Kamp Student Radio

It’s been nearly 44 years since iconic singer-songwriter and dancer Michael Jackson released Thriller, his sixth studio album. This record contains some of his greatest songs in his discography, with some examples being the title track, “Beat It,” “Human Nature,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and the global superpower, “Billie Jean”. Thriller also marks Jackson’s second and penultimate collaboration with legendary producer Quincy Jones. This is the album that made him the King of Pop, a title fitting for a global phenomenon.

Every time I hear a track from this album, I remember whenever my dad or older relatives played these tracks and danced to it like stiff toys. I have been an avid enjoyer of Jackson’s music since I was about 9 years old, but I stopped listening to his music as consistently as the years passed; there were other phases that caused this. This all changed in 2021 on June 25, the day of Jackson’s 12th death anniversary. I stumbled upon the “Smooth Criminal” music video and I instantly went on a trip to Nostalgiaville. At that point, I had only listened to Jackson’s most popular songs, so I went on what many called an “MJ Frenzy”. From 2022 until 2023, I listened constantly to Jackson’s solo work, so much so that he was my top artist on Spotify on my first year of using Spotify.

Each track means something to me in some way. It has everything from social commentary to romance. Every time I listen to this record in full, I emerge more inspired and more hopelessly romantic than I already am.

Thriller opens with the upbeat “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” which contains a creative interpolation of “Soul Makossa” by Cameroonian singer Manu Dibango at the end that repeats, “Ma-ma-se-ma-ma-sa-ma-ma-ko-sa”. The track spreads light on a lot of issues. The first verse focuses on how people are quick to spread rumors about people, a lot of which are exaggerated; Jackson was referring to his sisters when he used the word “baby”. The second verse addresses rumors about his brother Jackie and his heavily scrutinized marriage at the time. There is a bridge that is repeated that goes, “… Still they hate you, you’re a vegetable.” It basically means that you can be a good person who is just trying to do right, but people will still find reasons to hate you. The last verse is probably the most important in the entire album; Jackson warns listeners not to have a baby if they’re financially unable to do so because you would have to go through unlawful means. This song has stood the test the time; it has been sampled and interpolated numerous times, with some notable examples being Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music,” A Tribe Called Quest’s “Rhythm” and Kanye West’s “Lost In The World”.

“Baby Be Mine” switches the mood from an upbeat dance atmosphere to a smooth, romantic R&B space. This track is honestly one of my favorite love songs by Jackson; it’s simply just a track promising that a man will give his lover all he’s got to give. This track, to me, sounds quite similar to the album’s title track with the keyboard arrangement and the bassline.

“The Girl is Mine” features former Beatles member Paul McCartney and details two guys arguing over a female love interest. Jackson’s persona states that he has been dreaming of this girl, but McCartney’s persona states that Jackson is wasting his time in pursuing the girl and that she’s actually his, Unbeknownst to them, the girl they are both desperately pursuing is the probably just manipulating them both for the attention. The trope of two people dating the same person and arguing about it in a song was quite common in the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s, and a lot of these tracks were in inspired by “The Girl is Mine,” with some examples being Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin’s “It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be,” Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy is Mine,” R. Kelly and Usher’s “Same Girl” and finally, Queen Naija and Ari Lennox’s “Set Him Up”.

The title track follows suit and delivers a Halloween anthem that would send shivers down your spine. There’s a slow build-up with the guitars, soft percussion, the door and footstep sounds and the howling wolf, thus creating a nighttime setting. Written by Rod Temperton, the captivating lyrics reference a “thing with 40 eyes” as the villainous figure that is chasing the person who is being narrated. I still remember the first time I watched the short film; I was in awe and in fear. Seeing Jackson do the zombie dance was one of the videos that inspired me to start dancing. Ola Ray also killed it with the acting. Everything about it is perfect. It is one of the most popular Halloween songs of all time for a reason. It has made so much of an impact that every year, so many people line up in New York, with some dressed like Jackson, and perform the zombie dance number.

