Branson Zehring

English 1201

Professor Barnes

February 13, 2022

Homage to a Legend

Over the past decades many songs have been remixed creating different meanings from

the original versions and appealing to different audiences. Polo G’s remix of “Smooth Criminal”

by Michael Jackson gave the song a completely different feel, telling the story of the criminal

instead of the hero. Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” suggests that being helpful is the right

thing to do, while Polo G’s version claims that everyone has something different going on in

their life.

On November 14, 1988, Michael Jackson released “Smooth Criminal” which told the

story of a man helping a woman who had just been attacked by a criminal. The setting is set in a

dilapidated building, where there is a fight going on. Annie is being attacked and Michael

Jackson saves her. The main purpose of this song is learning to help others. This is derived from

the visual of Michael Jackson saving Annie, which he didn’t have to do, but he intervened and

helped. The visual evidence shown that supports this is Michael Jackson beating up on the

criminals and proceeding to save Annie’s life. This type of evidence is ethos because the video

uses evidence of visuals. The audience that this video is targeted towards is connected to the type

of evidence. Since the audience that was being targeted was the younger adult generations, they

would be able to understand the meaning of the song by seeing the visual evidence. Other than

that age range, the song is not specifically targeted at any gender, race, or religion. While the
audience may not be specified, this means that it is a song that someone of any background can

enjoy. The original version of this song has a way of explaining its’ purpose through visuals and

doing it effectively.

On November 12, 2021, Polo G released his remix of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael

Jackson, titled “Bad Man” (Smooth Criminal). This song told the story of a criminal like the one

who attacked Annie in the original song. The setting is set within a casino where a bunch of

criminals are relaxing and playing games. One criminal appears to create an argument with the

main criminal (Polo G). The conflict is resolved by Polo G hurting the other criminal and going

about his way. The claim that this video is showing is that everyone has their own troubles. This

is suggested by the connection of the smooth criminal in Michael Jackson’s original song and the

one in Polo G’s song. This evidence shows that although the criminal caused trouble, he also has

his own troubles when he goes into his world. The video in that matter uses ethos to show clear

visual evidence that Polo G’s character is dealing with his own problems. This use of ethos is

directly connected to the audience appeal. The main audience for this song and video is younger

people, which connects to the claim of everyone having their own troubles and problems to deal

with. Otherwise, the other main audience is men based off of the lyrics and type of song it is.

Overall, this version of the song is a remix of the original that does a great job of appealing to

younger audiences and getting its’ message through.

There are many different conclusions to be drawn from the differences in purpose

between the two songs. The most notable difference between these two songs is the main

characters. The main character of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson is a good guy trying to

save a young woman’s life. The main character of “Bad Guy (Smooth Criminal)” by Polo G is a

criminal trying to solve a conflict between another criminal. Through this obvious conclusion
about the main characters, the main purposes are also impacted in various ways. The purpose of

Michael Jackson’s version is to encourage to help and care for others while the purpose of Polo

G’s version is to convince the audience that people have their own lives and should live their

own life. Ultimately the main purpose is changed by the difference in main characters, which

also affects the audiences of both songs and videos.

All in all, the theme of songs being remixed throughout the decades and changing in

purpose and audience does not change in the example of Michael Jackson and Polo G’s version

of “Smooth Criminal”. The difference in purpose is directly affected by the change in setting and

main character. Each song creates a very convincing argument of why what they are saying is

correct. Ultimately, Polo G’s version is a remix of a legend’s song which he payed homage to by

making it.
 Works Cited

Jackson, Michael. “Smooth Criminal” YouTube. November 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4. Accessed February 20, 2022

Polo G. “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal)” YouTube. November 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxXCfSN3YYY. Accessed February 20, 2022