Afrika in Focus Special: Why the White man KILLED The King of pop, Michael Jackson

Sixteen years after his death, Michael Jackson's legacy as the greatest entertainer in music history remains unmatched, yet the circumstances surrounding his demise reveal a disturbing conspiracy that few have dared to examine. 

This special edition of Africa in Focus peels back the layers of industry manipulation that ultimately led to the King of Pop's untimely death.

The white power structure of the music industry couldn't tolerate what Michael Jackson had become – not just a global superstar, but a savvy businessman who owned half of Sony Music. His journey from child prodigy to music mogul threatened the very foundation of an industry built on exploiting Black creativity. 

When Jackson purchased the publishing rights to the Beatles catalogue and many other major artists for $50 million in 1985, he positioned himself as an unprecedented force in the business. This shrewd investment would eventually sell for $750 million after his death, proving that even in death, Michael's business acumen prevailed.

Beyond his financial wizardry, Jackson's artistic contributions revolutionized the industry. As the creator of the only album to sell over 100 million copies worldwide (Thriller), the first artist to have five videos with over a billion streams each, and the man who broke MTV's color barrier, Michael's influence permeates every aspect of modern entertainment. His transformation of music videos into cinematic experiences and his innovative choreography set templates that artists still follow today.

The podcast meticulously traces how the industry's tactics evolved when Jackson refused to relinquish his Sony stake – from media attacks labeling him "Wacko Jacko" to the malicious paedophilia accusations that persisted despite two court acquittals. The conspiracy culminated with Dr. Conrad Murray prescribing the dangerous medications that caused Jackson's death in 2009, finally giving the industry access to what they couldn't take from him in life.

Tune in to understand how Michael Jackson's race, wealth, and power converged to make him a target in an industry that couldn't accept a Black man achieving unprecedented control. Share this revelatory episode with friends and family to ensure Michael's true legacy remains untarnished by those who sought to destroy it.

Sources:

How Michael Jackson Outsmarted the Music Industry and Won

Michael Jackson Was In A League Of His Own! #michaeljackson #kingofpopforever #shorts

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Africa in Focus
• 1:15 Michael Jackson's Unmatched Legacy
• 5:36 Breaking Racial Barriers in Music Television
• 9:41 Michael's Business Acumen and Sony Deal
• 15:40 The Real Reason Behind His Death
• 24:20 Michael's Victory Even in Death
• 29:38 Next Week's Preview and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Good evening and welcome to this edition of Africa in Focus with myself, kwame, ghanaian writer, broadcaster, journalist, podcaster and entrepreneur. And in this edition of Africa in Focus this is special we're looking at why the white man killed Michael Jackson and also his legacy. That's the theme for this week's show why the white man killed Michael Jackson. Okay, so before we get into this week's show, if you like what you hear, please share it to your friends, family, social media networks. Please subscribe, if you haven't already, to Ghana, africa In Focus podcast on YouTube and also Africa sorry, ghana, africa In Focus on Spotify. Alright. And if you want to donate to a show, just send us a donation. All donations are accepted and you can donate as little as 3UF dollars a month and we'll be grateful for any donations we get. All right, so let's get into the podcast this week why the white man killed michael jackson. So the 25th of june will be exactly exactly 16 years since the death of Michael Joseph Jackson, who is the greatest entertainer of all time, and there will never, ever be a talent like Michael Jackson. So this podcast, basically, is on two parts. So we'll tell you why the white man killed Michael Jackson, and he was not killed by no drugs. You know we'll go into details to why the white man killed michael jackson, but also we want to talk about the legacy, because you know the mainstream media want to, uh, destroy michael's legacy by, you know, saying that he was a ped paedophile, when he was never convicted of any circle paedophilia. So we'll tell you why the white man can never destroy the legacy of Michael Jackson and what that particular legacy is. Alright, so you know, before I tell you the reasons why the white man killed Michael Jackson, let's just go talk about know, talk about the legacy, because you know, like I said, you don't hear much of Michael Jackson music in the mainstream media, whether it's in the UK, europe or US, certainly the US, because Michael Jackson was hated in the US towards the end of his career and, as a fact, he was thinking of relocating to another country, I think Dubai, before he was killed. And so you know the media, because obviously the white man controls the media, the dissemination of information. Yeah, they want to destroy the legacy of Michael Jackson and pin this. You know this baseless, false agenda that Michael Jackson was a pedophile and that kind of thing, when they know that he was acquitted twice, not once but twice, when the case, apparently in quotes of Michael Jackson raping young boys went to court, and we'll tell you why. Also, you know that charge of paedophilia was putting on Michael Jackson.

