subyduby said:

Is it with the same director that made R.Kelly's film?

Supernova said:

It wasn't an article.. it was a story on

"Good Day Today" & "Extra"

2 national tv entertainment shows..

They BOTH said " MJ wanted his fans to come out in NYC today with signs to protest SONY & SONY Products"

If you have a problem with THEIR Reporting.. email them.

Men in Black II is lame. Not nearly as good as the first one. One more thing MJ has ruined (besides his face).
And Michael Jackson has been a corporate whore for too long to have any credibility as an artist.
Once more he is trying to copy Prince, but no one but MJ's most brain dead fans will fall for his latest cry for attention.

locoarts said:

OK y'all!
Everybody go out and get yourself a nice SONY product!!

Support SONY!!
FUCK that fucking retarded child molesting 6 feet high stack of smoking dogshit called Michael Jackson... Fucking idiot...

Neversin.

MAN...WHERE'S THE LOVE IN THIS THREAD???
All i wanna know is...WHERE IS THE LOVE???

no, we are not allowed. we carry too much trouble,and work to wander about ourselves and we do have dignity and respect.
Isupposed that fanatics don't masturbate, now I know
maybe,just maybe, i know ppl. living in palestine.
wtf, does masturbation have to do with anything u pathetic french moron???
It will be good for your mental health, I'm sure that m jackson, like you, never masturbate when he was a teenager, see the result hehe, try now with your moose


as i said u don't know me nor of my activities so don't worry.u don't know of my supporting any organization or anything.
I know that you're a m j asskisser, it's enough
(...)

if u ever went there, it's the poor families u suffer.
poor suffer everywhere moron
see the rich family and the ones in the middle class families. the girls are educated, and fine. it's the poor ppl. that are left out. girls asking for men to be fucked,
maybe R Kelly should spend some times there
kids who don't go to school,
kids spendind too much time on the net babbling nonsense
parents who take kids out of school,whether u are a girl or a boy, it's hard being poor in pakistan. and for those who are not poor and complain about female rights
read Simone de Beauvoir intead of boring us all with Mariah

we have come a long way like any other country in granting females rights
( not in my place or in the States but it's true I can't imagine Ally Mc Beal living in Pakistan

i am going to worry about some religios manics and women's rights in a country i have not fully explored?! why not worry about freeing a place so further attacks won't occur?! and that has nothing to do with being muslim or pakistani.
more nonsense from you agian

DavidEye said:

Thats just what he needs...more flavor of the month production. Everyone knows his ass needs to hook back up with Q. Or hell, if he is going to "try' to movie forward in his sound, then why not some production from off center areas etc?

Thats just what he needs...more flavor of the month production. Everyone knows his ass needs to hook back up with Q.

right now he is studying with marlon brando for acting.

You're a "hardcore" prince fan...and u talk like that??? Where is the LOVE, the only LOVE there is...is the LOVE we make. U don't have to "like" Michael, but u are not in a position to throw stones my friend..."never sin"ONELOVE

But I DO like the fact that he is cutting his losses and moving on rapidly.It looks like he's gonna record a new CD before he signs a record deal (using the new album as a "bargaining tool" when serious negotiations begin).

rdhull said:

Dude, everyone knows that even Q. can't help MJ's career...
MJ's washed up and now his only way of getting the worlds attention is by doing some outlandish PR stunt...
Neversin.

When it comes to the whole "Emancipation" from his record label, then yes I would say that MJ is copying Prince. The whole "slave" argument that he used was almost Prince - verbatim.

As for the fans protesting for him, that's a laugh. He's a has-been, but just doesn't realize it yet because everybody treats him like a god. But I do think the public has lost its patience with MJ. Nobody's gonna do anything for him.

It's sad to think that someone sabotaged his own career not by lack of talent, but simply through plastic surgery. MJ must go to bed with an amazing level of guilt and self-hatred.

eos23 said:

Hey girly, what the fuck has being a hardcore prince fan have to do with "LOVE"??
I like and collect the man's music, so that doesn't mean I have to act or talk like him...
But you're probably one of those fans who just believes and does everything he spurts out at you...
If Prince said that you should jump off the Empire State building all in the name of "LOVE", you'd probably do it huh?

Neversin.

Why are u judging your brother Micheal? We are ONE, and u don't think Michael's thoughts, dream Michael's dreams, or walk around in his body temple, U don't know about Michael's personal relationship with God, and how what Michaels is doing is going to help others...

eos23 said:

Are you talking about the Michael who sang Beat It--or some other messiah Michael I havent heard of yet? Lemme know.

rdhull said

Are you talking about the Michael who sang Beat It--or some other messiah Michael I havent heard of yet? Lemme know.

Look, U know I'm talking about Michael Jackson...Don't insult my intelligence or your own... I just know that God requires more of us when it comes 2 accepting our brothers and sisters. Judge not lest U be judged. You are not without sin in your life, so lay off Micheal okay???

And u know what else? all u naysayers and Michael haters are gonna be real suprised, when Michael ascends out of this chaos and confusion and into the light...This is about God...not record companies...

