"The Misunderstood Power of Michael Jackson's Music - Joe Vogel

Excerpts from a powerful essay by Joseph Vogel that appeared in The Atlantic, February 8, 2012:

“The Misunderstood Power of Michael Jackson’s Music”

“There is [a] crucial part of Jackson’s legacy that deserves attention: his pioneering role as an African-American artist working in an industry still plagued by segregation, stereotypical representations, or little representation at all.

“Jackson never made any qualms about his aspirations. He wanted to be the best. When his highly successful Off the Wall album (in 1981, the best-selling album ever by a black artist) was slighted at the Grammy Awards, it only fueled Jackson’s resolve to create something better. His next album, Thriller, became the best-selling album by any artist of any race in the history of the music industry. It also won a record-setting seven Grammy awards, broke down color barriers on radio and TV, and redefined the possibilities of popular music on a global scale.

“Rarely has an artist been so adept at communicating the vitality and vulnerability of the human condition: the exhilaration, yearning, despair, and transcendence. Indeed, in Jackson’s case he literally embodied the music. It charged through him like an electric current. He mediated it through every means at his disposal–his voice, his body, his dances, films, words, technology and performances. His work was multi-media in a way never before experienced.

“This is why the tendency of many critics to judge his work against circumscribed, often white, Euro-American musical standards is such a mistake.

“Jackson never fit neatly into categories and defied many of the expectations of rock/alternative enthusiasts. He was rooted deeply in the African-American tradition, which is crucial to understanding his work. But the hallmark of his art is fusion, the ability to stitch together disparate styles, genres and mediums to create something entirely new.

“As a competitor…Michael Jackson wouldn’t be satisfied. His goal was to prove that a black artist could do everything a white artist could (and more). He wanted to move beyond every boundary, earn every recognition, break every record, and achieve artistic immortality (“That is why to escape death,” he said, “I bind my soul to my work”).

“The point of his ambition wasn’t money and fame; it was respect.

“As he boldly proclaimed in his 1991 hit, “Black or White,” “I had to tell them I ain’t second to none.”

These Joe Vogel's quotes fom his article were posted by commentor "Ana" on the blog post
by Raven Woods
“THE NEGRO ARTIST AND THE RACIAL MOUNTAIN”: HOW LANGSTON HUGHES’S SEMINAL 1926 ESSAY MAY HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND BOTH MICHAEL JACKSON’S ART AND HIS STRUGGLES: PT http://www.allforloveblog.com/?p=9242

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