WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.379 Imagine the biggest dance anthem of the 1980s. 00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:05.839 You know, you are in a packed club. The bass 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.199 is bumping. The rhythm is just totally infectious. 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:12.279 And absolutely everyone in the room is screaming 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:14.640 the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Oh, I mean, 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:16.920 that is the ultimate party vibe, right? Right. 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:19.899 But here's the catch. They are completely unaware 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:23.440 that they are joyously singing about the terrifying, 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:26.579 paralyzing paranoia of being eaten alive by their 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:29.579 own family and the media. Which is such a dark 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:32.420 twist for a club hit. It really is. Today, we 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:34.859 are bringing you a deep dive into Michael Jackson's 00:00:34.859 --> 00:00:37.539 1983 hit, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. Yeah, 00:00:37.539 --> 00:00:39.280 and we've got some great source material for 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.840 this. We do. We're looking at a massive, really 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.479 comprehensive Wikipedia article that details 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.820 the history, the intricate musical composition, 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:50.079 and, well, the wild decades -long controversies 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.320 surrounding this one specific track. There is 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.560 so much to unpack with this one. Definitely. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:57.100 Our mission for you today is to explore how a 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:59.500 song initially written about incredibly specific 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:02.500 petty family gossip transformed into the frantic 00:01:02.500 --> 00:01:04.780 combative opening statement of the monumental 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:07.370 thriller album. And we are going to untangle 00:01:07.370 --> 00:01:11.390 this massive web of global controversy, uncredited 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:14.269 samples, and international lawsuits that this 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:17.150 single six -minute track somehow managed to spark. 00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:20.170 OK, let's unpack this. Because to understand 00:01:20.170 --> 00:01:23.189 how we get to the global phenomenon of the Thriller 00:01:23.189 --> 00:01:25.810 album, we actually have to rewind the clock a 00:01:25.810 --> 00:01:29.280 bit to 1978. Right, the off -the -wall era. Exactly. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.120 Because this opening track, which basically sets 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:34.900 the tone for the biggest pop era in human history, 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:37.599 was not originally meant for a thriller. No, 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:39.120 it wasn't. In fact, it wasn't even meant for 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.340 Michael Jackson. Yeah, the origins of this track 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:44.159 are actually remarkably humble, especially considering 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:46.599 the absolute juggernaut it eventually became. 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:49.200 Wait, so who was it for? It was written specifically 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.700 for his sister, Latoya Jackson. Oh, wow. I had 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:54.629 no idea. Yeah, and the subject matter had absolutely 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:57.150 nothing to do with, you know, the crushing weight 00:01:57.150 --> 00:02:00.430 of global fame or intense media scrutiny. It 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:02.650 was just about Latoya's troubled relationship 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:04.510 with her sisters -in -law. So it was just family 00:02:04.510 --> 00:02:07.170 drama? Basically, yeah. It was, at its core, 00:02:07.609 --> 00:02:11.310 purely about sibling drama. And a fun piece of 00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:14.129 internet history to note is that Latoya's original 00:02:14.129 --> 00:02:17.150 demo of the song actually leaked online eventually. 