You have to love twitter!
Questo of the Roots explained to his followers why he feels Beyonce is the new Michael Jackson.
Here’s what he wrote on his twitter page,
ok @RezanWhoi here is my beyonce is the new MJ argument.
thriller breaking open has more to do with the LONG overdue accolades america has FINALLY given black artists after 80 years of injustice.
threatening to shut mtv down if they don’t play billie jean has MORE to do with the inequity social problems of america than it did billie jean being a brilliant song.
billie jean IS a brilliant song.
but the TIMING of its release had a WHOLE hell of alot to do with what was going on at the time.
imagine if they gave “super freak” love on mtv when they were supposed to.—you gonna tell me the song that sampled “super freak” could build an empire—but not the song that gave birth to it?
“super freak” was a victim of coming a year too early. when the invisible “no blacks allowed” sign was disguised as a “we play what our audience calls for” game.
that said yes of course. the luck and timing of thriller could NOT have happened to a better person and im HAPPY that i was alive at the time. mike worked hard to get to where he was and this is by far NOT an anti MJ post.
(for those coming late to the party–@RezanWho does NOT agree with me that beyonce is the heir to the MJ throne)
mean what more can i say?
she’s well on her way at a quicker and later pace than the unspoken.
this is year 10 for her at THIS level.
it took MJ 13 years before he became GOD status.
noone is EVER disputing MJ being the STANDARD.
noone.
im pro mj til cows come home.
but you CANNOT dispute the fact that being “the first” kinda trumps everything.
i dont even consider Thriller an album more than i do consider it a 45 minute social experiment.
in other words if we LIVED in a world in which there was a FAIR LEVEL playing field in which RACE was NOT a factor in how art was received and promoted at radio:
in english?
–if there was a fair level playing field
-the idea of “watering down” music so that “america” (white people) can easily digest the music would not even be a factor in the creative process (and for those scratching heads that is the NUMBER ONE priority with songwriters and producers—the “popness” and accessibility of a song to someone who needs sugar before the medicine going down….—cause if that were NOT the case then P FUNK woulda had number one hit after number one hit in their 70’s heyday.
-pop radio, news outlets, and the like would accept all artists in their formats.
(once again for late comers, mtv refused to play the billie jean video because “black music” was not their forte. —”we are a rock channel”—sony threatened to take all videos off the air if mtv did not play it. it went from being a token move to singlehandedly allowing us to FINALLY play in some long overdue reindeer games.)
so again.
MJ is more a social experiment in my eyes.
who just so happened to make some kick ass music.
so yes. his music WAS magic. but my point is SOMEONE was gonna break the bank code in 1982.
it was due time
coulda been grandmaster flash
coulda been debarge.
coulda been lionel
coulda been prince.
someone was gonna pull the king arthur move.
mj was the victor.
NOW THAT SAID LETS START MY campaign.
if you are to pick the ONE figure in music today that is taking that baton:
mofos is looking everywhere.
ursh?
justin 1.0?
breezy?name em.
who is MJ’s heir?!?!?!
sorry.
the fact that she had to overcome SERIOUS obstacles to get to even being considered really brings the point home!
and since its the age of irony in which tiger is a pimp. the top rapper in 2010 is a white chick from cali
why not B?
when you make songs that enter the lexicon of america’s everyday talk then…*shrug*? is she not a contender?
when you surpass making “a club song” or a “banger” and it winds up becoming “a friggin lifestyle. is she not a contender?
—im sorry there is some vitamin “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” injected into “crazy in love” ?whenever that shit comes on in the club.—i cant quite describes what it is when a song becomes a lifestyle instead of just a song….
–remember when “g thing” came out in 92 and made white people finally feel like niggas? (gheah!—-and yall reading this dont even front like yall didnt get your vicarious “beyotch!” on during the chronic era—
THAT is the power of “Crazy in love”. a song that made non model, regular, round the way, non black, overweight, uptight, not easy on the eyes, and whatever else category that is meant to be the physical opposite of however beyonce looked in the video….that song made women feel sexy.
—and it was HARD enough to make dudes wanna rhyme over that shit.
when a song can singlehandedly give someone a re-do (you do remember back when her first obstacle was overcoming being the next scrutinized diana ross to the remaining post survivor DC members as florence ballard era right?—she was supposed to be done then right?
crazy wiped our memory clean like that flashy thing in men in black.—
need i go on? she has surpassed the grammy quota. her videos are studied, copied, parodied, and other “ieds”. she’s her own empire. she writes her own material. newsworthy.
i mean you might have a personal “she stole my lunch money” thing going on–
and its kinda hard for me being a stan to someone you know—but the evidence is there. she appeals to all races. all lifestyle creeds from the kiddest of the kid. to the churchest of the church. gays. straights. huxtable men and naborcof creeps. housewives and hoes.—i mean she has EVER demographic on LOCK.she can ACTUALLY SING.
and dances with the best of them
face is a regular on most fashion mags
sells out stadiums
wins countless grammies
makes anthems
got bank
is her own industry(still counts for something right?)
Spotted @ HHNM
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