Student 1

Student

Professor

Music

13 November 2017

Analysis of Michael Jackson's album “Thriller” and its impact on the music industry

Michael Jackson was one of the African American singers who set the trail and influenced

nowadays singers, like Jaz-Z or Kanye West. Jackson was also of the most prominent singers of the

world. His work broke down racial barriers and world records time after time. As his solo career took

off, Jackson became a music star whose songs appealed to people of all races and social backgrounds.

Even after Michael Jackson's death, his music continues to impress people of all ages, races and

religion. The singer's genius is now universally recognized and his albums are analyzed by critics.

Nicknamed “King Of Pop”, Michael Jackson started his musical career as part of Jackson 5, a

Motown group where the child sang with his brothers. After spending the 1960s and half of 1970s with

Jackson 5, Michael decided to pursue a solo career.

One of the most popular albums of Michael Jackson is “Thriller”, which is a mix of rock, pop

and dance music. The album was released in 1982 and was sold in more than 100 million copies across

the world. The title track, “Thriller”, became a hit, being followed by six more songs which entered the

Top 10 Hits lists in the music industry: “The Girl Is Mine”, 'Beat It”, “Billie Jean”, “Human Nature”,

“PYT” and “Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'”(Wikipedia). Michael Jackson worked with his producer,

Quincy Jones and wrote four of the nine songs included on the album. “Thriller” album won seven

Grammy Awards and became the best selling album of all times, according to Guinness Book of

Records.
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Before the release of “Thriller”, Jackson's songs were not aired on MTV. The network was

promoting only white singers, despite the fact segregation was officially over in 1964. MTV resonated

with the general public, refusing to accept black singers in their program. Jackson's race was a big

obstacle for MTV, regardless how talented the singer was. Music stations refused to play what was still

considered to be “race music”. Black singers were considered to make music for their own race, not for

the general, white public, so their songs were outside the mainstream.

Michael Jackson refused to accept this fate, so he decided to challenge these racial stereotypes.

To be able to analyze the impact of “Thriller” on music industry, one has to look at the social

environment. Even if segregation ended officially in 1964, it was still present in people's minds. 1980's

America was a racist country. Under these circumstances, there were things acceptable and things not

acceptable for a black person. One of the unacceptable things was to be better than a white person.

People still believed that being an African-American was a limiting thing.

When Jackson's “Thriller” was released, the singer's intention was to challenge racism. He

embodied all the things white Americans feared, such as race, religion, sex and ethnicity. This is

obvious in the video of “Thriller”, where Jackson transforms from a handsome young man into a

zombie.

Thriller was Jackson's sixth album, after “Off the wall”. With the latter, Jackson did not

achieved the success he expected. Despite the fact Off the wall” won a Grammy and represented a great

achievement for the former child-prodigy, Jackson was disappointed in the sales. Another problem for

the singer was the fact his music was labeled as Rhythm and Blues. This was a consequence of being a

black singer: black people were associated with blues, not with rock or pop music.

After the release of “Thriller”, Jackson became the world's first megastar. The album and the

videos for the songs included on it made Jackson the new music sensation. As “Thriller” sales boomed,

MTV eventually aired the song's video. Then, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” were regularly aired on the
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network. Michael Jackson raised above all the other singers of his time, even above white ones. This

was a big moment for the music industry.

In the 1980s, music videos were becoming increasingly popular, so Music Television (MTV)

was created in 1981. The channel was playing white singer's videos and it advertised itself as a rock

music channel. When the social pressure after the release of “Thriller” became too much to cope with,

MTV's executives agreed to play Michael Jackson's videos. The decision was taken after CBS' director

urged MTV to introduce “Billie Jean” in their program. This big achievement was not only a big step

for the singer's career, but also an iconic moment in history.

Being broadcasted on MTV brought Jackson more fame, as everyone who owned a TV was able

to hear his music. This meant both white and black people were able to listen to “Thriller”, “Billie

Jean” or “Beat It”. Jackson was now mainstream and his music was breaking racial boundaries.

When Michael Jackson's video aired on MTV, it opened the gate for other black singers, like Prince, or

Lionel Richie. Now they were all able to promote their music to a wider audience, to people of all races

(Cortes 2070).

Another implication of this decision was that Jackson's music ceased to be considered “black

music”. “Thriller” album is still inspiring singers nowadays, thanks to its great diversity in terms of

music genres. The album contains rock songs, ballads, R&B songs and mixes of multiple genres. This

made the album highly marketable to any type of audience.