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:20.210 Oh, that's wild. Yeah, it gives fans this glimpse 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.699 into its very different initial vibe. But Jackson 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:25.879 held on to the track. He decided not to give 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:28.430 it away. Interesting. And he didn't actually 00:02:28.430 --> 00:02:31.669 record his own definitive version until the fall 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:34.949 of 1982 in Los Angeles, you know, for the thriller 00:02:34.949 --> 00:02:37.930 sessions. Imagine writing an incredibly angry 00:02:37.930 --> 00:02:41.050 specific journal entry about your annoying in 00:02:41.050 --> 00:02:43.490 -laws, putting it in a drawer for four years, 00:02:43.550 --> 00:02:45.789 and then pulling it out to turn it into an international 00:02:45.789 --> 00:02:48.490 dance mash. Right? It is just such a bizarre 00:02:48.490 --> 00:02:50.750 creative leap to me. If we connect this to the 00:02:50.750 --> 00:02:52.509 bigger picture, you can actually see the DNA 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:55.030 of the song mutating over those four years. What 00:02:55.030 --> 00:02:57.030 do you mean by mutating? Well, by the time he 00:02:57.030 --> 00:02:59.210 steps up to the microphone in 1982, his public 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:02.389 profile has completely skyrocketed. He's no longer 00:03:02.389 --> 00:03:04.870 just like a talented sibling in a famous musical 00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:06.949 family. He's basically becoming the center of 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:09.990 the pop culture universe. Exactly. So he takes 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:12.870 that hyper -specific observation of family squabbles 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:15.849 and projects it outward. He applies that feeling 00:03:15.849 --> 00:03:18.870 of constant rumor -mongering to the media, to 00:03:18.870 --> 00:03:21.449 the press, and to strangers who just want to 00:03:21.449 --> 00:03:23.550 start arguments for absolutely no reason. Oh, 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:26.009 so it shifts from internal to external. Yeah. 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:28.250 He takes a very personal annoyance and turns 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:31.129 it into a universal anxiety. Like, think about 00:03:31.129 --> 00:03:33.310 the last time a rumor spread about you at work 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:36.219 or within your friend group. Ugh. that buzzing, 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:38.960 helpless anxiety. Right. Jackson took that exact 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:42.439 feeling and set it to a 122 beat per minute tempo. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.979 That is brilliant. But, you know, to convey that, 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:48.719 you cannot effectively sing about the terror 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:52.560 of being consumed by gossip over a happy, welcoming 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:54.659 pop instrumental. Oh, absolutely not. The vibe 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:57.340 would be completely wrong. Exactly. The music 00:03:57.340 --> 00:03:59.330 itself had to sound like a panic attack. And 00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:01.229 that brings us to the actual sound of the track, 00:04:01.490 --> 00:04:03.870 which the sources describe as this complex fusion 00:04:03.870 --> 00:04:07.090 of post -disco funk and Afropop. Yeah, and the 00:04:07.090 --> 00:04:08.870 rhythm section is really where that feeling of 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:10.990 anxiety lives. Like, in a standard dance track, 00:04:11.090 --> 00:04:12.629 you typically have what's called a four -on -the 00:04:12.629 --> 00:04:14.949 -floor beat. Right, the boom, boom, boom, boom 00:04:14.949 --> 00:04:17.509 sound. Exactly. For anyone who isn't a musician, 00:04:17.629 --> 00:04:21.050 that's just a steady, predictable bass drum pulse. 00:04:21.449 --> 00:04:23.490 It tells your feet exactly what to do, and it 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:25.889 just makes you feel comfortable. But want to 00:04:25.889 --> 00:04:27.870 be starting something? Doesn't do that at all. 00:04:28.069 --> 00:04:30.870 No, it completely abandons that comfort. The 00:04:30.870 --> 00:04:33.670 sources highlight this complex interweaving of 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:35.930 drum machine patterns played by the legendary 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:38.829 percussionist Paulino da Costa. It's just relentless. 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:41.709 It really is. It never settles down. And that 00:04:41.709 --> 00:04:44.529 perpetual motion tricks your brain into feeling 00:04:44.529 --> 00:04:47.370 a sense of agency. Like you are dancing, but 00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:49.610 you are also slightly on edge. Yeah. And then 00:04:49.610 --> 00:04:51.689 you layer on the horn section, which was arranged 00:04:51.689 --> 00:04:54.579 by Jerry Hay. The sources describe these horns 00:04:54.579 --> 00:04:57.160 as brassy and precise. They definitely don't 00:04:57.160 --> 00:04:59.639 blend into the background. No, they don't just 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:02.439 sweep in to provide a lush melody. They act like 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:05.139 sharp punctuation marks. They're almost jabbing 00:05:05.139 --> 00:05:07.120 at the listener. Slant Magazine actually had 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.139 a brilliant way of describing this arrangement. 