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American entertainer Michael Jackson, who was often known by the nickname "the King of Pop", is considered one of the most successful and influential entertainers of all time. The influence of his music, dancing, fashion and humanitarian contributions has been extensive.

As a child music prodigy, Jackson joined his older siblings at age 5 in The Jackson 5. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular culture and the first African American entertainer to have a strong crossover fan base on Music Television (MTV). His music videos, including those for "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller, are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped bring the television channel MTV to fame.

On June 28, 2009, in a Baltimore Sun article titled "7 Ways Michael Jackson Changed The World," Jill Rosen wrote that Jackson's legacy was "as enduring as it is multi-faceted," influencing fields including sound, dance, fashion, music videos and celebrity. On December 19, 2014, the British Council of Cultural Relations named Jackson's life one of the 80 most important cultural moments that shaped the world. In 2010, two university librarians found that Jackson's influence extended to academia, with references to Jackson in reports concerning music, popular culture, chemistry and an array of other topics.

Cultural and social impact

Ben Beaumont-Thomas, music editor of The Guardian, stated that Jackson ushered in a global culture, writing: "We'll get to the music and dance, but perhaps his most astonishing achievement is his fame: he was the subject of global adulation, even in areas previously untouched by Western pop culture." Tony Sclafani from MSNBC stated that "there was a time when Jackson was thought of primarily as a groundbreaking artist, not a celebrity oddball. That time was 1983 when Jackson’s omnipresence on the pop charts was revolutionary because no African-American artist had ever achieved that high a level of success. Jackson earned his pop icon status by creating music that transcended genres; he also redefined the roles of music videos and dancing in popular music".

In United States

In a 2015 Rolling Stone article titled "Michael Jackson: Black Superhero", Touré wrote:

Many blacks now compare Michael with Barack Obama – perhaps the highest possible compliment in black America. Not only are they both integrationists and racial harmonists, but they both were determined to reach the top while refusing to let race hold them back. "There are so many components of why Barack Obama is the president", says Diddy ,"and Michael Jackson is one of them. He started a change in the perception of the African-American male on a worldwide level: his strength, always putting himself in a power-position, being seen as a hero." Al Sharpton echoes the point. "Way before Tiger Woods or Barack Obama, Michael made black people go pop-culture global", he says. "You had people in France, South America and Iowa comfortable with their kids imitating a black kid from Gary, Indiana. And when some of those people in Iowa grew, they were comfortable with voting for Barack Obama because they got comfortable imitating a black kid named Michael Jackson when they were young. Obama is a phenomenon, but he's the result of a process that Michael helped America graduate to.

Professor Mark Anthony Neal, who also gives a signature course on Jackson at Duke University, said airing his videos paved the way for other black artists and the show Yo! MTV Raps.

Crossover

Professor Anne Danielsen stated about Jackson's song "Don't Stop ’Til You Get Enough":

"Through the combination of a compelling micro-rhythmic design derived from previous black dance music styles with a pop song format and production techniques that were mainstream friendly and not marked by race, Jackson and his producer, Quincy Jones, achieved a critical balance that transcended the segregation of the music market, neutralizing the cultural background and historical baggage of what otherwise would have been deemed “black” music."

In Brazil

In 1996 Jackson visited Dona Marta Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil to film one of the videos for "They Don't Care About Us". When Jackson arrived in Brazil to shoot the video, directed by Spike Lee, Rio's local government became concerned that the singer would show the world an unflattering picture of poverty. Officials in the state of Rio feared images of poverty might affect tourism and accused Jackson of exploiting the poor. Others supported Jackson's wish to highlight the problems of the region, arguing that the government was embarrassed by its own failings. A judge banned all filming but this ruling was overturned by an injunction.

Jackson also collaborated with 200 members of the cultural group Olodum, who "swayed to the heavy beat of Salvador".

Speaking of the music video in The New Brazilian Cinema, Lúcia Nagib observed:

When Michael Jackson decided to shoot his new music video in a favela of Rio de Janeiro ... he used the favela people as extras in a visual super-spectacle ... All the while there is a vaguely political appeal in there ... The interesting aspect of Michael Jackson's strategy is the efficiency with which it gives visibility to poverty and social problems in countries like Brazil without resorting to traditional political discourse. The problematic aspect is that it does not entail a real intervention in that poverty.

In 2009, Billboard described the area as "now a model for social development" and claimed that Jackson's influence was partially responsible for this improvement.

See also

Template:Misplaced Pages books

• Michael Jackson-related games
• List of artists influenced by Michael Jackson
• Michael Jackson impersonator

References

1. Reuters Editorial. "Michael Jackson's music had impact around the globe | Reuters". in.reuters.com. Retrieved July 11, 2017. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
2. Yardley, Jonathan (August 30, 1993). "Nothing More Than ... Feelings". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. Day, Elizabeth (March 8, 2009). "Off the wall but still invincible". London: The Guardian. Retrieved March 10, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.833673
5. Rosen, Jill (June 28, 2009). "7 Ways Michael Jackson Changed The World". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
6. "80 moments that shaped the world". British Council. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
7. Chandler, Cory (May 20, 2010). "Librarians Prove Michael Jackson Was a Rock Star in Academic Literature". Texas Tech University. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
8. Hidalgo & Weiner 2010, pp. 14–28.
9. Hidalgo & Weiner 2010, p. 25.
10. "Michael Jackson: Five years after his death, how his influence lives on | Music | The Guardian". theguardian.com. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
11. By Tony Sclafani. "Jackson changed course of music, society - TODAY.com". today.com. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
12. Touré (June 26, 2014). "Michael Jackson: Black Superhero". Rolling Stone.
14. Debra Alban, "Michael Jackson broke down racial barriers", June 28, 2009
15. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03007766.2011.616298
16. "Brazil:Michael Jackson films video for 'They Don't Care About Us'". ITN. February 9, 1995. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
17. Dunn, Christoper (2001). Brutality Garden. UNC Press. p. 207. ISBN 0-8078-4976-6.
18. Nagib, Lúcia (2003). The New Brazilian Cinema. I.B.Tauris. p. 123. ISBN 1-86064-928-9.
19. "Michael Jackson Remains A Global Phenomenon". Billboard. July 2, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2010.

• Michael Jackson
• Cultural depictions of Michael Jackson
• Cultural impact