Michael Jackson: The recording industry is racist

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The story is [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33058-2002Jul6.html]here[/url] ...

[EXAGON]

i agree with Michael

[Duhduh]

Is someone bitter?

[drew]

It's really sad how desperate people get when they are down. Where was this talk when he was on top? When he had influence and money to do something about it? I'm not defending the business but this a joke. drew

[Curve Dominant]

[quote][b]"If you fight for me, you're fighting for all black people, dead and alive," Jackson said[/b][/quote]WHAAAAOOOOO!!! WAIT JUST A F*CKING MINUTE THERE, COWBOY!!! That has got to be one of the most absurdly ludicrous things I've heard...ever, I think. I still can't believe he actually said that. That has to be a misquote. Somebody please tell me that's a misquote.

[henryrobinett]

When did Michael Jackson become black? Seriously though it [b]IS[/b] a wildly racist business. I'm surprised it's taken him this long to realize that. Of course he knew it, but you don't want to bite the racist hand that feeds you, do you? Unwise that. I'm here to root him on. Go Michael. Take the bastards down.

[Tedly Nightshade]

He seems, unfortunately, like the very person to discredit the whole idea. They would rather have him saying that, than many other more credible people, who might well say it.

[Gator Wing]

Al Sharpton is going to make a run for US President. This is just publicity to get his name out in front of people. He must have worked pretty hard on MJ to get him involved. Remember, any publicity is good publicity. As for Mariah Carey, I don't think anyone discriminated against her. How many millions was her payoff?

[Steve Smith]

AL SHARPTON AS PRESEDENT! holy crow... maybe he could have Gore as a vice.... that scares the crap out of me.... and hey, Micheal was discriminated against.. proof can be found in the fact they only spent a paltry 25 mil on the record........ how sureall can today get?

[Alndln]

Kinda funny that an aging white housewife is playing the race card.I guess all the white artists who get taken for a ride fall into another catagory,whatever that is. :rolleyes:

[sbrock1san.rr.com]

First Mariah goes insane and now Michael is definitely nuts. I wonder if there is a clause in Sony's contracts where the artist has to sign over their sanity in exchange for millions of dollars. If I was a Sony artist I would read the fine print just in case.....I'd hate to see them all looking like extras in "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest".

[Skip_dup1]

Mariah Carey should be the one gunning for Mottola, if anybody. MJ may be way off but Tommy is not a nice person.

[StoneKnife]

Yeah! She only got $27 million dollars when she severed her contract with them, which in turn caused the layoff of 1,800 employees. Boy she sure got shafted.

[philbo_Tangent]

Forgive me if I'm being dense or just misinformed here, but isn't Tommy Mottola Mariah's ex-husband? Frankly, I don't see how MJ is going to stop injustice with a press conference. I'd argue that EVERY business is pretty much non-racist, in that if you can make the fat cats look good to the stockholders, they'll welcome you aboard with open arms regardless of whether you're black, white, green, ugly, stupid, pretty, ignorant, clueless, talentless, brilliant, whatever... But the instant you slip off the 'golden' list, you'd best head for Vegas or Branson or the Casino touring circuit, if you want to keep making music for money... In fact, that's exactly what's wrong and incredible with popular music - any talentless idiot who can create a buzz in the music media enough to sell CDs is going to end up on Clearchannel & MTV & VH1 & CMT blasting their crap into every radio and TV in the U.S. I hold up Eminem as an example of this...

[koolkid]

world war 3 has begun, let me tell you, michael jackson has alot of money and a lot of clout, as does sony, mottola,i bet they throw him to the wolves,this is going to get ugly..stay tuned

[Philip OKeefe]

I can't speak to the racism issue, since I don't personally know the people in question. But calling some a racist without cause is almost as bad, and in some ways worse, than being a racist. Both are detestable. Insofar as Jackson vs. Sony, everything I've read so far regarding the contracts would make me think Sony is going to win. And if MJ thinks these PR stunts are going to help him, he's mistaken. "Upstanding international corp. vs. tarnished pop pervert" is how a LOT of people are going to see this - especially a jury if Sony's lawyers do their job right. Fair or not, that's most likely what is going to happen. Do labels take a larger share? Sure... they usually are the ones making the investment and taking the financial risks. Is the percentage they take fair... that's debateable. Do the labels do some dumb things? Sure they do. Did MJ make a BIG mistake in spending all that moolah on "Invinceable" and putting some / all of the Beatles publishing up as collateral for his loans? Absolutely! Personally, I'm not shedding any tears for any of 'em.

