Black Music White Face? Justin Timberlake & the Selling of 'Soul'

[MsMo]

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Despite a struggling industry, Justin Timberlake's album sold more than 960k copies in it's first week. Are white artists the only ones who can sell black music?

HuffPostLive

Very interestin'.

Could it be that people are so hungry for MJ that they settle for the impersonator(s)?
JT & JB, ain't foolin' me. But then, neither is Usher, Neyo or CB.

I do, however, like Robin Thicke, but then, he writes his own stuff and he wrote for Michael.
I also really liked Usher's first album.

JT singin' what was written for Michael :smilerolleyes:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23RT">#RT</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/huffingtonpost">huffingtonpost</a> Black Music White Artists? <a href="http://t.co/hrS8Qq90lo" title="http://huff.lv/10dOKNk">huff.lv/10dOKNk</a> Michael Jackson said it in 2001 <a href="http://t.co/soBYeUbfId" title="http://youtu.be/kAuxVZSGl48">youtu.be/kAuxVZSGl48</a><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23MusicHIStory">#MusicHIStory</a></p>&mdash; Ms Mo (@MJJRealRealm) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJJRealRealm/status/317481927588319234">March 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
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[HIStory]

JT is like a modern day Elvis to me - and I don't mean it in a complimentary way. The white media crowned Elvis king, even though what he did was that he played black music that black artists actually performed better. Now, they are doing the same with JT. I think he's music is average at best, yet the white media acts like he's the second coming. Just look at articles like this: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertai.../justin-timberlake-our-sammy-davis-jr/274251/

How insulting is it to black culture to compare someone like JT, this spoilt white kid who was born with a silver spoon, to Sammy Davis Jr. who had to fight his fights and struggle to be accepted as equal to white artists?

How insulting is it to write something like this?

The next, back in his now-signature reimagined Rat Pack black tie, he will passionately croon the lush ballad "Mirrors," 20/20's melodic ode to&#8212;and lyrical rebuttal of&#8212;Michael Jackson's gorgeously narcissistic "Man in the Mirror."

I'm glad that most people called the author out on both the Sammy Davis Jr. comparation and on his stupid comments about Man In The Mirror and comparing it to Mirrors. (Just because both songs have the word "mirror" in their title, I guess, because I don't see any other similarity.) And how is MITM narcisstic? When people asked the author this question he said he thought MITM was about Michael's plastic surgery... h34r:

<header> HamptonStevens</header> Sure. The Michael Jackson song is an instruction on how &#8220;to make the world a better place,&#8221; in itself fairly self-serving for a pop star. It's also about someone gazing at their own image. And, despite the &#8220;be less selfish&#8221; message of this lovely, lovely epic song, which I very much adore, the lyric comes off like Michael was excusing himself for all the plastic surgery.

I'm glad people did not let him get away with this crap:

<header> Meenuh</header> Terrible read on the song and MJ, especially the last line about plastic surgery, which has no bearing on the song whatsoever. The connection with JT's song is not even tenuous&#8212;it's nonexistent. Like a poster above said, the only thing they have in common is the word "mirror." And right there, with such a "glorious" and "self-serving" (not to mention overblown, pompous, pretentious, and other lovely, lovely adjectives) misinterpretation of "Man in the Mirror" and MJ's intentions, you lost any credibility you had been building with me as a reader up to that point. I couldn't continue reading and take you seriously.

<header> Evgenia Hansen</header> Dude... First of all, Michael Jackson didn't write Man in the Mirror, it was written by Siedah Garret as a social anthem and Michael didn't change a word in it - so, to suggest it had anything to do with Michael's own face and making excuses - you are grasping at straws to create controversy where there is none.
Second, how is that self-serving when this pop-star spent his whole life and tons of his own money to do just that - make a world a better place? And he made some serious change. This is what happens when a cynical audience hears an authentic message, but MJ meant it and he lived it.
As for gazing in the mirror - please, its a metaphor for taking a look at yourself internally. I never thought Man in the Mirror could be misunderstood because "no message could have been any clearer", but you manage.

<header> juneyny </header> Sounds like you've annointed JT as the second coming! Great artists come along once in a lifetime and, sorry, JT doesn't qualify, in my opinion. He has certainly evolved in the past 10 years or so but will never reach the heights of Sammy Davis or Frank Sinatra. And, yes, I am sick of his neverending comeback. Sammy had the weight of the world on his shoulders in the 50's and 60's trying to break through racial stereotypes and prejudice. No one enunciated Sammy's struggles better than Michael Jackson in his 1990 tribute to Sammy on his 60th birthday, "I am here 'cause you were there". JT has been spoonfed every step of his career starting with his mousketeer days. "Michael Jackson's gorgeously narcissistic 'Man in the Mirror'". What is this writer thinking? Michael moved the world with this plea to look in the mirror, at onself, and be the person to make the change. Davis, Sinatra, and Jackson put their hearts on the line with every performance. Timberlake, mostly form and no substance. One wonders the age of this writer who seems to have gotten it so wrong.

And sorry, but Mirrors is just awfully boring. How could this author compare it to MITM (and favorably at that!) is beyond me...

