The Cultural Inheritance of Michael Jackson: Reading the Performance of High-Status Blackness in Music Video and on the Stage
Authors: Amisu, E.
Publisher: Mélanges Caraïbes
eISSN: 2779-6981
ISSN: 2779-6981
Abstract:This article examines the interpretation and transitional meaning of the performance of Michael Jackson’s high-status blackness. Where it interrogates and intersects is in the commonly held belief of the primacy and originality of Africa for African-American artists, notably for Michael Jackson. As such it focuses primarily on high-status portrayals of this African-American on the stage and through visual albums: Bad (1987) and Dangerous: The Short Films (1991). The article draws connections between these depictions and the way race and gender are read. It then goes on to briefly compare to and examine the work of Beyonce Knowles-Carter in terms of Jackson’s legacy on recording artists. Finally, this article draws conclusions on the meaning of high-status black representation, how it functions and how it is connected to early modern portrayals and depictions, along with notions of race and ethnicity.
Source: Manual