Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson's Xscape (part 1 - 5)

..finde ich eine schöne und interessante "Aufarbeitung" von XSCAPE .. ich stelle die Teile hier sukzessive ein :
http://www.examiner.com/articl…l-jackson-s-xscape-part-1

http://www.examiner.com/articl…ckson-s-xscape-part-1</a>

Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson's Xscape (part 1)
June 16, 2014

Welcome to the new 5-part series on Michael Jackson’s Xscapealbum. You can make sure you catch each installment of the series by signing up for a free email subscription. Part 1 begins now:

“He talked always about giving love. It was never about how much love he got back.”––Antonio “L.A.” Reid discussing Michael Jackson, Xscape Documentary DVD

Any announcements of “new music” from Michael Jackson must necessarily and rightly be met with a healthy amount of skepticism.

Important questions have to be answered: Is this new music going to be something dug out of once-private vaults simply because of its guaranteed ability to stimulate cash-flow for all those who manage to attach their names to it? Or will it emerge and stand as a true representation of Jackson’s certified brilliance and successfully extend the incandescent legacy of soul-nourishing rhythms and altruistic service he spent a lifetime creating?

The now much-discussed 17 tracks on the “deluxe edition” of theXscape album allow listeners to consider such questions in depth. Eight “contemporized” versions of songs first recorded in the 1980s and 1990s are followed by original versions and a bonus track featuring Justin Timberlake. Critics have been close to unanimous in proclaiming the album’s musical excellence. How well does it serve the greater purposes established by Jackson himself in regard to his vision of his music and his life?

Visual Metaphors for the King of Pop

One thing was made very clear by early looks at the album’s cover image, by Mat Maitland of Big Active, and the poster, by Mr. Brainwash, that comes with some editions of the album. Both recognize Jackson in a way he often said he wished most to be remembered–– as a great artist. The poster by Mr. Brainwash (a.k.a. Thierry Guetta) gives us MJ rendered in a neo-expressionistic pop style reminiscent of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Banksy all rolled into one. Surrounded by the titles of songs in different fonts against a seemingly shredded and splattered background, Jackson emerges as both a creator of enduring art and an indestructible force of it.

The ultra-modern image created by Mat Maitland for the cover drew boos and cheers when first revealed but it may in fact represent one of the better metaphors for the King of Pop ever offered. The upper portion of Jackson’s head extends out a slanted golden ellipse that could be a satellite dish, part of a speaker, a halo, or a portal. The interior of the circle, and Jackson’s face and suit beneath it, reflect a universe pulsing with energy. It may be interpreted as a symbol of Jackson as someone who was in tune with the “music of the spheres” but also as something more. It possibly implies he had been born of that marvelous myth and was someone who shared with the world as many of the gifts he brought with him as the world allowed. It certainly illustrates, as the centerfold image in the CD’s booklet does, that there was always much more to the man than most could see.

Making the Spiritual Connection

In interviews with Billboard Magazine editor Joe Levy on the Xscape Documentary DVD, every principal producer involved spoke of a desire to render service on behalf of Michael Jackson’s legacy. This musical dream team included: “L.A.” Reid, executive producer Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer of Stargate, Jerome “Jroc” Harmon, and John McClain.

Beyond honoring what all described as the King of Pop’s “greatness,” each described making an unexpected spiritual connection with Jackson. This prompted them to amplify his musical aesthetic rather than attempt to dominate a given track with their own preferred style. Timbaland saw it as a profound challenge:

“I’m doing Michael Jackson [‘s album] but I can’t talk to him,” he noted. “So how do I channel to him? So when I did my music I’d hear him saying, ‘That’s it Tim. That’s it, that’s what I like!’ His spirit resonated through me to give me the OK.”

Jerkins had a similar experience: “When I went in [the studio] I went in with the mindset of what would Michael want me to do right now. There [were] things that I would musically and it was almost like I could hear his voice saying, ‘No no no no, try this…’”

The question of just how well the select team of producers served Jackson’s own well-crafted vision of his artistry was not answered to everyone’s satisfaction when “Love Never Felt So Good,” the first single from Xscape, was released worldwide the first week of May 2014. For those who ask, “Why is that?” please continue reading.