 

[MsMo]

JT is like a modern day Elvis to me - and I don't mean it in a complimentary way. The white media crowned Elvis king, even though what he did was that he played black music that black artists actually performed better. Now, they are doing the same with JT. I think he's music is average at best, yet the white media acts like he's the second coming. Just look at articles like this: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertai.../justin-timberlake-our-sammy-davis-jr/274251/

How insulting is it to black culture to compare someone like JT, this spoilt white kid who was born with a silver spoon, to Sammy Davis Jr. who had to fight his fights and struggle to be accepted as equal to white artists?

How insulting is it to write something like this?



I'm glad that most people called the author out on both the Sammy Davis Jr. comparation and on his stupid comments about Man In The Mirror and comparing it to Mirrors. (Just because both songs have the word "mirror" in their title, I guess, because I don't see any other similarity.) And how is MITM narcisstic? ...

:bugeyed :doh: :blink: :angry: :smilerolleyes: Even though the article is a week old I still HAD to respond.

Thanks so much for posting btw, luv your siggy :cheeky:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/theatlantic">theatlantic</a> Oh really? BULLSH!T the RYB single on JT's 1st album was written 4 @<a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljackson">michaeljackson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23MusicHIStory">#MusicHIStory</a> not SDJr <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23KingOfPop">#KingOfPop</a><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23MJFam">#MJFam</a></p>&mdash; Ms Mo (@MJJRealRealm) <a href="https://twitter.com/MJJRealRealm/status/317514341077360640">March 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
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[helena22]

Came here to speak my mind. Honestly, looking at the success JT's enjoying right now, I feel so sad.
Soooo many talented (and more so than JT) R&B/Soul artists have never gotten that type of love. As an R&B/Soul head, I know too damn well he's just not on the same level. So, my hope is that some people need to quit putting him on a pedestal like he's bringing back "real R&B" or "soulful sound". If he's a real-deal musician as he claims to be, he must humble himself and thank all of those who put the genre on the map in the first place.
P.S. The same goes for Adele.

 

[Aniram]

I think he has always credited Michael as a huge influence, and Michael gave his stamp of approval over Justin's music many times while he was alive. I enjoyed Justin's new album a lot and I enjoyed Chris Brown's latest single and dance video for "Fine China" and I like Ne-Yo and Usher and anyone else following in Michael's footsteps. I support and approve!

 

[Rudolf]

He does absolutely nothing for me.

 

[MsMo]

-_-

"Study the greats and become greater." ~Michael Jackson

"It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation… period." ~Michael Jackson

 

[144000]

If McDonald's wasn't propping up Timberlake's ass, he'd be nowhere, now. And that lame 'i'm lovin it' theme rides only on forcefeeding. typical media. The Atlantic's 'Our Sammy'? Racism at its premium.

Hey McDonald's...you have some more bad cholesterol to trim.

Wow. Just Wow. SMH

 

[HIStory]

Came here to speak my mind. Honestly, looking at the success JT's enjoying right now, I feel so sad.
Soooo many talented (and more so than JT) R&B/Soul artists have never gotten that type of love. As an R&B/Soul head, I know too damn well he's just not on the same level. So, my hope is that some people need to quit putting him on a pedestal like he's bringing back "real R&B" or "soulful sound". If he's a real-deal musician as he claims to be, he must humble himself and thank all of those who put the genre on the map in the first place.
P.S. The same goes for Adele.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

The only reason media stupidly puts him on a pedestal is because he's white. JT isn't nearly as talented as Sammy, Frank or Michael, that article is insulting to their artistry and their accomplishments, the only thing he does is copying mainly from Michael. I've read and seen such praises with JTs acting as well and I'm like, he's not even Leonardo DiCaprio to recieve such compliments... :doh:

 

[mo_rizwan]

Just got back from The O2. He ain't no Michael, but nevertheless, Justin Smashed it!

 

[SheilaMJFan4Ever]

The only reason media stupidly puts him on a pedestal is because he's white. JT isn't nearly as talented as Sammy, Frank or Michael, that article is insulting to their artistry and their accomplishments, the only thing he does is copying mainly from Michael. I've read and seen such praises with JTs acting as well and I'm like, he's not even Leonardo DiCaprio to recieve such compliments... :doh:

Unfortunately, that has been the case since the beginning, going as far back as the birth of Jazz in New Orleans. Putting a white face on black music (to make it more appealing and/or acceptable for white kids to groove to/buy during the Jim Crow years) was a huge slap in the face to the original artists then and it is NOW.

I call it the "Vanilla Ice Syndrome". (Imho)Elvis Presley was the first major benefactor of white washing black music, so much so that he's referred to as the 'King of Rock & Roll', which is a joke! His entire image was stolen, as well as his sound. He was no innovator; he was a marketing scheme that was wildly successful. Granted, he could sing (I always felt his gospel recordings were better, more heartfelt), but other than being in the right place, right moment, right time, he could have easily slipped through the cracks and been forgotten.


The "Vanilla Ice Syndrome" isn't going anywhere anytime soon. . . :smilerolleyes: