King of Pop, now King of Covers! (Essence.com)

The King of Pop is now the King of All Covers
Michael Jackson’s presence alone, was larger than life, he was the JumboTron megastar.
By Marcus Scott

One black fedora. Check. One rhinestone jacket. Check. A pair of black high-water slacks. Check. A pair of ultra-slick black Oxford shoes. Check. Raising the bar to the sun until it liquefied. Check. Check. Check.

Far from any dilettante in the entertainment biz, on March 25, 1983, 24-year-old Michael Joseph Jackson from small-town Gary, Indiana, shined like a white dwarf when he performed a memorable Jackson 5 medley, reunited with all of his brothers for the 25th anniversary of Motown. Motown 25 was saturated with memorable moments: Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” The Temptations and The Four Tops face-off, and Stevie Wonder’s medley. But nothing stood tantamount to the soft-spoken Michael. His electrifying and exhilarating performance of “Billie Jean,” a menacingly sinister futuristic jazz-funk with the sassy crack-whipped downbeat, cat-on-the-prowl bass stare was unforgettable. A panic-attack set to music, Jackson’s unique vocal hiccup falsetto styling and fancy footwork thrilled the Motown 25 crowd, but it was his bullet-time moonwalk that sprinkled the gold dust that solidified his superstardom.

With a career spanning four decades in popular culture, Michael Jackson’s spectacular and unprecedented career has been nothing short of spectacular. The androgynous, sequined gloved man-child known for his quintessentially avant-garde fashion sense; dizzyingly sleek razor-sharp dance routines and startling, sentimental songbird glissading-tenor—left a black hole that couldn’t be filled. Jackson’s take-no-prisoners frontman bravissimo, was left unmatched by his closest contenders Prince, Madonna and even his youngest sister, Janet. No one did better: no one could hit the same notes with the same emotion, had the same intensity, had the same imagination that created the blueprints for “Scream” and Leave Me Alone,” no one could write the same messages in their songs, and no one could out-dance him. So, why would they cover him? Here are a few stars with the gull to pull it off.

1. Recently, Mrs. Badu herself decided to get her inner Michael one. Covering Michael’s ‘72 single “I Wanna Be Where You Are,” with The Roots crew as her co-pilot, the cover is almost as good as original… almost.
2. Whistle Register diva extradonaire Mariah Carey, a legend in her own right wowed critics and fans alike when she performed for MTV Unplugged in ’92. Her rendition of Jackson’s timeless 1970’s I’ll Be There,” with back-up singer Trey Lorenz was soul-stirring, but despite a No. 1 hit, Michael is still here with us.

3. Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, arguably this generation’s Aretha, brought down the house with her rendition of “Will You Be There?,” with a choir backing her when she performed this gem at the Michael’s memorial at The Staples Center. But, nonetheless its Michael’s vocal ticks and gospel howl that made this a principle standout on his Dangerous album.

4. In 1996, BLACKstreet’s Another Level, took the pop game by the horns and their signature “No Diggity” was anything but a forgettable track. But even they had a hand in sampling the “King.” When Teddy Riley remixed “Billie Jean” with this club banger, it was destined for greatness… just not as great as the original.

5. “Billie Jean” was also covered by another star. The MTV Awards 2007 saw many things that night, with Kanye and others jamming the night away, but it was up-and-comer Chris Brown’s performance with former flame Rihanna that stole the show when he executed Mike’s hat toss, spins, and landing en pointe. A legend in the making?

6. Barbados ingénue Rihanna also got her kicks with “The Gloved One.” Her chart-topper “Don’t Stop The Music,” sampled Michael’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” from the landmark Thriller. Now, if only she can get the African chant down. We believe it’s: “Mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa.”

7. Kanye is famous for name checking MJ in his tunes. Basically the backbone of Kanye’s “Good Life,” Michael’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” is still one of Thriller’s several highlights. With a T-Pain cameo, Kanye’s Graduation standout track still gets the party started.

8. No one can glam it up better than Beyoncé, and on June 26, ,the night after Michael passed she honored him the best way she knew how: doing a cover. From Off The Wall, “I Can’t Help It” is the smooth jazz slow jam that captured the King at a perfect calm. While the effort wasn’t bad, she’s still got a long way to be Mike, battling between her cliché prima donna vocal gymnastics and Mike’s effortless

9. Giving Mike a big run for his money is sometimes neo-soul singer, sometimes folk singer and pianist John Legend featuring political satirist Stephen Colbert singing “The Girl is Mine.” Probably the oddest couple in musical history, this tour de force, a cover of the very first single from Thriller—comical and soulful—is music with wings.

10. Thriller opened the way it closed, phenomenally and unforgettably. The last track, “The Lady In My Life,” a quiet storm slow jam has also been covered from Ne-Yo to Al B. Sure in R&B music. Mike’s poignant riffs and boy soprano high notes laced with gushy sweetness was one of the few songs responsible for late night pillow talks. Hip-hop icon LL Cool J agrees, and with Boyz II Men grooving in a melismatic unison, “Hey Lover” from his hit “Mr. Smith” not only topped charts, it made us sweat, sampling this MJ classic.

11. From their sophomore self-titled album Naughty By Nature, the East Orange trio unleashed an unforgettable ’91 hip-hop anthem, sampling the Jackson 5’s No. 1 hit “ABC.” Just a simple melody, an acronym for other people’s (sexual) property, “O.P.P.” remains one of the most influential pieces in hip-hip history.

12. “I Want You Back,” the first Jackson 5 single released on Motown, made history as one of four back-to-back number one hits. No doubt, Mr. Roc-A-Fella himself asked Mr. West to sprinkle some Kanye dust on his now-classic The Blueprint. Magic was created when Jay-Z declares fame on the summer smash “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” sampling the J5 standout. The Motown fave has been sampled numerous times, and helped a lot of songs become hits—remember, “Jump” from Kris Kross? Forty years later, and this J5 song is still funky.

13. These Sisters With Voices kick-started a rock-the-house career amongst a competition against other girl groups TLC, Total and Xscape, in the early to mid-90s, but it was their defiant Thriller sample that took the cake in ’92. On the heels of their No. 1 hit “Weak,” it was “Right Here (Human Nature remix)” that was the jump-off to every block party, with Coko’s up-close-and-personal swagger and Michael’s piecing and breathtaking falsetto that pulls at the heart strings.

14. From his 2001 album Invincible, Michael covered a song from UK duo Floetry, about the special someone that stirs up those little emotions every time you look at them. Almost without batting an eye, Michael spits out the syrupy ballad “Butterflies” like he’s calmly sipping chamomile, effortlessly. At first listen alone, it’s evident that the third single, released from his tenth studio album, was a far cry from the Gaia of sound ringing out from Natalie Stewart’s little mouth. While Natalie provides the voice, it’s Mike who provides the bittersweet and heartfelt passion, that Marsha Ambrosius declared.

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