NEXT: Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson's Xscape Part 2

by Aberjhani
author of Journey through the Power of the Rainbow
and co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance

June 17, 2014

“As sad as it may be to admit, in our modern world people are far more accustomed to hearing news of war, genocide, murder, disasters, famine, and disease than they are to hearing anything about acts of love or grace.”––from Journey through the Power of the Rainbow, Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry

Written by Jackson and the great singer-songwriter Paul Anka, the song “Love Never Felt So Good” grooves pleasantly enough to a mid-tempo pace that comes dangerously close to standard disco. The tribute to disco’s signature beats may very well be intentional, as theXscape liner notes imply. However, the repetitive lyrics possess none of the narrative drama of a song such as “Human Nature” or the fluid seductiveness of “The Lady in My Life.”

The song takes its strength and appeal from the intensity of Jackson’s vocals. His ability to infuse a single syllable with the charged lightning of barely-contained passion could make almost any song sound like a masterpiece. One nevertheless tends to hope for material that more adequately matches such rare genius.

Moreover, as danceable as much of the King of Pop’s music was during the disco era, what placed him miles ahead of the herd was that he never used canned formulas, disco or otherwise. His innate originality blasted new pathways into nearly genre of music and made it possible for many who followed to build entire careers on their repeated interpretations of single aspects of his artistry.

Love and Honor

Yet if the above observations are true (or even close to the truth) why would someone as formidably talented as “L.A.” Reid have selected “Love Never Felt So Good” for the lead, middle, and concluding tracks on the 17-song deluxe CD? Perhaps the producer’s point was not the debatable quality of the recording itself. Is it possible his intent was for the song to introduce the theme of the many aspects of love that runs throughout Xscape? As Reid himself put it:

“…During this project we really studied him—he talked about love. He talked always about giving love. It was never about how much love he got back. And we feel it’s our responsibility to really defend his honor. And really stand for what he stood for. And he stood for love.”

Such a statement about someone as hounded and guerrilla decontextualized as Michael Jackson so frequently was should not be too quickly dismissed. It covers more territory than is immediately apparent. It speaks of the give-everything-hold-nothing-back kind of love the singer expressed so fearlessly through his music and person, and which caused millions across the globe to feel an essential part of themselves had died when he did on June 25, 2009. Love, after all, in Mr. Jackson’s world, was never anything less than a cosmic-scaled event. The recognition, anticipation, and experience of L-O-V-E were what gave human existence its purpose and what made divine promises credible.

Pumping up the Volume

If “Love Never Felt So Good” provides Xscape with a less than spectacular start, the second track, “Chicago” a.k.a. “She Was Lovin’ Me” kicks it into higher jaw-dropping gear. The lyrics by Cory Rooney are as ethically intense as Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” For all of his shy demeanor and hypersensitivity, MJ often confronted in his songs complex moral dilemmas that others either avoided altogether or dismissed as inconsequential in favor of short-lived pleasures without much guilt:

“She tried to live a double life
Lovin’ me while she was still your wife(she’s wanting me)
She thought that lovin’ me was cool
With you at work and the kids at school...”

Vocally, Jackson doesn’t just flow from a state of stunned innocence to pained outrage. He virtually performs by himself a duet in which he underscores the tragedy that occurs when people go beyond betraying each other to betraying the beauty of love itself. The agony of that betrayal explodes with cyclonic fury and astonishing artistry.

How Love Feels and How Love Is

The fire lit with “Chicago” continues to burn with “Loving You.” This third track—whether you reference the “contemporized version or the original––smolders with heated degrees of romantic longing that Jackson rarely committed to recordings. It delivers the enchanted reverie suggested by “Love Never Felt So Good” but which the latter, arguably, does not quite pull off. It also marks a natural progression from earlier romantic ballads with the now adult Jackson (around 29 at the time of the recording) expressing dreamy desire without succumbing to artless raunch. The lyrics, penned by the singer, ready as uninhibited poetry:

“Hello August Moon
Where are the stars of the night?
You promised me too soon
Cause it’s been cloudy all night
And the weatherman said“If you’re not well stay in bed…”

The layered vocals showcase vintage form with zero room to debate superlative craftsmanship. It is a wholly captivating performance because he issues a very bold call that invites an equally bold response.

http://www.examiner.com/articl…l-jackson-s-xscape-part-2

Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson's Xscape (part 3 of 5)

Creative director Jamie King and the team responsible for the “Slave to the Rhythm” video discuss recreating Michael Jackson in “virtual form.” MJ Vevo

June 19, 2014

“This is the place
That you choose to be with me
When you thought you could be inanother world…”
--Michael Jackson, A Place with No Name

More than one music critic has singled out Jackson’s re-imagining of the group America’s 1972 number 1 hit, “A Horse with No Name,” rewritten by the singer and re-recorded for Xscape as “A Place with No Name,” as the centerpiece of the album. To listen to both versions of the song back-to-back is to experience some idea of what might have been possible had Jackson lived to record entire collections of reinterpreted classic songs from different genres and eras.

