Dear Chance, it’s important to educate yourself.

Dear Chance, it’s important to educate yourself.

For as long as I can remember, the name Michael Jackson draws attention to any media or discussion in which it’s used. And so it should. Michael remains the most successful, enigmatic artist of our time. He worked hard to make his name mean something and so it’s value is the result of a tireless commitment to his craft.

It’s of little surprise that Michael’s name would be used as a benchmark for other artists, after all, he is widely regarded as the most innovative performer in history, which many aspire to be like and see as a measure of career success, so comparisons are expected.

Yet it seems of late that there’s a common desire to suggest that Beyoncé outweighs Michael in the performance stakes, most notably due to her Coachella performance. As good as that performance may be deemed, it is, effectively, not of Michael Jackson’s calibre and fundamentally incorrect. And I’ll tell you why, but briefly some background…

At Dillard University’s graduation, Chance the Rapper was invited to give a commencement speech where he decided to make the assertion for the second time that Beyoncé’s Coachella performance was ‘better’ than any performance by Michael. His statement was met with understandable silence from the audience.

For what Michael Jackson achieved in his performances really did change the game. The space to be a real game-changer in today’s market is much more cluttered and the merit of a performance is measured more on youtube views and tweets that on its ability to offer something different that’s going to be around for the next 30 years and become the aspiration of other performers.

Aside from the World Tours, which ultimately are some of the finest stage moments by an entertainer, we’ll compare like for like with ‘Performance’ as Coachella was a performance, not a tour. I’ll start with the early performances: Who’s Lovin’ You on the Ed Sullivan show. Pitch perfect and almost angelic in delivery, it’s vocal performance is second to none as an infant Michael channels the raw emotion and feeling of someone 40 years his senior. It cemented the fact, that this child star had something special, something that could not be ignored and the soul in him was something seldom seen in peers of his age.

Stepping it up a notch, with the classic Motown 25 performance. Iconic in its own right and the introduction of the moonwalk, which took the world by storm and created a trend that is still exercised on many dance-floors today. By Chance’s comparison, I’m interested to know which iconic step should be taken from Beyoncé’s Coachella performance that has not only the innovation, but the staying power to still be displayed in 35 years time?! Throughout a lot of stamping and hairography, I failed to pin-point one move, one action, one step that was the epitome of that performance in the way in which the moonwalk did on Motown 25.

To clarify, this piece is not here to discredit Beyoncé. I know her Beyhive are forever on the defensive and I’m not here to prod the hornet’s nest. The aim of this piece is to further clarify the King of Pop’s untouchable status and the reasons why, through looking at longevity and legacy from the moment it was performed and what it meant for the time. Back to Motown 25…it’s iconic status is still spoken of today…the way it made people feel, the impact it had, the way it spoke to children of colour and told them “you can achieve anything, even moving in reverse”. Did the Coachella performance achieve that?

Aside from a few thousand tweetings of “slay queen” and “I’m crying”, the actual legacy is pretty limited to “Beyoncé was amazing because she’s Beyoncé” and not because she actually pioneered anything that you wouldn’t see in one of her concerts or a moment that had significant impact. Sure, her set was 2 hours. That’s no different to a concert date for just about any artist.

This article can’t miss the 1988 Grammys. Aside from the performance of Man In The Mirror being utterly incredible, you can physically witness Michael becoming lost in the enormity of the song and it’s message. His eyes closed, he spins and drops to the floor with such force you’d think his knee caps would crack, he testifies that song. He embodies it, he empowers it and he emotes it with such feeling, you’re left surprised that he didn’t write it himself.

Superbowl 1993 is regarded as one of the greatest performances of all times and every Superbowl season, we’re reminded by just how revolutionary and pioneering Michael’s performance was…and yes it tops Beyoncé’s fantastic performance (a favourite of mine) in just about every poll.

Michael’s performance at MTV 1995, negates Chance’s claims that the Coachella performance was better than any of Michael’s. It literally demonstrates one of the greatest performances of our time. Particularly the dance breakdown of Billie Jean where Michael performs moves so out of this world, one could be forgiven for thinking he’s been replaced by a look-a-like robot. As he pops and locks across the stage tilting heel and toe and jerking his head, he once again re-defines his own performance abilities and Billie Jean live. I challenge any artist to replicate this, as surely for someone to be classed as the greatest, greater than Michael, they need to pioneer something equal to or better than those moves right there.