[Brian T]

How can a guy with the biggest selling records in history, who made enough $$$ to buy the friggin' *BEATLES* catalog, be a victim? Because he's now so totally weird that nobody gets excited about his music, he's become the mascot for all victims of injustice, both dead and alive? What a sad, self-deluded guy. What happened to him? Off The Wall is one of the best records ever made, IMO. Artful in the extreme. Never buy into your own press, or you could end up this way yourself. I really do feel sorry for MJ. It cannot be any fun living in there. Regards, Brian T

[koolkid]

phil, i agree with alot of what you said, but i think alot of very powerful people,mostly minorities, dont see michael jackson as a pop pervert and alot of those same people might see sony as the bully in this and believe me there will be plenty of scapegoats available at sony music to soothe the egos in the jackson camp,this is gonna get deep

[koolkid]

[quote]Originally posted by philbo_Tangent: [b]Forgive me if I'm being dense or just misinformed here, but isn't Tommy Mottola Mariah's ex-husband? Frankly, I don't see how MJ is going to stop injustice with a press conference. I'd argue that EVERY business is pretty much non-racist, in that if you can make the fat cats look good to the stockholders, they'll welcome you aboard with open arms regardless of whether you're black, white, green, ugly, stupid, pretty, ignorant, clueless, talentless, brilliant, whatever... But the instant you slip off the 'golden' list, you'd best head for Vegas or Branson or the Casino touring circuit, if you want to keep making music for money... In fact, that's exactly what's wrong and incredible with popular music - any talentless idiot who can create a buzz in the music media enough to sell CDs is going to end up on Clearchannel & MTV & VH1 & CMT blasting their crap into every radio and TV in the U.S. I hold up Eminem as an example of this... [/b][/quote]you raise a good point in a round about kind of way, most socialists would argue that the term business and racism are one and the same in that the very nature of a capitalist business is to exploit some or many at the benefit of an elitist class

[Curve Dominant]

MJ has got some serious balls to be busting on Tommy Mottola. MJ turned to Mottola to bail him out of his child-molestation lawsuit. Don't tell me y'all don't know about this... When MJ's child-molestation suit went to settlement, MJ didn't have the cash to settle. He called on Mottola to arrange for Sony to cut the check, and Tommy arranged it. Now, MJ calls Tommy "devilish"?? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black...

[koolkid]

[quote]Originally posted by Curve Dominant: [b]MJ has got some serious balls to be busting on Tommy Mottola. MJ turned to Mottola to bail him out of his child-molestation lawsuit. Don't tell me y'all don't know about this... When MJ's child-molestation suit went to settlement, MJ didn't have the cash to settle. He called on Mottola to arrange for Sony to cut the check, and Tommy arranged it. Now, MJ calls Tommy "devilish"?? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black...[/b][/quote]wow..do you remember what the settle amount was??

[Philip OKeefe]

Don't quote me, but I THINK the details were sealed by Court Order.

[koolkid]

[quote]Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe: [b]Don't quote me, but I THINK the details were sealed by Court Order.[/b][/quote]i think your right,i gotta find out some blackmarket info on that

[Super 8]

The music industry is racist!?!? I suppose next they'll be saying the music industry is sexist... Seriously though, MJ is getting too eccentric. That whole 'good, bad, ugly' sign is kinda freaky. At least amend it to say "The good but ugly". Unless maybe MJ used an old picture of himself from before he had his face hacked up. I'm with Phil. The die-hard MJ fans will rant over this, but most people are going to see this as the ego-inflated ramblings of a pop star-turned-weirdo who is on his way out to pasture. I have no love for the music industry, but MJ seriously needs to get a grip on something resembling reality. Of course, if he could get his little sister to rally behind his cause, things might start to get kinda interesting... :idea:

[Duhduh]

Maybe Im being naive, but I have a really hard time believing that Michael Jackson was a victim of racism from his label. We're not talking about Old Dirty Bastard. We're talking about Michael friggin' Jackson! I think he should take his disgruntled ass down to the post office and take a stab at their exam. On another note: The Honorable Reverend Doctor Al Sharpton for president? (Thats his official title now) I think anyone who is a reverend/minister/whatever should be disqualified from running for public office. What ever happened to "Separation of church and state"???

[StoneKnife]

[quote] michael jackson has alot of money [/quote]Makes ya wonder- Why did he have to put up some of his Beatles catalog to underwrite a $25 Mil. deal? Mabie those under the table payoffs were a bit more hefty than we were led to believe- that and monkey chow.

[alphajerk]

[quote]Originally posted by henryrobinett: [b]Go Michael. Take the bastards down.[/b][/quote]michael, he said TAKE the bastards down... not go down on the bastards. michael is black? thats not the same michael jackson from the jackson 5 is it?

[Rog]

"The n-word" Nigger. There, I said it. It's like Lenny Bruce never existed :mad: As for Jackson - he can go fuck himself. The entertainment industry is down on black people, women and anyone who isn't good-looking, irrespective of gender or race. He should shut the fuck up and deal with it instead of using the issue to benefit his own position - that's as bad as being racist. Maybe if he had a history of campaigning on race issues then I could take him seriously and support him. As it is, I hope Jackson ends up penniless for thinking the public are that nieve that they'd swallow his bullshit.