Michael Jackson gathered a team of well established musicians to work on his album. Apart

from producer Quincy Jones, Jackson worked with guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The team's work resulted

in an unique album, which could hardly be categorized.

Michael Jackson's visibility grew and he quickly became an international singer. If Jackson 5,

his family's band, was compared to The Beatles, Michael Jackson was now compared to Elvis. People

were fascinated with Jackson's courage and with the fact his music was outside the classic stereotypes
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that dictated black people only sang blues or jazz.

“Thriller”'s lyrics emphasize Jackson's uniqueness, as well as his determination to challenge the

social norms of the time: “'Cause this is thriller!/ Thriller night!/ And no one's gonna save you/ From

the beast about to strike/ You're fighting for your life/ Inside a killer/ Thriller tonight, yeah.”

“Thriller”'s video is a metaphor for all the obstacles Jackson had to overcome. He switches

from the normal, handsome man to the monster; a depiction of how white Americans saw young black

men as being outsiders. With this video, Jackson is telling American that he is going to challenge the

racial stereotypes and make white people feel uncomfortable for their racial beliefs.

He is also addressing his old personal issues. “Thriller” came after a decade of success for

Michael Jackson, both as a child in the Jackson 5 band and as a young adult, in his solo career. Despite

his disappointment in his first album, it was a successful piece. But Jackson wanted to show people he

is now different from the child he once was. The alternation between good and bad, normal and

monster, zombie and werewolf seen in “Thriller” video is a metaphor of the singer's own life. He was

still struggling to overcome his traumatic childhood and establish himself as a successful solo singer.

In another hit from “Thriller” album, “Human Nature”, Michael Jackson asks his listeners to

consider him a regular, normal person: “If they say, why, why? Tell 'em that is human nature/ Why, why

does he do me that way?/ If they say, why, why? Tell 'em that is human nature/ Why, why does he do

me that way?”.

The album also contains a featuring between Jackson and Paul McCartney, which bears a strong

message: music has no race. “The Girl Is Mine” unites a white, British singer and a black singer. The

two have very different musical and personal backgrounds, which made the song appealing to a wide

audience, both American and European.

Michael Jackson set himself apart from all the other singers by constantly challenging the

norms. He became a trendsetter for his African-American peers, who followed his lead, but never
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managed to raise to the level set by Jackson. The album “Thriller” continues to challenge the audience,

which makes it an evergreen piece. Jackson refused to let others categorize him and his albums

continue to fascinate the world.

Long after the release of “Thriller”, Jackson continued to challenge racism with his bold lyrics:

“Tell me what has become of my rights/ Am I invisible because you ignore me?/ Your proclamation

promised me free liberty, now/ I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame/ They're throwing me in a class

with a bad name/ I can't believe this is the land from which I came” (Michael Jackson. “They don't

really care about us.” 1996).

“Thriller” was released in a moment of tension: television, radio and other media types were

categorizing art by using a number of stereotypes born from old social beliefs (Brackett 300). Jackson's

sixth album broke the patterns of other African-American artists. The singer's own charisma and

previous success played an important part in “Thriller”'s success. The young man was also setting

trends in fashion, which is why Jackson's wardrobe continues to inspire present fashion trends and

musicians.

Michael Jackson's approach to rock music seemed new for 1980s, which made lots of critics

label it as “strange” (Fast 300). Again, this label can be traced back to racism: black people were not

supposed to sing rock music in that decade. However, Jackson's approach was not new, as rock music

had been used decades ago to challenge social norms. The youth of 1950s used rock to upset their

parents, while Jackson used rock to upset racists.

Michael Jackson's legacy is still highly prominent in the music industry. His message was heard

by millions. This message is unity; Michael Jackson's desire was to unite all races and shift people's

concept about black people. With “Thriller”, he managed to delete racial prejudices and create a

timeless album, that was an entire generation's soundtrack.

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References

George, Nelson. Thriller: the musical life of Michael Jackson. Da Capo, 2011.

Cortés, Carlos E., and Jane E. Sloan. Multicultural America: a multimedia encyclopedia. Sage Publ.,

2013.

Brackett, David. Categorizing sound: genre and twentieth-Century popular music. 2016.

Fast, Susan. “Michael Jacksons Queer Musical Belongings.” Popular Music and Society, vol. 35, no. 2,

2012, pp. 281–300., doi:10.1080/03007766.2011.618054.

“Thriller (Michael Jackson album).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2017,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(Michael_Jackson_album).