Speaker 1: 3:46

But let's start with the legacy. So, undoubtedly, michael Jackson is the greatest entertainer ever in the history of the music industry, not this thing that the white man goes about Elvis, elvis, elvis. No, unlike Michael Jackson, elvis didn't write his own songs. Elvis stole black people's music. So, for example, I'll give you two examples Most of Elvis' early hits were written by Otis Blackwell. Yeah, for example, j House Rock and Don't Be Cruel, which are massive Elvis hits, but they're written by a black man, african-american, called Otis Blackwell. Also, another of Elvis' tunes was actually a copy by the original, which was done by African-American musician, mama Bessie Thornton. Yeah, so Elvis was basically someone who stole Black music and, like many other white artists, after have used Black music as To make themselves rich, but without actually, you know, giving credence to the source.

Speaker 1: 5:04

And the source is African American music, yeah, which has its origins in Africa. So you know, jazz, blues, soul, funk, hip-hop, rap, all these musical formats that were popularized by Africans who were taken to America as enslaved Africans. Yeah, these art forms of music were popularised by Africans in America, but all of these art forms had their root in Africa. So, from African folk songs through to, you know, some of the African spirituals that Africans who were enslaved sung on the slave ships and on the plantations, to even some of the African instruments that emanated and created things like blues, and even some of the guitar music that led to things like jazz, and also country and western. Don't forget, country and western is not a white man's form of music. No, it was called country and blues until white people Europeans, as usual cut out black music and they called it country and western. But no, the original country music was done by African artists. And so, given that all music, all popular music, had its root in Africa, michael Jackson used it to great effect. So one legacy of Michael Jackson is that he has the biggest selling album ever in the history of popular popular music, namely Frida. Frida is the only album to sell over 100 million units. No other album in history of popular music has sold over 100 million copies. Yeah, another legacy of Michael Jackson Michael Jackson revolutionized videos.

Speaker 1: 7:03

So before Michael Jackson, videos were just boring, you know, they're just like. They won't even tell the story. They were just mundane tools that artists used to promote their singles. However, michael Jackson took video to another level and, more importantly, revolutionized data videos when he released Thriller in 1992. So Thriller contains three classic music videos, namely Beat it, billie Jean, and the title track, thriller, of which became the most successful music video of all time Thriller. The making of Thriller by Michael Jackson is the most successful music video of all time. Yeah, and four or five, sorry, five sorry of Michael Jackson's records, ie Beat it, billie Jean, thriller I think Black or White, and they don't care about us. He's the first artist to have Five Videos streamed more than a billion times On YouTube. No other artist, whether it's Beyonce, eminem, bruno Mars, whoever you are. All those artists, by the way, were influenced by Michael Jackson. So none of these artists have had a billion streams on any of their videos, but Michael Jackson has had five Videos being streamed A billion times plus or more. Yeah, that's another legacy of Michael Jackson, Added to that, like I said, the video. So now, when we see videos, we take for granted about music videos, but Michael Jackson, he was a pioneer of using music videos as a tool to promote music and also made it into an art form.

