The Influence Of Michael Jackson On Music
One of the most well-known figures in pop music, Michael Jackson, still stands to be one of the most influential artists of all time. Called “The King of Pop”, Michael grabbed the attention of many audiences with his amazing dance moves and very catch lyrics. He has left a legacy on countless artists, and his music is still played often. Michael sang about thought-provoking songs and racial injustices, and broke MTV’s musical barrier. In several ways, Michael Jackson has contributed to much of America’s culture as he changed the face of music, bringing about new innovations to pop and influencing countless artists, and changed other aspects of American culture with his unique dance moves and cool music videos.
Michael Jackson has had a huge impact on music in several ways and still stands to be the “king of pop”. Michael deserves this name. With the success of his 1982 album “Thriller”, becoming the best-selling album of all time, and his very cool videos that went along with the songs that made it on MTV, Jackson broke the music color barrier. In Jackson’s time, TV music videos would be of bands playing or singers singing on a stage, or a video of them just playing somewhere. Jackson’s biggest hit “Thriller” had a very unique video. It was 14 minutes long, and costed nearly $500,000. Before “Thriller”, MTV would not play any black artists videos, claiming they were not “rock enough”, as MTV only wanted to play that. Michael proved MTV wrong with his vidoes for “Thriller”, “Beat It”, and “Billie Jean”. “Beat it” cost about $150,000. These videos influenced artists to make actual videos for their songs, and changed how artists would advertise their music and visualise their songs.
Jackson changed pop music in many significant ways. As stated before, he was one of the few of highly produced music videos. There were nearly no other music videos like “Thriller” when it was released on December 2, 1983, it was very extraordinary. Jackson was very influential with his music. He popularized new ideas and methods that transcended genres. Two of Jackson’s big hits, “Beat it” and “Black or White” brought both social consciousness and rock guitar to the dance floor. These two songs spent several weeks at the number one spot on Billboards. Jackson mixed multiple genres, such as soul, R&B, pop, and disco to become one of the most transcendent performers in pop music. A New York Times podcast called, “Reckoning with the real Michael Jackson”, talks about the life and legacy of Michael Jackson. During the podcast, the host of this podcast states, “This man was changing everything. I would argue there is probably no other artists who is as important to where popular music currently is then Michael Jackson”. Jackson’s music was big and impactful, being played everywhere, it brought new ideas to pop music. Jackson inspired countless artists such as Kanye West, Beyonce, Usher, and Justin Timberlake. Hearing the Michael Jackson in these artists is clear. These artists have contributed to much of modern culture, without some of these artists, music and media would be completely different. Given this, Jackson stands to be one of the most important figures in American culture and music. Some artists have built entire careers, artists who wouldn’t even be who they are if there were was no Michael Jackson. Artists such as Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, and many more pop stars. One thing the Rolling Stones Magazine wrote in 2001, was that trying to find Michael Jackson’s influence on pop artists was like trying trace the influence of oxygen and gravity.
Michael Jackson rose to his fame with his childhood band, The Jackson 5. The Jackson 5 were one of the first to fuse genres like R&B, disco and pop. Many groups tried to mimic their sound. The Jackson 5 inspired many other African Americans to come. The Jackson 5 also influenced boy bands to come for the following decades. The Jackson 5’s music was a turning point in history within the music industry, they showed many blacks that they could be treated as equally as whites in this Civil Rights Movement. The Jackson 5 split up in 1973, and after that Michael Started working on his solo career. Michael Jackson always pushed the limit in his music videos and his songs. Michael also puts meaningful messages and lyrics in his music. From inspirational songs like “Heal The World”, or “We Are The World”, to thought provoking conscious songs like “Man In The Mirror”, “They Don’t Care About Us”. And his “Earth” song, which was about the problems of the world. Michael has many timeless hits, as so many of his songs have been played for decades. His 1987 comeback album “Bad” was also impactful on upcoming artists, and the album clervly blended pop, rock, and R&B. Michael had an incredible, extensive career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, with him as a solo artist and him with the Jackson 5. And, he’s won 86 Billboard Awards, 13 Grammys, eight World Music Awards, and has won twenty six American Music Awards. These multiple awards just show how much of an amazing artist Michael Jackson was. One of Time Magazine’s pop critics, Jay Cock, who is an American film and music critic, and screenwriter, said that Michael Jackson was the biggest thing to happen to music since the Beatles. Jackson has had an impact on the American Identity, selling over 80 million copies of music, and his 1982 album, “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all time. He has made a lasting impression on the American people. Jackson has influenced dozens of artists, and music affects media and culture, so Jackson has connecting with the American Identity for decades.
In Conclusion, Michael Jackson has left a legacy with his amazing music, completely changing the sound of pop with his multiple genre infusions, and influencing countless artists of several genres to come over decades. Michael definitely lives up to his given title, “The King of Pop”, and is one of the most important historic figures in the music world.
