Urban Thought Collective

Maybe you’re worn out by all of the MJ tributes that have popped up over the last few weeks. I can dig it. Or maybe, you just can’t get enough MJ and don’t want it to end. I can dig that as well. For those who are tired of MJ, check back in a couple of weeks and I’ll return you to your regular broadcast channel. For the rest of you, sit back and reminisce on some of MJ’s more underrated joints.

“I Can’t Help It”
“Like a trip to Heaven.” Straight up. No lie. I’ve probably listened to this song at least three times a day for the past two weeks. That bassline is sicker than a trunk full of swine flu, packed in asbestos. The musicianship of this song is really on another level. Plus, we’ve all been there before. You’re like “She/he just might be the one. And I am soooo all right with that….even if she does occasionally grind her teeth at night.”

“You Rock My World”
Only Mike could get Billy Drago, Michael Madsen, Marlon Brando, and Chris Tucker to appear in the same video. Seriously. That’s one freaking motley crew for you, cousin. Anyways, I always liked the song. And quiet as kept, “Invincible” is a damn good album. People either slept on it like their great-grandma in that extra room, or they hated on it like Buck Nasty and Silky Johnson at the Hate Olympics. Go back and take another listen. You might be pleasantly surprised.

“She’s Out Of My Life”
Just listen to the voice. Lost amongst the hype, the dancing, and all of the et cetera is the fact that MJ was a BRILLIANT vocalist. He could “sang.” For real.

“Baby Be Mine”
“And girl I’ll give you all I have to give.” As one of only two songs to not be released as a single off of Thriller, I have to question that decision. You can’t tell me this song wouldn’t have torn up the charts. Far be it for me to presume to know more about the biz than Mike and Quincy, but I would love to have seen a video for this track. Maybe Mike could have used Ola Ray again. God knows she needed the work. [OK, low blow. I apologize.]

“Will You Be There?”
“But I’m only human.” If you don’t get at least a little misty when this song comes on, then you deserve to be put into a 6’ X 6’ box crawling with 20 rabid, blind, syphilitic ferrets. OK that’s probably a bit harsh, but this song is too emotional to not be moved by it.

Diallo Tyson is a filmmaker, writer, beat miner, [self-proclaimed] comedian, and old school music junkie. In his spare time, he contributes to the music blog, Finessed & Blessed and is a collaborator for the sports/pop culture blog The Commission. He can be reached at ddog_tap@hotmail.com. Step into a groovin’ time machine every other Monday on UTC.