The original song, written by Dewey Bunnel, has been interpreted in many ways. Some have said it describes an experience with heroine that allows the protagonist (not necessarily the singer) to escape the banalities and oppressive restrictions of his daily life as he rides a nameless horse through the desert. Bunnel himself has said drugs had nothing to do with it. He is quoted in Gary Graff’s and Daniel Durchholz’s Rock ‘n Roll Myths as stating the following:

“It really was about a desert, as simple as it is…
the desert was a place of wonder;
now it could be more of a place of sanctuary or shelter,
away from the hordes.”

In the desert, the narrator is able to “remember his name,” or reaffirm his own identity. Yet, ultimately, he also experiences a nightmarish dystopian vision:

“The ocean is a desert with its life underground
And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no love…”

Jackson’s re-imagining takes the action out of the bone-dry desert. He places it instead on a highway where the modern technology of his jeep breaks down. A mysterious woman appears to guide him through thickening fog to a city that is clearly more utopian than dystopian:

“This placed is filled with loveand happiness
Why in the world could I wanna leave…"

The difference is not just a matter of equally compelling narratives. Jackson makes it a point to affirm the healing beauty of both fantasy and reality. Each gives redemptive meaning to the other as opposed to presenting the painful opposite: one circle inside hell (as with Dante’s The Divine Comedy) leading to yet another circle inside hell. The construction of such a hope- and love-filled Michael-Jacksonian vision (if you will) in direct response to a song that had mesmerized listeners across the globe, was one way to battle the seemingly endless stream of nightmare realities that so frequently characterize human existence.

The Performing Artist as Transhumanist Art

Was there a way for anyone to truly prepare for the Michael Jackson hologram––or virtual representation–– performance of “Slave to the Rhythm” on the 2014 Billboard Awards broadcast for the entire world to see? Reactions to it have run the gamut from outrage and shocked disbelief to overwhelming joy and stunned silent tears. The song, number 5 on the album, is itself a fine enough example of what Jackson once described as “putting the jelly with the jelly,” or combining the best with the best.

The performance finds Jackson in full-throttle funk mode after recording and re-recording it, according to Reid, some 24 times to get the in-your-face vocal effects he wanted. Combined with Timbaland’s contemporized production and the compositional genius of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Reid, the song became an instant classic the moment it was tagged for the album.

With the over-the-top launch provided by the Billboard Awards, “Slave to the Rhythm” seemed guaranteed to debut somewhere near the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart or to at least push Xscape itself into the magazine’s prized number 1 album position. Neither of these likelihoods occurred and it is a fair enough question to ask why.

The answer may be as simple as the right song by the right creative artists presented at the wrong time. The idea of a woman as a slave within any context––musical metaphor or otherwise––creates a psychic hurdle for many people in this year 2014 when human trafficking is a real-time tragedy suffered by millions. Moreover, “Slave to the Rhythm” made its extravagant prime-time debut just as the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign was hitting its peak. That observation should not be read as a suggestion that Reid is insensitive to such social tragedies or that the King of Pop had any way of knowing, while recording the song in 1991, the extent to which human trafficking would still be a major human challenge more than two decades later.

NEXT: Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson Xscape Part 4

Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson's Xscape (part 4)

June 22, 2014

“It is difficult to listen to ‘Do You Know Where Your Children Are’ without thinking about the ongoing #BringBackOurGirls campaign.” –Article Excerpt (Aberjhani)

What television audiences experienced with the debut of “Slave to the Rhythm” was Mr. Jackson as transhumanist art in its more positive and inspiring holographic form. Anyone who finds that statement unsettling probably should not.

