Moonwalking

The liberal arts curriculum at my undergrad University mandated at least one semester of Fine Arts study. After hearing abundant complaints about how much homework theater class gave and how much supplies for painting and photography costs, I entered a class that, on paper, came close to a basket-weaving level of difficulty: The History of Rock & Roll and Pop Music. And though it was not particularly academic, I learned more in that class about America, our history and our culture than I have in any previous or subsequent class (and my ridiculous student loans speak to the extreme amount of time I've spent in classrooms). Among our studies of transformative lyrics, rhythms and styles we discovered how traditionally 'American' songs have shaped public opinion, inspired fashion and united an otherwise disparate people. We also learned that every once in a while, a pioneer can change the way we interact with each other and communicate- simply through his music.

Michael Jackson was such a pioneer; his recent death is bringing me back to our in-class conversations regarding the hook in "Beat It" and his unprecedented ability to merge black and white tastes into simple, catchy beats. Through distilling him, his musical style and capacity to capture a musical message in the most memorable videos ever aired on MTV, I realized that my peers and I, unlike previous generations, think of music as both audial AND visual. We never questioned buying and dancing to an album of someone not of our race- it would have been criminal to not partake in the Thriller phenomenon. Much has been written, and there is undoubtedly more to come, but MJ really did change music and for that I give him a shout out.