Patrick Tice-Carroll

“The Sound of Crossover” Response

Anne Danielsen makes a compelling argument for why Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop
‘Til You Get Enough” was so successful as an African-American crossover song into the white
pop music culture, citing specific examples and analyses of sonic texture and rhythmic utilization
in connecting both black and white listeners. I have concern, however, with some of the rhythmic
examples given that Danielsen uses to make this point.
A large part of this article is based on the use of anticipations of the downbeat, defined
using the blanket term micro-rhythm. These timings are measured milliseconds of difference
between the actual attack of the sound and the rhythmic grid associated with the pulse of the
music. These deviations, however, are only noticed past 20 milliseconds of difference. Under
that and our brains are unable to process any difference in timing. Danielsen argues that the
extended use of this tactic activates what she calls the “hidden impetus,” but upon listening, it is
rather difficult to pick out the frequency that Danielsen describes. While I agree that these micro-
rhythms are used in particular places to anticipate the downbeat, I’m not sure that they lend as
much an impact as she argues they do.
Another rhythmic aspect that seems a bit of a stretch is Danielsen’s connection of the
song’s main two-bar vamp with cross-rhythms, or polyrhythms. In analyzing the rhythmic
groupings of this vamp, Danielsen concludes that a 4:3 cross-rhythm is used, harkening back to
the more African-American based music of previous decades. However, the notation provided
shows that this supposed cross-rhythm is no more than one beat and a half of syncopated rhythm.
If this rhythm was to continue, there would be a case for calling it a polyrhythm, but where it
stands now, the 4:3 label seems to stretch the definition a bit far.
Jackson’s dance in the official music video for “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is an
interesting deviation from the argument made in the article on the stress of the downbeat of each
measure. Looking at Jackson’s choreography, he accents heavily and consistently beats two and
four. Danielsen mentions how the rhythmic bed of this particular example of African-American
crossover features stress on each beat as the clear 16th note subdivisions are made in the shaker
throughout, making Jackson’s dance even more juxtaposed in its application. The micro-rhythms
discussed throughout this article are reflected in Jackson’s highly accented and rigid dance, full
of anticipatory movements and gestures.