I'll never forget when I first met Michael Jackson. I was 6 years old and inside a friend's garage. He went to put on some music and showed me the front cover. He said:
"It's Michael Jackson."
Now, I may have been home schooled...but I knew better. I took one look at the long, curly hair, the fair skin and the feminine features and said:
And to be quite honest, that was to be almost the extent of my Michael Jackson knowledge up to the time of his death a couple weeks ago. Oh sure, I had rocked out to his infectious dance beats over the years...but only by way of "Weird Al Yancovich's" Jackson parodies like, "Eat It", and "FAT". (Those parodies and their accompanying music videos are still pure comic genius) All I knew about Mr. Jackson was what everybody in the mainstream media had decided a few years back: he's a noseless monster who lives in Neverland and has sleepovers with little boys. Y'know, the usual.
But just like everybody else, I started desperately wanting to get to know this creepy man as soon as I heard that he was dead. (Isn't that sad though? I kinda feel bad for people like Mr. Jackson, Princess Diana, the pope and such...we really didn't give a hoot about them when they were alive, but as soon as they kick the bucket we're their biggest fans. It's just sad.)
A couple days after he passed away, (and everyone mentioned him in their Facebook status's as if they knew him intimately) I finally got sucked into Michael's life when my little sister Hannah showed me the clip of his infamous "Billie Jean" performance at MoTown 25 in 1983. When he did that moonwalk for the first time and the crowd went wild, I knew I had to see more. Despite what you say about the man...he could dance. He could really, really dance. What a performer
And so I embarked on a quest to discover Michael Jackson. And, of course, the best way to get any research done anymore is via the all-knowing Youtube.com. Once on Youtube, I saw that one of the top video hits was a documentary entitled "Living with Michael Jackson". It was a 10-part YouTube feast, of Michael, up-close and personal. (As if you ever really wanted to get up-close and personal with Michael Jackson) But two-minutes in, there I was, being sucked into this man's life. The videos of his amazing childhood performances, juxtaposed with his tearful retelling of childhood abuse from his father, was enough to make even the most conservative, homeschooled, republican, christian man, cry.
Michael cried some too. (And I doubt he fit any of those previously mentioned adjectives)
So after drying my eyes, I determined to give Michael a chance. I went on iTunes and downloaded his greatest hits album: "Number Ones". I wanted to see if this musician was more than just "Thriller" and "Beat It".
Of course, he was. But not a whole lot more. I mean...if we never had to hear "Earth Song" again, I think we'd all be fine. The same goes for "We are the World". I mean, it was a cool concept...but the lyrics really sucked. (Just check out Willie Nelson's line...)
So...some of his stuff was cheesy. But when Michael Jackson got it right...he got it REALLY right. I've probably listened to "Billie Jean" and "Dirty Diana" a hundred times each since I downloaded the album. The entrancing bass riffs, intoxicating drums, married to his creepy/soothing vocals...makes it hard to turn off the CD. Smooth Criminal is always good too...except I can't really understand what he's saying most of the time. (Of course, he's like that in a lot of his songs...) A lot of times I'm glad that I can't understand the words.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The other morning I awoke to an E-mail from a Danish Design company based in Hong Kong. (Seriously!) They claimed to have seen my design work somewhere, and selected me (along with a bunch of other artists) to create a Michael Jackson commemorative T-Shirt. I couldn't believe it! In fact, I DIDN'T believe it. So I sent their top "designer" an E-mail. I was surprised by his speedy reply. "Jae-Jae" sent me a link to his company's website, and explained that he saw my portfolio on Coroflot.com, and thought my style might lend itself to a MJ T-shirt. He was asking me to enter into a contest, of sorts, with the other illustrators. Only a handful of designs would be selected from the many, and then those few artists would get a certain percentage of the T-Shirt sales. Hmmm....not bad!
So, I immediately began to google images of Michael Jackson...
...then I immediately got kinda sick.
So I decided to draw a picture of young Michael instead. (He was slightly cuter back then anyways).
Since submitting my design, I haven't heard if I was selected yet (which means I probably wasn't). But I still had fun making the shirt...and listening to Michael's music while I made it. I hope you enjoy these things as well.
(Now, beat it!)
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