Narrating gang activity in the streets, “Beat It” basically is about wanting to prove that you’re tough, but still being smart enough to know when to back down because they will “kick you, beat you and tell you it’s fair.” The lyrics imply that who is right or wrong is irrelevant; you will still be at risk of being killed. The music video brings the song to life in a very creative way; Jackson recruited actual gang members from the Crips and Bloods for the would-be fight scene until he showed up last minute, breaking up the fight and performing one of the most recognizable and iconic choreographies of all time; it is also arguably one of the easiest.

Finally we go into “Billie Jean,” Jackson’s most iconic track. The character of Billie Jean, according to Jackson, is based on his brothers’ various partners who would lie about being the fathers of their babies. Another similar incident occurred in 1981 when a woman wrote letters to him that claimed he was the father of one of her set of twins. The Billie Jean character was mentioned on Thriller’s first track, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” as someone who was “telling lies and rubbing shoulders.” Billie Jean does exactly that in this track. The song has a consistent drum progression, the bassline is extremely captivating and the music video is simply iconic. What added to the song’s iconic status was when Jackson performed it at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever show in 1983. The show is most known for popularizing the moonwalk and it has endured til today.

Penned by John Bettis and Steve Porcaro of Toto, “Human Nature,” one of Jackson’s best ballads, captures his childlike wonder. Verse 1 sees him looking out into New York and feeling sudden curiosity to explore the city, or in other words, take a bite out of the apple. The chorus goes: “If they say why, why? | Tell ’em that it’s human nature | Why, why, does he do me that way?” It means that if someone questions why you do things, just tell them that it’s human nature and out of your control. The song also shows a scene of infatuation where Jackson stares at a girl in awe and notes that she was reciprocating. This childlike curiosity is something that has really influenced my first year of college and it led to me making a lot of good friends. It may not have been a No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it’s a No.1 in my heart. Its beauty has caused it to be sampled in many songs like Nas’ “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” and SWV’s “Right Here.”

The eighth and penultimate track, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” is the third romance-centric song on the album. Jackson initially recorded a demo version of the track, but Jones did not like it, so the track was rewritten and completely remade it. He references Eddie Kendricks’ 1976 song, “Sweet Tenderoni,” with “tenderoni” being a term to describe a young, attractive woman. Jackson expresses his love for the PYT by saying that nothing can stop the “burning desire” to be with her. Two of Jackson’s sisters, La Toya and Janet, were the background vocalists in the song’s bridge: “Pretty young things, repeat after me | Sing, “Na, na, na (Na, na, na)”. The song ends with Jackson’s vocals augmented to sound similar to Alvin and the Chipmunks. This part was sampled years later in Kanye West’s 2007 hit, “Good Life (feat. T-Pain)” and prolific producer Darkchild completely turned the song into a 2000’s melody in Monica’s “All Eyez on Me.” According to Monica, Jackson even handed them the masters personally so they could sample it. How adorable!

“The Lady In My Life” closes out Thriller in a smooth, soulful manner. This is one of my favorite songs by Jackson because this is a song where he was at his best. The song consists of with Jackson promising his lady that “there’ll be no darkness” and their “love will shine”. He then goes on to yearn by saying: “Stay with me | I want you to stay with me | I need you by my side.” He sings in a calm manner for the whole thing and keeps me dreaming of slow dancing to this song my own future wife one day. This song was later sampled by LL Cool J on his hit single, “Hey Lover (feat. Boyz II Men)” in 1995.

It’s safe to say that a lot of the greatest albums of all time are the shortest, with Thriller being a great example. Other examples include Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, Janet Jackson’s Control, Donna Summer’s Love To Love You Baby, Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much and D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar. Each of these records showcase quality rather than quantity. Considering how exceptional it is, it is no surprise that it is still the best-selling album in history and it won Jackson 8 GRAMMY Awards in one night in 1984; this record still hasn’t been broken to this day.

Thriller is an album that continues to inspire generations of artists, with some examples being Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and Beyoncé. This album came back in my life at a time where I was rejecting the fact that I was an old soul like what everybody thought about me; I could not fathom it. I was also being bullied for liking older music, so I bowed to peer pressure and pretended to like music that I found noisy. But when I listened to this album again, I felt liberated and like an old soul once more.

I am glad that I have met people my age who are old souls. They make me feel seen and understood. We have bonded over Thriller and other albums and it has made life genuinely better.