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Michael Jackson · S10 E1
Race and Michael Jackson
The most complicated story in the history of pop music
1983. MTV has been on the air for less than two years and has played almost no videos by Black artists. Then CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff calls the network and threatens to pull every CBS artist off their playlist unless they play 'Billie Jean,' and the color line cracks.
Bad 25, official documentary trailer (2012). Directed by Spike Lee. The documentary examines the making of the Bad album through the lens of race, identity, and the impossible expectations placed on a Black artist who had already made the best-selling album of all time.
Bad: The Racial Subtext
The 'Bad' video was inspired by the real tension of Black students navigating between their neighborhoods and predominantly white schools. Martin Scorsese directed it as a mini-film, shot in the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in Brooklyn with a young Wesley Snipes. The song was already a number-one hit, but the video's narrative added a layer the pop audience largely missed: code-switching, racial identity, and the cost of existing in spaces not designed for you. In Spike Lee's documentary, this racial dimension becomes the central focus.
Sources
Bad 25, directed by Spike Lee, 2012
Bad album credits, Epic Records, 1987
The MTV Moment
Before 'Billie Jean,' MTV had given almost no airtime to Black artists. The official explanation was that MTV was a 'rock' channel and Black music did not fit the format. CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff reportedly threatened to pull all CBS artists from MTV unless they played 'Billie Jean,' and the video went into heavy rotation. It cracked the door open for Prince, Whitney Houston, and every Black pop artist who followed.
Sources
I Slept with Joey Ramone, Mickey Leigh, 2009
Howling at the Moon: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess, Walter Yetnikoff, 2004
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Michael Jackson's autopsy confirm about his skin?
The Complication
Michael Jackson's relationship with race was never simple. He grew up in a Black family, in a Black neighborhood, in a Black musical tradition, and became the biggest pop star in history by crossing every racial barrier the industry had. His audience was overwhelmingly white, which meant success required navigating between worlds every single day. Some Black critics accused him of abandoning Black culture, while white commentators reduced his skin condition to a punchline.
Sources
MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson, Steve Knopper, 2015
On Michael Jackson, Margo Jefferson, 2006
Race and Michael Jackson
MTV Studios, 1515 Broadway, Times Square, New York
The network headquarters where 'Billie Jean' broke through the color barrier in 1983. Before Michael Jackson, MTV was an essentially all-white channel.
Hold My Hand, Michael Jackson ft. Akon (2010)
One of the last songs Michael worked on before his death, released posthumously as the lead single from the Michael album. The collaboration with Akon, a Senegalese-American artist, represents the through-line of Black musical connection that ran through Michael's entire career. The song is about reaching across distance and difference, about holding on when the world is pulling you apart.
Hold My Hand, Michael Jackson ft. Akon (2010)
The lyrics are simple and repetitive by design, built around a single gesture: reaching out a hand. Michael and Akon trade verses with an intimacy that feels unforced, two generations of Black artists meeting in the same space. The production is warm and unhurried, a contrast to the complexity of much of Michael's later work.
Which CBS Records executive reportedly threatened to pull all artists from MTV unless they played 'Billie Jean'?
Michael Jackson died over $500 million in debt. Within a decade, his estate had generated over $2 billion in revenue, making him the highest-earning dead celebrity in history by a wide margin.
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