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:11.439 Oh, what'd they say? They called the track a 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:14.519 complicated tapestry of colliding hooks. That's 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:17.029 a great phrase, colliding hooks. Yeah, because 00:05:17.029 --> 00:05:19.149 you have all these different musical ideas and 00:05:19.149 --> 00:05:21.949 pop references just crashing into each other 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:24.569 at high speed. And Christopher Connolly, writing 00:05:24.569 --> 00:05:26.689 for Rolling Stone back in the day, he picked 00:05:26.689 --> 00:05:29.529 up on that exact tension too. He called it Thriller's 00:05:29.529 --> 00:05:32.589 most combative track, right? Yes. He noted that 00:05:32.589 --> 00:05:35.769 Jackson's emotions are so raw that the song nearly 00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:38.569 goes out of control. Like, the entire composition 00:05:38.569 --> 00:05:40.829 feels like it is teetering on the edge of a nervous 00:05:40.829 --> 00:05:43.610 breakdown. The tempo is brisk, the instrumentation 00:05:43.610 --> 00:05:46.230 is incredibly dense, and his vocal delivery is 00:05:46.230 --> 00:05:48.670 just deeply urgent. Oh, the vocals are insane. 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:51.769 His range on the track spans from an E3 all the 00:05:51.769 --> 00:05:54.129 way up to an A5. And for those who aren't singers, 00:05:54.230 --> 00:05:57.189 hitting an A5 means pushing into the absolute 00:05:57.189 --> 00:06:00.449 upper straining limits of a male tenor's register. 00:06:00.610 --> 00:06:02.870 He is practically screaming those top notes, 00:06:03.250 --> 00:06:05.310 which forces the listener to physically feel 00:06:05.310 --> 00:06:08.120 his panic. Wait, I need to push back here for 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.459 a second. OK, what's up? I'm trying to wrap my 00:06:10.459 --> 00:06:13.019 head around this massive contradiction. We are 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.180 talking about this song as a massive dance track, 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:18.199 right? Designed to make millions of people dance. 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:20.500 Yeah, a total club anthem. But let's look at 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:23.379 the actual lyrics in the chorus. The beat drops, 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:26.259 the groove is infectious, and Jackson is singing, 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.600 you're a vegetable, you're a vegetable, they'll 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:31.279 eat off you. Yeah, it's pretty jarring. It's 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.180 incredibly bizarre. Calling the listener a vegetable 00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:37.500 and a buffet. How does a lyric like that survive 00:06:37.500 --> 00:06:40.199 the studio process and become a global hit? Well, 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:43.040 I mean the bizarre imagery is the engine of the 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.959 song it elevates the track from just a Disposable 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:49.560 groove into a really dark psychological portrait. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:51.879 Okay, bring that down for me The sources describe 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:55.100 these specific lyrics as yielding to a quasi 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:58.100 paranoia and a near bitterness. Like consider 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:00.620 the metaphor of the buffet and the vegetable. 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.339 Right. It perfectly captures the visceral terror 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:05.879 of being completely helpless while you were consumed 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:08.439 by others. I mean, a vegetable cannot run away. 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:11.779 That is dark. and a buffet. A buffet exists solely 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:14.300 to be picked apart by hungry strangers. Whether 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:16.959 that's the media, the paparazzi, or just gossiping 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.920 acquaintances, you are inert and everyone else 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:22.339 is feeding off your life, your drama, and your 00:07:22.339 --> 00:07:24.439 energy. It really is a horrifying image when 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:26.899 you think about it. Exactly. But wrapping it 00:07:26.899 --> 00:07:30.279 in that relentless upbeat funk progression, which, 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.040 musically speaking, actually shares very similar 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.879 chords with his earlier hit, Don't Stop Till 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:39.600 You Get Enough, It creates this massive cognitive 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:41.600 dissonance. He makes you dance to his nightmare. 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:44.000 Perfectly said. Well, here's where it gets really 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.439 interesting. Because that chaotic, joyous, terrified 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.500 energy, it builds and builds until it peaks at 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:53.019 the very end of the song with an iconic closing 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:56.759 chant. Oh, yes. The chant. A hook that, as the 00:07:56.759 --> 00:07:59.899 source's detail, actually led to decades of international 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:02.750 legal battles. The coda. It is the emotional 00:08:02.750 --> 00:08:05.009 climax of the whole six -minute album version, 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:07.410 and arguably the most famous part of the entire 00:08:07.410 --> 00:08:09.209 track. The chant goes, mama say, mama saw, mama 00:08:09.209 --> 00:08:12.209 mucosa. It's pure infectious energy. But those 00:08:12.209 --> 00:08:14.290 syllables were not just spontaneously invented 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:16.350 in a recording studio in Los Angeles, were they? 00:08:16.629 --> 00:08:19.170 No, they were borrowed, to put it politely. Right. 