these days are so "what have you done for me lately" if an artist doesnt put out an album for a couple of years they might get totally forgotten.

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