Michael Jackson: Often Imitated Never Duplicated
Michael Jackson:
Often Imitated, Never Duplicated
Michael Jackson brought a new style to the music scene, changing everything from fashion, videos and dance, which started around the making of the Thriller album and several of it’s music video’s. Men, women, boys, girls, black, or white it did not matter; everyone wanted to be a little like Michael Jackson, he crossed over all races and genres of music. It could have been the red military type jacket, the black pants, patent leather shoes, or the white sequin glove that he wore in the Thriller video. Everyone tried to copy Michael Jackson in some shape, form, or fashion, especially trying to do the moonwalk or robot that Michael Jackson perfected. Everyone stood in front of a mirror to see if they could do the Robot or told someone to watch me as they did the moonwalk. Michael Jackson and the Thriller album have influenced many of the pop artists today in their dance and showmanship. Record executive, producer, and singer Antonio Reid stated this in Rolling Stone Magazine.
Michael has influenced so many artists, some of whom are picking up on the grandeur and showmanship of his live performances. You can see his influence in his sister Janet, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Britney Spears, and in Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. You can see his influence in the dance moves—the syncopated choreography—that a lot of young artists use. And a lot of them have picked up his work ethic. When you look at Britney Spears production or a Justin Timberlake production, or it you look at an Usher production, you really see that they took a page out of Michael’s book; they went to rehearsal, and they must have worked eight hours a day, because their shows are flawless, as Michael’s shows were flawless (A. Reid).
So many artists are motivated and influence by Michael Jackson that a lot of them even imitate him 25 years after the Thriller album. The imitation runs deeper than just song and...
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