00:08:19.290 --> 00:08:22.269 Yeah. That chant is a direct variant of a lyric 00:08:22.269 --> 00:08:25.829 from a 1972 disco track called Soul Mucosa, which 00:08:25.829 --> 00:08:28.350 was created by the Cameranian saxophonist Manu 00:08:28.350 --> 00:08:30.879 Dibango. And just to use some context, Mekosa 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.539 is a Cameroonian popular music genre and a very 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:37.980 specific dance style. Great. So Jackson interpolates 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:41.019 this heavily African influenced groove right 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:44.259 at the explosive climax of his own Afropop infused 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:47.220 track, creating this brilliant musical bridge 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:50.039 across continents. It sounds beautiful in theory, 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:52.500 but I have to ask about the logistics of that. 00:08:52.899 --> 00:08:55.500 Knowing the incredibly tight legal ship that 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:57.879 usually surrounded major pop releases back then. 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:00.850 How did he manage the rights to Manu Dibengo's 00:09:00.850 --> 00:09:02.809 track before putting it on the biggest album 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:04.990 of all time? Well, the short answer is he didn't. 00:09:05.009 --> 00:09:07.710 Oh, wow. He used it without securing permission 00:09:07.710 --> 00:09:11.129 first. And this is where the cold legal reality 00:09:11.129 --> 00:09:14.149 of the music business just crashes into the messy, 00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:17.909 organic creative process. Oh, wow. In 1986, Manu 00:09:17.909 --> 00:09:20.350 Dibengo sued Michael Jackson over the unauthorized 00:09:20.350 --> 00:09:22.950 use of the hook. Jackson ultimately admitted 00:09:22.950 --> 00:09:25.129 to borrowing the line and they reached an out 00:09:25.129 --> 00:09:26.909 -of -court settlement. Right. The sources say 00:09:26.909 --> 00:09:29.850 they settled for one million French francs. which 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:31.769 was a very significant settlement at the time. 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:35.590 But the specific legal wording of that 1986 settlement 00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:39.049 is actually the smoking gun for a massive legal 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:41.389 explosion 20 years later. Yeah, this is where 00:09:41.389 --> 00:09:45.190 it gets crazy. In that 1986 agreement, Manu Dibango 00:09:45.190 --> 00:09:47.870 waived his future rights to the specific recording 00:09:47.870 --> 00:09:50.950 of Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. He essentially 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:54.590 said, I won't sue you over this specific MP3 00:09:54.590 --> 00:09:57.750 or vinyl record anymore. However, and this is 00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:00.490 a massive legal loophole, he critically did not 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:03.149 waive his rights to the future use of the underlying 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:05.870 musical material itself. Ah, so the syllables 00:10:05.870 --> 00:10:08.029 and the melody still fundamentally belonged to 00:10:08.029 --> 00:10:10.669 him. Exactly. The musical DNA remained to Bango's 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:15.309 property. So fast forward to 2007. Rihanna, massive 00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:17.970 global pop star, releases her monster club hit, 00:10:18.009 --> 00:10:20.919 Don't Stop the Music. Huge song. Huge. And the 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:23.000 defining sample that drives the entire song is 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.539 that exact, mama say mama, mama kusa hook. Right. 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:27.940 And Rihanna did what any artist would think is 00:10:27.940 --> 00:10:30.139 the right thing. Her team reached out to Michael 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:32.419 Jackson's camp for permission to sample the line 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:34.779 from his song. And Jackson allegedly gave his 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:38.320 approval. Yeah. But the fatal flaw in that transaction 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.879 is that Jackson granted permission for a piece 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.279 of musical architecture that he didn't fully 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.620 own the underlying rights to. And he did this 00:10:45.620 --> 00:10:48.399 without ever consulting Manu DiBango. Exactly. 00:10:48.820 --> 00:10:51.399 That is a staggering oversight. He basically 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:54.299 handed over the keys to a house he was only renting. 