[henryrobinett]

[quote]Originally posted by Rog: [b] As for Jackson - he can go fuck himself. The entertainment industry is down on black people, women and anyone who isn't good-looking, irrespective of gender or race. He should shut the fuck up and deal with it instead of using the issue to benefit his own position - that's as bad as being racist. Maybe if he had a history of campaigning on race issues then I could take him seriously and support him. As it is, I hope Jackson ends up penniless for thinking the public are that nieve that they'd swallow his bullshit.[/b][/quote]Whoa, whoa! So that means he should go FUCK himself? Because women and ugly people and gays and Troglodytes have a difficult time with the entertainment industry he SHOULD GO FUCK HIMSELF? And he only has a right to speak up if he has a history of "campaigning on race issues". There was a time Rosa Parks didn't have a history of "campaigning on race issues" either and she, even then, was older than Michael Jackson. Oh so you're resentful because he has SO MUCH MONEY and is SO POWERFUL. That is why he should GO FUCK HIMSELF? Well as I see it, that's the point. The man has made it to the pinnacle of the industry. He has, as sad as it may be, symbolized success in this industry. Who would have dreamed of ousting Frank Sinatra because he had a bad spell? Well it seems as though Jackson IS dealing with it. Oh, you mean he should just lay down LIKE A NIGGER and shut the fuck up?: I don't know whether this has been covered yet in this thread but I recall a similar situation with Earth, Wind and Fire. They put out one record that bombed and a previous one that was marginal and Columbia DROPPED them. Maurice White called foul then. Bob Dylan, to use an example I can remember, consistently sold LESS and never had the hits EWF did. He gave example after example of black artists who are dropped like a hot potato and other white artists who, with a similar track record as EWF (and face it, at the time, how many could claim a similar track record?) were droped like a bomb. There was a similar backlash from the "white" public as I read here. If something is going to BEGIN to change it will HAVE to start with someone like Michael Jackson.

[Rog]

Henry, "Whoa, whoa! So that means he should go FUCK himself? Because women and ugly people and gays and Troglodytes have a difficult time with the entertainment industry he SHOULD GO FUCK HIMSELF?" No, that's not why he should go fuck himself. "And he only has a right to speak up if he has a history of "campaigning on race issues". There was a time Rosa Parks didn't have a history of "campaigning on race issues" either and she, even then, was older than Michael Jackson." I'm pissed off at the guy because he seems to be playing the race card because things are going badly for him. He was remarkable quiet on race issues when he was the king of pop. Now he's a has-been he is using the one issue he was ambivalent about to generate publicity for HIMSELF. I find this distasteful in the extreme. "Oh so you're resentful because he has SO MUCH MONEY and is SO POWERFUL. That is why he should GO FUCK HIMSELF? Well as I see it, that's the point. The man has made it to the pinnacle of the industry. He has, as sad as it may be, symbolized success in this industry. Who would have dreamed of ousting Frank Sinatra because he had a bad spell?" I have no problem with his success. I have a big problem with him using an important issue for his own ends. I'm not a fan on his music but he's no Phil Collins either ;) "Well it seems as though Jackson IS dealing with it. Oh, you mean he should just lay down LIKE A NIGGER and shut the fuck up?:" What?!?!? Henry, where did that come from? Maybe you misunderstood my annoyance at the article using the "n-word" instead of nigger? "Are There Any Niggers Here Tonight? "Oh, my god, did you hear what he said? Are there any niggers here tonight? Is that rank! Is that cruel! Is that a cheap way to get laughs? Well, I think I see a nigger at the bar talking to two guinea owners and next to them....Now why have I done this? Is it only for shock value? Well, if all the niggers started calling each other nigger, not only among themselves, which they do anyway, but among others. If President Kennedy got on television and said:'I'm considering appointing two or three of the top niggers in the country to my cabinet'-if it was nothing but nigger, nigger, nigger- in six months nigger wouldn't mean any more than good night, god bless you...-when that beautiful day comes, you'll never see another nigger kid come home from school crying because some motherfucker called him a nigger." ---Lenny Bruce" "I don't know whether this has been covered yet in this thread but I recall a similar situation with Earth, Wind and Fire. They put out one record that bombed and a previous one that was marginal and Columbia DROPPED them. Maurice White called foul then. Bob Dylan, to use an example I can remember, consistently sold LESS and never had the hits EWF did. He gave example after example of black artists who are dropped like a hot potato and other white artists who, with a similar track record as EWF (and face it, at the time, how many could claim a similar track record?) were droped like a bomb. There was a similar backlash from the "white" public as I read here." Maybe, maybe not. Jackson rose to prominance because of his videos. He ruled MTV at a time when only white artists were played on the station. He was very successful. His last few albums have been utter crap. If he is to be dropped maybe it's not a race issue - maybe it's because no-one is buying his music anymore? "If something is going to BEGIN to change it will HAVE to start with someone like Michael Jackson." I agree 100% I don't question that big names can change people's opinions for the better. What I do question is his motivation for trying to affect this change.