Michael Jackson

This is a very very sad day. People can make jokes and laugh, but they cannot deny the true talent this man had. Simply stated: he was a genius. No one ever in the history of music was able to connect with so many different people, regardless of their race, gender, age, class, nationality, ethnicity, you name it. Because that is the true power of music and what it can do in this world. MJ showed us how united we can be over something as simple as one song. Everyone loved his music. Everyone knows his music. His music immortalizes him.

What is sad is that I don't think he was ever truly happy. Obviously I would have no way of knowing it, but common sense points to that sad fact. The way he butchered his face, the way he lightened his skin, his weird relationship with children - this made MJ a very human figure. He was a genius when it came to music, but a struggling man when it came to things outside of music. But how could he not be? We all are familiar with his life story, his launch into stardom at the age of 11. 11! He was always in the spotlight, always performing, always trying to please other people. That can mess a person up! And it sure messed him up.

But this should be a moment for remembering the positives. Part of me feels like its not right to only remember and appreciate a man at their death. But that is the reality of the situation. MJ is gone. No more new music, no more new genius. Even though he hadn't recorded in a while, all of us still held out hope that he would regain his contemporary status with something new, something amazing. Now, that will never happen.

Somehow I knew this was going to happen. He always seemed so frail, so fragile. I had this feeling that he's just not going to make it, something bad will happen. But it is still an unbelievable and devastating shock. You always looked at MJ and thought about all of the things he could've been doing to right his life. He would keep making these dumb decisions! Wasting money. Having kids over. Plastic surgery. He was a fascinating human being who was able to fixate the whole world on himself.

But man, his music... his music will live forever. Hit after hit after hit. He made pop. He revolutionized music. Everything we see now is a recycling of what he has done.

I hope he rests in peace and perhaps finds what he has always been looking for.