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:56.919 That's a great way to put it. And DiBango absolutely 00:10:56.919 --> 00:11:00.580 did not let that slide. This led to a massive 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:03.799 high -stakes lawsuit in 2009. Right before Jackson 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:05.679 passed away, actually. Yes, literally months 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.259 before. We're talking about a case brought before 00:11:08.259 --> 00:11:11.480 a court in Paris with DeBango suing both Rihanna 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:14.720 and Michael Jackson, demanding 500 ,000 euros 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.120 in damages. But he didn't just ask for money, 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.899 did he? No, he went even further. He asked the 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:23.120 French courts to formally bar Sony, BMG, EMI, 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:26.019 and Warner Music from receiving any income related 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:28.379 to that hook until the matter was fully resolved. 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:30.840 Attempting to freeze the revenue streams of three 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.460 major global record labels over a single vocal 00:11:33.460 --> 00:11:36.720 chant is just an incredible legal maneuver. It's 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.120 extremely bold. The case eventually settled out 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.360 of court again, with the Bangos securing another 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.279 financial agreement. But the sheer mileage of 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:47.230 that one hook is mind blowing. It really is. 00:11:47.389 --> 00:11:51.129 From a Cameroonian studio in 1972, to Los Angeles 00:11:51.129 --> 00:11:55.570 in 1982, to a Rihanna club track in 2007, to 00:11:55.570 --> 00:11:58.750 a Parisian courtroom in 2009. This raises an 00:11:58.750 --> 00:12:00.889 important question for anyone who consumes music 00:12:00.889 --> 00:12:03.929 today, like where exactly is the line? Right. 00:12:04.009 --> 00:12:07.330 The entire saga really highlights the incredibly 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:11.149 blurry boundaries between musical homage, global 00:12:11.149 --> 00:12:14.840 collaboration, and outright theft in the recording 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.879 industry. Because Jackson clearly loved the groove 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:20.379 of Solmucosa. Yeah, and he used it to elevate 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:22.659 his own track into a global anthem, and then 00:12:22.659 --> 00:12:24.799 Rihanna did the exact same thing to Jackson's 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:27.480 track. Pop music relies on this constant recycling 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:30.399 of good ideas. Exactly. But the original architect 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.159 of that sound, Manu DiBongo, had to spend decades 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:35.379 fighting in international courts just to ensure 00:12:35.379 --> 00:12:37.399 he wasn't financially and historically erased 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:39.919 from his own musical legacy. It makes you listen 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.299 to the song completely differently, especially 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:44.419 when when you look at the sheer scale of what 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:46.399 wannabe start and something achieved. Oh, absolutely. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:49.039 Because despite the incredibly heavy themes of 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.799 media consumption, the paranoid lyrics, and that 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.720 ensuing international legal drama we just unpacked, 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:57.419 this song was an absolute commercial juggernaut. 00:12:57.940 --> 00:13:01.059 People often focus on Billie Jean or beat it, 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:03.679 you know, the huge singles, but... It's easy 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:06.220 to forget how much heavy lifting this specific 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:09.240 track did to maintain the dominance of the Thriller 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:12.340 album. The statistics and the sources are just 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:16.320 staggering. In July of 1983, the song hit number 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:19.700 five on the Billboard Hot 100. Which is huge. 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:22.679 Yeah. And that made it the fourth consecutive 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:25.679 top 10 single. from the Thriller album alone. 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:28.159 It topped the charts in Canada, it topped the 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:29.960 charts in the Netherlands, and it charted in 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.460 the top 20 and 30 all across the globe. And its 00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:35.460 critical legacy is just as strong. Decades later, 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.679 Pitchfork ranked it at number two on their list 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.559 of the 200 best songs of the 1980s. Number two. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.440 Yeah. And they wrote this great summary stating, 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:44.200 if you're going to become the biggest star in 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:45.879 the world, it helps to make the biggest song. 