Maybe u should look at the man in the mirror...instead of being a victim of a selfish Love, it's time that u realize that there are some with no home and not a nickle to loan, could it be would it be pretending that they're not alone...

IF u wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change...Quit looking at Michael...look at your own reflection in the mirror...in the words of Prince.."wake up children,dance the dance electric, there isn't much time...

rdhull said

]

Security!!...without sin in my life etc? Huh? No need to go off on all those hysterics etc. MJ is a public figure and he will be discussed as one...good and bad, riduculous and serious. Why do you take it so personal? Doesnt matter if he's black or white ( no pun intended), people who do certain acts will get clowned or discussed etc. Nobody loves his music more than I do, but that doesnt mean I hold him up to be some sort of deity. Next time take the blue pill mkay?
[This message was edited Sat Jul 6 13:19:47 PDT 2002 by rdhull]

See, words can be "so" misunderstood. That's my whole point! It's not just about public figures, we talk in terms of good and bad when it comes 2 all of humanity. There is no good or bad, white or black, up or down...only in the world of duality... a world where we feel that we can "clown" people and look at them as "separate" from ourselves. (i don't find anything anyone has said about Michael "funny" )

Yes I do take it "personally" because I love the soul of this man, and the light he has shown on my path. Stop maliciously attacking his "integrity"...

As long as u clown Micheal, or "anyone" 4 that matter u bring the circus home to roost in your life. WE are all Dieties, we are all the living truth in human 4orm, and once u leave the world of duality, of opposities, of good and bad, right and wrong...then u can expand your mind and evolve into Celestial Humanity, and see yourself as well as all of life...as light...and divinity...we are all just unique expressions of this light...

I have no more comments other than...Eye wish u Love, Eye wish u Heaven... Eos "Goddess of the Dawn"...The Dawn of Aquarian Understanding and truth...which is Tolerance of others and their unique expression of the light within...

Who's bad?

Amid a messy $200 million dispute with Sony, Michael Jackson adopts temporary blackness and summons Al Sharpton to his cause. But racism hasn't torpedoed your career, Michael: Your music sucks.


By Bomani Jones

June 26, 2002 |

Sony has just realized something that's been apparent to everyone else for about a decade now: Michael Jackson is washed up. Jackson has yet to take the hint, but he hasn't released a cutting-edge album in 20 years or an above-average album in 15. Even so, he's been treated like the megastar he once was, a reception that subjects us to a semi-decennial promotional campaign that overloads the world with images of a man in his prime. But when the Wizard emerges from the curtain, he's revealed as a performer on his last legs. So Sony and Jackson have decided to part ways on less than amicable terms, the record company only requiring three new tracks and a greatest-hits compilation from Jackson.

But months after the release of Jackson's sixth solo album, "Invincible," the details of the self-appointed King of Pop's catfight with his record label have come to light. The battle apparently centers on a rumored multimillion-dollar debt, a $25 million promotional campaign that Jackson found to be insufficient and one of the most lucrative publishing catalogs on Earth. If that isn't juicy enough for you, Jackson has summoned Johnnie Cochran and Al Sharpton to his side. Oh, goody.


The Associated Press has reported that Jackson may owe Sony up to $200 million, a condition created by the star's penchant for borrowing money and the massive costs put into readying his albums for release. Jackson asserts that Sony underpromoted "Invincible," citing the fact that only one video was released from the album (for the lackluster opening single, "You Rock My World") as an example of negligence.

Jackson -- along with many music-industry observers -- feels that the squabble may really be over the rights to the Beatles catalog that Jackson acquired in the mid-1980s (and who could ever forget the squabble with Paul McCartney that caused?). By underpromoting Jackson's work, Sony could hypothetically force Jackson into such massive debt that he'd have to sign over the portion of that catalog that he owns. (Sony already owns the rest.)

In response, Cochran and Sharpton have become players in the controversy, reaffirming Jackson's place in the halls of fair-weather blackness, his bust sitting right alongside O.J. Simpson's. Jackson's racial, shall we say, confusion has always made for interesting spectator sport. Whether his loss of pigmentation in the last few decades was natural or artificial is up for debate, but what's unquestionable is the rush of pride he seems to feel in his race when things are going bad for him in the court of public opinion.

When things are all good, though, he's hanging with Elizabeth Taylor and gallivanting through Europe. At this point, all I can say is that Jackson better hope Cochran and Sharpton own a record company.

That Sony is trying to strong-arm Mike is a plausible theory, but not one worthy of much discussion. Even those who are not fans of A Tribe Called Quest are familiar with Q-Tip's Industry Rule No. 4,080: "Record-company people are shaaady." No one is likely to be surprised by such a thing. What is surprising, though, is that Jackson seems to think that Sony is responsible for his last album selling just 5 million copies worldwide. You might argue it's even more surprising that Sony is still pumping zillions of dollars into Jackson's career, all based on glory attained during the Reagan administration.