Along the more controversial lines, one might want to look to Michael’s 1999 MJ and Friends performance, where, after falling from a terrifying height, Michael continues to perform. If that doesn’t signify a world class performer, I don’t know what does. Few artists would continue a performance after being dropped from the roof of a stadium at a rapid pace.

I could also reference the fact that not content with the basic before structure, Michael Jackson invented and patented a shoe that defied the rules of gravity at the step of a foot…but that would just be showing off.

Beyoncé is not the ‘new Michael Jackson’, she’s the ‘first Beyoncé’. She can build and pioneer her own legacy, not deliver in Michael’s shadow. Personally, she stopped doing it for me after the I Am Sasha Fierce album, but I understand she has a global, loyal following who massively rate her every (every) move. But perspective is important and in terms of “Michael Jackson status”? I don’t think she’s quite there just yet.

Now back to Chance and his commencement speech. It’s important to remember the situation. What an incredible platform he’s been given. To speak to a congregation of students who study hard and pay ridiculous costs to become the thought leaders of tomorrow. Yet to stand and discredit one artist to thinly bolster another is both tacky and uncalled for.  What Chance could have done is spoke of Beyoncé’s focus on female empowerment or the continued efforts to pioneer for women of colour…but no. He chose a cheap, tabloid grabbing “Beyoncé is better than Michael” line that only sought to highlight his lack of knowledge for the industry he is so fortunate to find himself in.

“He’s only 25” some have said to me. Not an excuse! Michael has fans much younger than 25 who also enjoy Beyoncé’s work, but understand Michael’s status and platform. 25 is old enough to be educated on a topic you elect yourself to speak on and I say to Chance, if you’re not going to educate yourself prior to making such a bold statement, keep quiet. You’re just highlighting your ignorance. Something which is made more cringe-worth by the fact you deliver such statements in a mortar board and gown – the symbols of academic achievement and education. Before writing this I didn’t know much about Chance the Rapper. I’ve learned that out of 5 mix tapes, one has charted and he had a song with Justin Bieber on one of his non-album singles, and that’s ok. At 25 he has plenty of time to still have a recognisable hit. It doesn’t happen for everyone but perhaps his 7.5 million twitter followers might give him the courtesy of streaming his work enough to merit a chart position. Personally, he’s not somebody i’d choose to follow. If you need to tell people you’re a rapper in your stage name to get them to know what you do, I’d question your drive to be recognised. Until then, I implore him to educate himself on Michael Jackson, not only as an incredible performer, but as an industry pioneer that paved the way for both Beyoncé and Chance himself.

There seems to be such a lack of respect in this instance from aspects of the new generation. When Michael stole the world in the early 80s, people held more decorum than to suggest he was better than James Brown or Jackie Wilson. They measured Michael on his own successes and accomplishments. To know where we’re going, we must remember where we came from. We must honour the greats and respect what they did and how they did it. If we don’t know, we shouldn’t say. I know very little about the work of Picasso, therefore I would never suggest that Gerhard Richter’s work is better than anything Picasso created!

Beyoncé and Michael had huge respect for one another as artists and as people. I fully believe if he were still with us today, they would have duetted and it would have been amazing, both vocally and visually. Fundamentally, this debate is nothing to do with Beyoncé and everything to do with Chance. What he is not doing is creating a debate, but instead forming a divide, pitting fan against fan and that’s just not cool. Aren’t we all looking for a more salubrious environment as fans?

In closing, Michael Jackson remains the greatest performer of our time. So far, he remains unrivalled and unmatched due to his ability to pioneer memorable performances that travelled across the globe and through the decades. I admire any artist who continues to innovate and create and works to be regarded as ‘one’ of the greatest performers of our time, but ‘the greatest’? That slot’s already taken by Michael Jackson. We know it, Beyoncé knows it…It’s time Chance did too.

Pez Jax

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