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.779 But here is the detail that completely stopped 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:52.879 me in my tracks. How did a song achieve this 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:56.419 level of global saturation in 1983, with one 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:59.940 massive glaring omission in its marketing strategy? 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:03.320 Ah, the video. It had no music video. Zero visual 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:05.620 accompaniment, which is almost unheard of for 00:14:05.620 --> 00:14:08.779 a single of that magnitude in 1983. Right, because 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:11.980 this was the absolute peak of the MTV era. Jackson 00:14:11.980 --> 00:14:14.659 himself was fundamentally changing music television 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:17.159 forever with those mini movies for thriller. 00:14:17.389 --> 00:14:20.029 and beat it. But for wannabe start and something, 00:14:20.570 --> 00:14:23.169 its legacy was not built on heavy visual rotation 00:14:23.169 --> 00:14:26.450 on MTV. It was cemented purely through its raw 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:29.070 live energy. It became the quintessential stage 00:14:29.070 --> 00:14:31.149 opener. Exactly. If you bought a ticket to the 00:14:31.149 --> 00:14:34.149 Victory Tour with the Jacksons in 1984, or the 00:14:34.149 --> 00:14:36.389 Bad Tour, the Dangerous Tour, the History Tour, 00:14:36.730 --> 00:14:38.629 this was the song that kicked off the night. 00:14:38.769 --> 00:14:41.029 It is the ultimate hype track. Even without a 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:42.789 music video to tell people what to feel, the 00:14:42.789 --> 00:14:45.070 live audience knew exactly what was coming the 00:14:45.070 --> 00:14:46.990 second they heard the opening drum hits. Yeah, 00:14:47.070 --> 00:14:49.309 Slant Magazine compared those three quick rim 00:14:49.309 --> 00:14:52.450 shots to a court fanfare. And for those wondering 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:54.970 what a rim shot is, it's when the drummer hits 00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:57.509 the metal edge and the skin of the snare drum 00:14:57.509 --> 00:15:00.470 at the exact same time. It produces this really 00:15:00.470 --> 00:15:02.970 sharp cracking sound that just cuts right through 00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:05.809 the entire stadium. It was an auditory cue that 00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:08.610 The King had arrived. And he relied on that specific 00:15:08.610 --> 00:15:11.129 sonic cue for his entire career, didn't he? You 00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:13.909 really did. Even in 2009, during the intense 00:15:13.909 --> 00:15:16.070 rehearsals for the ill -fated This Is It comeback 00:15:16.070 --> 00:15:19.450 concerts at the O2 Arena in London, he was preparing 00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:21.309 to perform it. Right. I remember seeing that 00:15:21.309 --> 00:15:23.690 in the documentary. Yeah. Footage of him rehearsing 00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:26.350 this song, complete with a little acapella snippet 00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:30.250 of his 2001 song, Speechless, blended into it. 00:15:30.370 --> 00:15:32.889 That was chosen as the opening sequence for the 00:15:32.889 --> 00:15:35.090 This Is It documentary. released after his death. 00:15:35.389 --> 00:15:38.710 It really was a constant anchoring presence in 00:15:38.710 --> 00:15:42.690 his creative life from 1978 right up until 2009. 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:45.549 And the song actually had one final official 00:15:45.549 --> 00:15:47.769 chapter released while he was still alive. You're 00:15:47.769 --> 00:15:49.529 talking about the 2008 remix from the sources, 00:15:49.529 --> 00:15:52.909 right? Yes. For the 25th anniversary reissue 00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:56.070 of the album titled Thriller 25, a brand new 00:15:56.070 --> 00:15:58.620 version of the song was recorded. It was remixed, 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.259 co -written, and co -produced by the artist Akon. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.679 The critical reception for this modern update 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.820 was pretty deeply divided, to say the least. 00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:09.159 That's putting it mildly. When you read the reviews 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.320 from the time, it's clear that music critics 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:14.059 were extremely protective of the original 1982 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:17.460 arrangement. Like, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:19.840 all music was pretty brutal. What did he call 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.299 it? He called the Akon version a moody piano 00:16:23.299 --> 00:16:27.049 merc. Ouch. But you know that phrase, moody piano 00:16:27.049 --> 00:16:29.110 mark, it really gets to the heart of what Akon 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:31.929 changed. How so? Well, he stripped away all the 00:16:31.929 --> 00:16:34.610 bright, brassy paranoia, the frantic Polino da 00:16:34.610 --> 00:16:37.389 Costa percussion, and those colliding Jerry Hayhorns. 00:16:37.809 --> 00:16:40.649 He replaced all of that chaotic funk with a heavy, 00:16:40.909 --> 00:16:43.649 somber, slowed down digital R &B beat built around 00:16:43.649 --> 00:16:46.070 a piano loop. It completely altered the emotional 00:16:46.070 --> 00:16:48.990 core of the song. It did. But Rolling Stone, 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:50.870 on the other hand, approached it from a different 00:16:50.870 --> 00:16:53.570 angle. They thought it was actually kind of great. 00:16:53.789 --> 00:16:57.029 likely appreciating how it translated a 1982 00:16:57.029 --> 00:17:00.210 anxiety attack into a modern 2008 club sound. 00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:02.409 And regardless of whether critics thought it 00:17:02.409 --> 00:17:06.390 was a brilliant update or a moody merc, it undeniably 00:17:06.390 --> 00:17:09.769 found an audience. It peaked at number two on 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:11.970 the U .S. Billboard Hot Dance Club play chart 00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:14.390 and hit the top 10 in international markets like 00:17:14.390 --> 00:17:17.630 France, Australia, and Sweden. Yeah, it was definitely 00:17:17.630 --> 00:17:20.029 a hit. But the most poignant takeaway from the 00:17:20.029 --> 00:17:22.789 source material regarding this 2008 Akon remix 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:25.839 is its place in history, isn't it? Yeah. It was 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.119 the very last piece of work released during Michael 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.140 Jackson's lifetime. It really brings the entire 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:32.819 narrative full circle. The very first statement 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:35.279 of his defining era was also the final release 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.400 he ever lived to see on the charts. It's a really 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:39.579 powerful detail. So what does this all mean? 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:42.119 We started today by looking at the opening track 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:44.819 of the biggest pop album ever made. And what 00:17:44.819 --> 00:17:46.740 we found in the sources was a creative journey 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:51.069 spanning over 40 years. From 1978 to 2009. Right. 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:54.910 We watched a track born from literal petty sibling 00:17:54.910 --> 00:17:59.150 squabbles transform into a massive Afro pop infused 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:02.230 paranoid masterpiece. It conquered the globe 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:04.369 entirely without the help of a music video. And 00:18:04.369 --> 00:18:07.130 it spawned intense international lawsuits that 00:18:07.130 --> 00:18:09.130 stretched from recording studios in Los Angeles 00:18:09.130 --> 00:18:12.690 to courtrooms in Paris. Exactly. And it became 00:18:12.690 --> 00:18:16.210 the definitive heart pounding live opener for 00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:18.930 an artist who basically spent his entire life 00:18:18.930 --> 00:18:22.279 on stage. It really remains a song of incredible 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:25.000 vibrating contradictions. I mean, it is a dance 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:27.299 floor filler that is fundamentally about the 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:29.759 absolute terror of being consumed by the public. 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:31.740 When you listen to the lyrics again, someone's 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:34.259 always trying to start my baby crying. You realize 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:37.440 that written years before his life became a permanent... 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:40.799 tragic tabloid fixture wanted to start in something 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.000 wasn't just a reaction to passing gossip. It 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:45.740 was something deeper. It was a dark, almost prophetic 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:49.359 glimpse into the intense media scrutiny and endless 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:51.700 legal controversies that would come to define 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:53.980 the rest of his existence. So next time you hear 00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:57.079 that irresistible beat, ask yourself, was he 00:18:57.079 --> 00:18:59.519 making you dance or was he desperately trying 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.019 to warn you about the cost of fame? It leaves 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:04.720 you with a fascinating question to ponder. Especially 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:07.380 in today's era of TikTok and instant virality, 00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:09.559 where songs are routinely stripped for parts, 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:12.440 sped up, and sampled endlessly into 15 -second 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.880 soundbites. Could a massive, chaotic, six -minute, 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:18.920 genre -colliding epic about deep psychological 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:21.380 paranoia even survive the modern pop machine? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.440 Or have we all just become far too comfortable 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.019 being the buffet? Keep your ears open, question 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:27.680 what you're dancing to, and thanks for joining 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:28.759 us on this Deep Dive.