Review: Making Michael Inside The Career of Michael Jackson

These days, there are books about Michael that talk about all kinds of things about him: his personal life, his money, his impact, the false allegations, his music. However, there are a few books that focused on what made Michael the legend that he became and at times, those books are not widely used when describing Michael's impact. Making Michael Inside the Career of Michael Jackson by Mike Smallcombe is a rare book that not only focuses on the music but his impact, the promotion, his mindset and his genius. However, as I continue to read the book, I started to realize that this book was like so many books on Michael: a disappointment. The book, towards the later parts of his life, starts to become tabloid and facts about what Michael was really going through with Sony Music, AEG and his finances was not something the author wanted to discuss. 

Great cover but the book not so much. 

A Tribute To Prince Rogers Nelson

This is hard to believe that we are now living in a time when the greats of music in the 1980s: Michael, Whitney, David and Prince Rogers Nelson, are no longer with us. When my brother opened the door of his room and stated, "I have bad news", I would never thought that the news would be that Prince had died. At first, I was in denial and I checked my Facebook account and when I saw the news, I cried. I have to be honest, I am not a hardcore Prince fanatic and never will be. I had time to be one. I am a casual fan of Prince and I am one of those fans that likes the hits. However, I also had a distaste for him because of the comments that he stated about Michael.I soon learned that as time went on, he and Michael were friends. When I got older, I got to really into his music and watched his movies. After the death of Prince, I decided that I had to do a tribute to him on this blog. I want to discuss his career, impact, life, the truth about his "rivalry" with Michael and his legacy. My tribute will not be very detailed but to the point so do not expect this tribute to be a long thesis on how Prince made people think differently about black men and their masculinity and so on. Those types of articles have been done already. This is my version on how I see Prince and I hope you like it. 

Prince in 1991.

Review: Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off The Wall

The latest documentary on Michael Jackson features the journey that Michael took from being the sweet, uber talented child star/teen hearthrob and lead singer of the Jackson 5/Jacksons to the beginning of his legendary career. Few child stars become icons and legends in the field of entertainment and Michael was the most successful of them all. It is not highly documented about how Michael transitioned from one realm to another so well and successfully. Finally, Spike Lee's Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off The Wall, goes into the nitty gritty of how Michael made this rare and amazing transition. This review is not about what the documentary is focused on because it is obvious, but more about my honest opinions about certain things from the documentary. Even though I loved the film, there were some things that I noticed or looked into that I could not ignore. Finally, I will let you all know why I think that Spike should not do any more MJ related documentaries after the one on Thriller album. 

Spike Lee's second documentary on MJ, 2016.

Random Thoughts Part 14

This is the 14th edition of Random Thoughts and in this edition, the 20th anniversary of History: Past, Present and Future Book 1 will be discussed. I will discuss the Jacksons, education and why I feel that a certain person should take a break from the Jacksons.  Of course, I couldn't discussed this entry at this time of the year if I did not mention the MJ B-Day celebrations that happened to celebrate what would have been his 57th. I will talk about Donald Trump's comparison to Michael, 3T's reality show and Hayvenhurst being a tourist attraction/museum, supposedly. Finally, I will dedicate this blog to various people. Enjoy reading this entry.

Michael from Ebony magazine 2007.

Book Reviews on Xscape Origins and Dangerous

One of the most important aspects of Michael's legacy was his music and artistry and there are not a lot of books that discuss that side of Michael. Before his death, books on Michael were mostly tabloid based and the most popular one, The Magic and the Madness written by J. Randy Tarborelli, was used as a source for all types of articles and books on Michael. That book is now seen as tabloid foddler that has been pretty much ignored in the MJ fan community. (At least I think so.) After Michael's death, books were being released that discussed his music and his impact in popular culture. Even though these books were well over due, the books became some what a relief that, in the book department, Michael's music legacy is documented for all of the world to read. Two books that will be reviewed separately, in this post are about two albums of Michael's: one iconic and one of a retrospect, that shows the greatness that was Michael, his creativity, activism and impact. 

Michael filming "Black or White" short film in 1991. 

Ten Artists That Remind Me of Michael

I have been planning on doing this blog post for over a year and I was about to do one last year but other things came up. Right now is the best time to do this type of blog post. The entry is about ten artists that reminds me of Michael. These entertainers and/or performers that I have chosen are people who have something or a few things in common with Michael and how they are different from him.  

Michael in 1984 during the Victory Tour.

Random Thoughts Part 9

This is the ninth edition of Random Thoughts and there is so much to discuss. The theme for this edition is respect and honor.  You will read what I think about Timbaland working on music for an upcoming Michael Jackson project, Teddy Riley finally wakes up, why I feel that Randy's concerns for Paris is credible and Justin Timberlake does deserve the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award. The tabloid media will always belittle Michael and the birthday love that Michael received on August 29th. Enjoy. 

Michael in 1991. 

Happy Birthday, Michael!: 20 Videos Every MJ Fan Should See on Youtube

I truly believe that the Internet is one of the best things that ever happened to Michael's legacy. The Internet has become a way for various fans all over the world to showcase Michael and his legacy to the public. Youtube plays such a huge role in Michael's legacy because fans from different corners of the world can upload video/footage of Michael work, interviews and documentaries. To celebrate what would have been Michael's 55th birthday, I have created a list of videos that I believe every fan should see on youtube and why they should see them. The videos show Michael the way that I feel everyone should remember him: loving, sweet, talented, gifted, wonderful, handsome and most importantly, an amazing human being. 

Michael with his brothers holding balloons in the early 1980s.

Dangerous: 20 Years Later

On November 26th, 1991, Michael's eighth studio album, Dangerous, was released. The CD was highly anticipated so much so that before the CD was released, thousands of copies of the CD were stolen by thieves. Dangerous consists of 14 songs, various topics of discussions and multiple music genres that would satisfy any music lover.  The CD started off the Dangerous era that was from 1991 to 1993 that consists of Michael doing various appearances from MTV's 10th Anniversary special to the Soul Train Awards to Oprah. 

Dangerous, 1991.

Review: Michael Jackson - Life of a Icon

I had a chance to purchase the David Gest  documentary of his good friend, Michael Jackson, almost three weeks ago. I wanted to find the time to actually watch the film so I can have an overall opinion of it. So on November 13th, I watched the film.

"Michael Jackson: Life of an Icon", 2011. 

Ok, So Maybe

I was wrong about the Forever Michael tribute that happened in the UK on October 8th, 2011. I was wrong about how it was all going to come about. When I went on twitter and facebook that day, I was reading updates on the concerts and I was shocked that people were stating that the concert was actually good, even solid.
So, I decided to read a few articles about the tribute. I wanted to read articles that simply discussed the concert and what happened in the concert. Here is one article I read about the concert -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/08/michel-forever-michael-jackson-concert_n_1001414.html