At least one potential definition of transhumanist art is the creative representation of a person, such as in a work of visual art or literature, which utilizes advanced technologies (or allusion to such technologies) to symbolize humanity as an enhanced species closer to cyborgs or angels than to apes. In its broader philosophical framework, transhumanism is a futuristic ideology that studies both the likely pitfalls and potential benefits of employing technology to enhance the physical, intellectual, and overall psychic capacities of human beings.

If you accept the above definitions and are comfortable acknowledging that transhumanism as a concept, art form, and movement are quite real, then it should not be too difficult to consider that Jackson himself often employed elements of transhumanist art in his work. The King of Pop in fact utilized his own physical being as a canvas upon which to paint conceptions of humanity that went beyond socially-assigned demographics.

Critics and Categories

Neither color, nor gender, nor nationalities were categories comprehensive enough to fully define him. Images such as that of the giant statue of himself in the History video (there were nine of them actually), the defiance of gravity in “Scream,” and the body and facial morphing at the end of “Black or White” reveal an entity hungry for an existence without falsely-imposed boundaries. There are other examples as well.

Critics of Jackson’s use of transhumanist art often comment in negative or ridiculing terms. However, they rightly do not associate him with any kind of transhumanist agenda because his work as a humanitarian leaves no doubt about his deepest concerns. A more valuable way to acknowledge his use of the genre might be to recognize how it sometimes suited, or accommodated, his battles to break down racial and social barriers, encourage self-empowerment, and replace the impulse to blindly destroy and pollute beauty with a will to consciously create and sustain it. He took risks, as all of history’s greatest artists have done, that did not always produce the best results. What may be most important is that he tried to share with people, through his art as a whole, awareness that individual lives do not have to be restricted to convenient but painfully insufficient categories.

The “Slave to the Rhythm” hologram was eerie and electrifying, yes. But it also extended the performing artist’s visible, sonic, and cultural presence in a way that is almost as powerful as that provided by his rockumentary, This Is It.

The Artist as Witness to Human Triumphs and Tragedies

“Do You Know where Your Children Are” may be the most socially conscious of the songs on Xscape. Many individuals of Jackson’s generation will recall that while growing up a public service message broadcast every night on television stating, “It is now 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”

If children were not where they belonged at that time of night, you might hear telephones ringing or parents’ voices yelling throughout the neighborhood to get them there. Most children themselves, whether tweens or teens, generally hurried off before receiving a parental summons. The message would repeat every hour up until midnight

This sixth track on the album, with the riveting opening bass line inserted by Timbaland, is so danceable that you almost forget how serious the song is. But then Jackson cuts loose in the final verse and closing choruses with ecstatic utterances that sound almost as if he’s singing in tongues. It is one sign of how fiercely urgent he believes his message is and that urgency makes it clear that he is delivering more than an exceptional performance. He is fulfilling the role (some have described it as sacred) of the artist as witness to humanity’s triumphs and tragedies.

It is difficult to listen to “Do You Know Where Your Children Are” without thinking about the ongoing #BringBackOurGirlscampaign. In fact, the song is a sobering reminder that what happened in Nigeria is only one overwhelming example of the unconscionable brutalities––whether caused by Boko Haram, civil war in Syria, or mass shootings in the United States––that destroy children’s just-beginning lives nearly every day.

On the surface, “Do You Know Where Your Children Are” masterfully illustrates the cycle of criminality in which too many youth find themselves trapped after fleeing abusive treatment within home environments. There is in fact much more occurring in a much broader social scenario:

“The police come round the corner
Somebody there told
He’s arresting this little girl
She’s only 12 years old…”

The 12-year-old’s victimization only begins at home where she has been betrayed by those whose love she had been taught to trust. Her maltreatment is multiplied numerous times over by others to whom she turns for help, and then again by the very legal system charged with protecting society’s innocents.

One of the great ironies of Jackson’s life was that he was persecuted over allegations of sexual abuse––subsequently declared unfounded by the courts and/or withdrawn by accusers–– while he traveled the globe and saw in one country after another how cruel humanity sometimes treats its children. One of the great victories of his life was that he never allowed the persecution to stop him from working––virtually right up to the end of his life–– to alleviate the various forms of suffering that children worldwide experience. The atrocious number of suicides attempted daily, and the numbers of children who starve to death or die from a lack of proper medical attention speak chillingly for themselves.

NEXT: Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson Xscape Part 5: A Gangsta’s Broken Blue Heart