Wake up and smell the coffee, folks. Michael Jackson is done. Ten years ago, Sony would not have been in a position to dream about bullying Jackson, then the biggest star in the universe. But really, didn't we all know he was done when "HIStory" was released in 1996? People should have noticed how resistant the supposed Jackson-loving masses were to that year's media blitz.

Anyone who has heard Jackson's last three albums should also have noticed that he stopped being a trendsetter and has settled into the role of music's slowest-reacting follower. "Dangerous" was a new jack swing album that seemed just a tad outdated when it hit the streets. No one seems to be able to tell what "HIStory" was, and I'm willing to hypothesize that the album wouldn't have sold half as well as it did if not for the collection of classics that came along with the CD. And as "neo-soul" became the style du jour, Jackson released "Invincible," a slick, urban pop/R&B album that was completely out of place in the contemporary music landscape.
This isn't the sort of awkwardness that indicates a man ahead of his time; instead, it's the manifesto of a man whom the game has blown past. Twenty years ago, of course, Jackson was nothing short of a pop visionary. On the heels of "Off the Wall," an album so successful that people wondered if Jackson could ever approach its standard again, His Royal Popness returned with "Thriller."

Little can be said about "Thriller" that hasn't been said ad nauseam, but it remains true that few albums ever have so thoroughly melded the entire pop landscape, often doing so within one song, in Beatle-esque fashion. Remember, "Beat It" was a wildly successful merger of contemporary black music with hard rock, one that came three years before Run-DMC had even heard "Walk This Way."

And while Funkadelic released many classic albums based around the electric guitar, none were smooth enough to get mainstream radio play. Combine that with the rest of the album -- "Billie Jean," which dominated the airwaves for what seemed like months and had kids from the inner city to college campuses trying to decipher its lyrics; that groundbreaking "Thriller" video with the Vincent Price narration -- and it's clear how far ahead of the curve Mike really was.


Well, that was 20 years and three presidencies ago. People don't wear acid-wash jeans anymore, and Michael Jackson is no longer a star of that magnitude. Where he once set the trends, the trends now set him. Imagine Jackson and his pristine image using an archived verse from Biggie Smalls 10 years ago. But since the world is into hip-hop, so is Mike. His reactions have gotten slow, though -- that Biggie verse is no less than six years old -- a fact that may be a reflection of his insistence on taking five years to complete one album.

While still trying to be the star he was in 1982, Jackson doesn't seem to realize that he's become the antithesis of today's stars in so many ways. Though bubble-gum pop has made a massive comeback thanks to Jive Records' holy trinity of Britney, Backstreet, and 'N Sync, the strange and reclusive superstar isn't much appreciated today. Look at two of the biggest superstars of the last 10 years: Kurt Cobain and Tupac Shakur. Strange, yes. Reclusive, no and yes. While Cobain was not a partying-in-public sort of rock star, his music had a confessional tone that gave a glimpse into his soul. Shakur was an open book, even though it was clear he was a rough draft.


In contrast, it seems like Mike hasn't come outside since he let Oprah in to do that interview at Neverland. His music is pure pop, and his lyrics are a window into a gumball machine. While most successful R&B is full of intensely personal and easily identifiable lyrics, Jackson sings cookie-cutter love songs that the public isn't buying in 2002.

Is that what Sony thinks will recoup $25 million in promotions? And then, after his record company spent all that money, Jackson somehow believes that one more video would have dramatically boosted sales? (All right, it's true that the sparkling "Butterflies" deserved a better fate.) Since when did Michael Jackson need that much help to sell records? Good albums don't need help. With a scant promotion budget, unknown singer-songwriter Jill Scott went platinum with her debut album, "Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1." Word of mouth will sell a good album by a nobody, let alone by Michael Jackson.

Somebody, one presumes, will sign Jackson now that the divorce with Sony has been finalized. Arista founder Clive Davis, now at the helm of J Records, his "instant major" label, had great success resurrecting Carlos Santana's career. The results were not as stellar when he tried to do the same with Prince. But Davis seems like the best bet to give Jackson the kind of money the self-important former superstar would be willing to accept. If Davis isn't keen on the idea, it could be a long time before we see another album from Jackson.

Perhaps some time off will make one thing clear to Michael Jackson: His album didn't sell because people didn't like it. It's debatable whether the world wants to see a 43-year-old man doing what now looks like a Justin Timberlake impression, even if music buffs and historians understand that the former Britney beau is himself a vanilla disciple of Jackson. Sony may have spent its $25 million poorly, but nothing could have saved "Invincible" from its own mediocrity. The question now becomes whether Jackson himself -- or someone who cares about him and can penetrate his seclusion -- can save the dethroned King of Pop from whatever has driven him into irrelevance.

eos23 said:

I'm damn near Speechless (no pun intended). Although I think you are quite naive in this world we live in,I admire the principles you are trying to get across...wheres the collection plate? I'll donate a coupla bucks just for general purposes.

It's funny that now Michael rememebers he's black and he's screaming racism against the record industry. What a hypocrite.

...Black people have an inherent gene within them that helps them to die and regenerate, ...