Speaker 1: 8:56

Yeah again, you know, before Michael Jackson it was very difficult for African-American artists or black artists to feature videos in the mainstream primetime TV. So around about the early 80s, 81, 82, mtv Music Television had disappeared and for the first two years they did not play any videos by any African-American or black artists. Yeah and so when Michael Jackson put out Billie Jean, the head of CBS Records told MTV that if you don't play Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, we're not going to let you play any other artists. Yeah, we're not going to let you play any other artists. Yeah and so CBS back then had a massive catalogue or had a massive array of musicians who had records out that would be aired on MTV, and so MTV could not afford for a company like CBS not to allow its videos to be played on their station, and so they were pushed into playing micro-sims Beat it on MTV music television. And Beat it was the first video ever by an African-American or black artist to be played on mainstream music television. And when Billie Jean was first aired, it drew a massive audience right and people were captivated by the images, by the dancing and also by the special effects of the video that opened the floodgates for many artists. They're Prince Lana, richie, tina Turner, all these other black artists, the hip-hoppers, the rappers. All of these artists have got to thank Michael Jackson because Michael Jackson opened the doors for African American artists, videos to be played in the mainstream daytime. Yeah, like I said before, michael Jackson revolutionized the art of videos.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Another legacy of michael jackson is that he was the first artist to have four singles from an album to be top 10, and that was, after all, back in 1979. Frida had seven out seven singles to make the top 10., again, being the first artist, and probably only the first artist, to have seven singles for one album making the top 10. Now, in terms of touring, michael Jackson's Bad Tour of 1997-98 was the biggest grossing tour until just recently. I think Beyonce or, um uh, taylor Swift took over recently, but that record stood for more than 30 years. Yeah, the world tour of bad Michael Jackson between 1997, 98, due millions and even record crowds, for example, at Wembley Stadium. You know that at the time held about 75,000, between 70 and 75,000 people. Michael Jackson sold seven nights in a row. He had been the first artist to play seven nights in a row, sell out crowds at Wembley Stadium in London, england.

Speaker 1: 12:25

Aside from this, you know, another legacy of mike rosson is the artistry, his fashion and particularly his dancing. Yeah, the way mike rosson danced in the videos, that's in the template for dancing in music videos. So the dancing that you see today justin timberlake, um, to a degree, beyonce, jan Jackson, bruno Mars, britney Spears before, taylor Swift now all the artists that have dances in their videos and particularly in their live concerts that was all started by Michael Jackson. Yeah, so Michael Jackson has a huge, huge legacy that, no matter what the mainstream media says or does, that can never be taken away from Michael Jackson. And he actually broke every record in the music industry, from singles to album sales, to tour receipts, to videos or whatever. Right, and it's actually in the Guinness Book of Records you know as proof that Michael Jackson broke a lot of records. Yeah, so that's the legacy of Michael Jackson. He's there will never be another artist like Michael Jackson, never, ever, or maybe the the the one that could be that Michael Jackson probably has not been born yet. Yeah, tell us the legacy in a nutshell of Michael Jackson and I'll leave you a couple of videos that would tell you more about the legacy this great man left behind. Now let me tell you why they killed Michael Jackson. Yeah, and I've got a video that I'll put in the front of the show that will also explain why the white man had to kill Michael Jackson.

Speaker 1: 14:13

So Michael Jackson was a very, very smart guy. Yeah, it wasn't just about the music, he was also a shrewd businessman. Yeah, so Michael Jackson owned his masters. Yeah, so this is something that the music industry doesn't tell you when you sign a contract. Michael Jackson was smart. He knew this way back when he was performing with his brothers as part of the Jackson 5. So Michael Jackson knew all about the importance of publishing and particularly owning one's music. So he owned. When he left the Jackson 5, to become a solo artist with his own right in 1978, he's contract gave him the right to own his masters. Yeah again, michael nelson was a very business man and in a chance meeting with Paul McCartney because you know, malcolm Larson did a couple of duets with Paul McCartney. One of them was Say, say, say for Paul McCartney's 1983 album, and another was the Girl Is Mine for Malcolm Larson's own thriller LP.

Speaker 1: 15:24

Now, during those discussions here, during those discussions, or working with Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney told Mark Resson that he's going to make money in the music business because at the end of the day it is a business. It's not really about the music, it's about the business of music. So Paul McCartney told Mark Resson that I've been buying a lot of you know publishing rights, because publishing is a big money earner, because every time a record is played I get paid. So, for example, if I buy you know, a back catalogue of an artist, yeah, and if that artist's music is played on the radio or used in a commercial or played as part of the segment in the movie, I get paid. So Paul McCartney told Michael Jackson about publishing and about how you can make money from owning other people's music. So Michael Jackson took it in and Michael Jackson thought about what Paul McCartney had said.

Speaker 1: 16:26

And so in 1995, michael Jackson Bought the rights, the publishing rights, to not just the Beatles catalogue, back catalogue, but also to other major artists Like Beyonce, like Justin Timberlake, like Little Richard, like even Elvis Presley. Yeah, mike Jackson owned the copyright to all those artists. Yeah, and Mike Jackson, he bought that back catalogue for $50 million back in 1995, after taking the advice on counsel of Paul McCartney. In actual fact, he actually outbid Paul McCartney for those, uh, publishing rights for the Beatles, little Richard, elvis and what have you to the degree that the friendship between Michael and Paul McCartney never really recovered. But Michael just said he did good business. So, michael, so now in 1985 you know that was after Thriller made him a global icon, global superstar.

Speaker 1: 17:36

Buying this back catalog also made him a shrewd businessman and also made Michael Jackson very, very powerful in the music industry. Why? Why, because he owned a back catalogue of major artists like the Beatles, elvis, presley, beyonce, etc. Major artists. So Michael Jackson was getting paid every time a Beatles record was played or used in a film or an advert. Every time another song was played or used in an film or an advert, every time another song was played or used in an advert, magnuson would get paid. So this put Michael Jackson in a very, very powerful position. Yeah, so the record company executives couldn't um manipulate Michael Jackson after they developed the artist. So Magnuson was a street businessman.

Speaker 1: 18:27

So Magnusson again kept on buying publishing rights from other artists because he could afford it. Because, obviously, the money that he made from Thriller and the money that he made from the Bad World Tour which, like I said to you at the time, was the biggest grossing tour in history up until recently, when I think it was Beyonce and just now Taylor Swift made that record. So Michael Jackson had a lot of cash, so he bought a lot of publishing. That made him powerful, and so the record industry couldn't touch Michael Jackson and so what he tried to do in the late 90s was to enter into a partnership with Michael Jackson.

Speaker 1: 19:10

Yeah, sony Music, by the way, and this is Sony Music entered into a partnership with Michael Jackson to part own the back catalogue. So now, as part of this agreement, now, michael Jackson essentially owned half of Sony Music. Now, if they're Sony Music, right, it's a massive, massive conglomerate, it's like Microsoft, it's like Apple, it's like, you know, a big tech company. Or it's like a major, major bank, like Barclays or Chase Manhattan. Yeah, that's how, how big at the time Sony Music was. And one black man, one African-American man, michael Jackson, earned half that company. Think about it now a black man earning half a multi-billion dollar company.

Speaker 1: 20:06

Yeah, and they thought in their naivety, not knowing Michael was smart and had a long game, that he was going to sell that back catalogue for the Beatles and Elvis, etc. Back to them when they signed this agreement with him in, I think, the late 80s, 90s and so, because Michael Jackson knew the value, the worth of holding that publishing, yeah, and Michael wouldn't sell. That's when now the record industry started to get Michael Jackson by calling him Wacko Jacko. Yeah, so before he bought that catalogue, you didn't hear the media calling him Wacko Jacko. You didn't hear that he slept in an oxygen tent. You didn't hear about media calling him wacko jacko. You didn't hear that he slept in an oxygen tent. You didn't hear about him bleaching his skin. All this negative coverage of Michael Jackson Began In the late 80s, early 90s, when Michael Jackson refused To sell his stake In Sony Music. Yeah, so now that's when the media bandwagon, you know, really began to hot up. You know he was bleaching his skin, he was doing this, he was doing that and that still could not get him.

Speaker 1: 21:23

And so what they did, what they did after that, they tried, you know they got people, young people, because Michael Jackson liked kids. Doesn't mean that you know that you're going to do anything alternative with them, but he just liked the incomplete of kids. Children because Michael Jackson himself, because he was a child star didn't have a childhood. His childhood was not a normal childhood. His childhood was studio hotel, going on tour music videos, music video going on tour, playing music going on tour hotel. That's it. That was Michael Jackson's childhood. So Michael Jackson did not have a proper childhood. Yeah, and if you read a lot of Michael Jackson's autobiographies and interviews, he openly says that he's not a childhood and that's why he enjoyed the company of children, because children reminded him of the childhood that he didn't have. Yeah, so oftentimes Michael Jackson will allow children to come to his Neverland ranch and have like a stopover, a sleepover, and, you know, enjoy the company of children.

Speaker 1: 22:36

Yeah, but because the music industry wanted to get rid of Michael Jackson to allow them to take over the shares of Sony Music. Right, they put these slander on him that he was a paedophile. Yeah, and we all recall in the early 2000s, you know he went to court twice, not once but twice to defend himself from those malicious, scandalous accusations of somehow he being a paedophile. Now, as we all know, that didn't work. So Michael Jackson was acquitted of any wrongdoing, even though he had to pay I think Jordan Chandler, one of the accused. As we all know, that didn't work. So Michael Jackson was acquitted of any wrongdoing, even though he had to pay, I think or Jordan Chandler, one of the accused something like 20 million out-of-court settlement. But we all know that was a setup to try and get Michael Jackson to sell his stake in Sony Music because he became too powerful for the music industry, and so that didn't work. And so what they did now was that to kill him. Yeah, they had to literally kill Michael Jackson. Why, like I said, because he owned half of a major major record label, and not just a record label, but a major major conglomerate yeah, that controlled billions and billions of dollars worth of music publishing and royalties. Yeah, so they didn't. They didn't want this black man who was becoming now vocal through his music.

Speaker 1: 24:05

If you look at Michael Jackson's, you know a lot of part of his career, even in the early 90s when he put a black or white. Yeah, that. And if you look at the video for black or white, that was symbolic in terms of Michael Jackson may have gone from black to white physically, but mentally he went from white to black. That's what black and white symbolized, particularly the black panther in that video. Yeah, so Michael Jackson was beginning to be conscious of himself and understood the environment that he was working on.

Speaker 1: 24:37

Again, if you listen to songs like History, you know, and even if you remember the time that was about ancient Egypt, and when he wanted his great friend Steven Spielberg to help him do the video, because it was about ancient Egypt and depicting ancient Egypt in the original way of Africans, spielberg declined. Mark Rosen said you know what? I'm going to use my own money to depict ancient Egypt as it was, not white people, not Arab people, but African people, because ancient Egypt was an African civilization, not an Arab civilization, not a European civilization, but the Arab, but sorry, but an African civilization. And when you look at the video, remember the time, which which am I putting the footnotes? You're looking at an African civilization, yeah, and that's. That's another that also goes up the nose of the music industry. But, like I said, you know when this thing didn't, when this um charge of pedophilia didn't, didn't work, and also when the media started to slander him. Ie, ie, he bleaches his skin, I he sleeps in an oxygen tent, ie, you know he'sa wacko draco, blah, blah, blah. That didn't stick.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Then they openly now wanted to kill Mark Glesser. Why? Because they wanted access to his share of that multi-billion dollar company, sony Music. And so this is where the Dr Murray came in, and this is where, you know, they began to prescribe Michael Jackson with these pills that ultimately led to his death. But, comrade Murray, dr Murray, he was just a four guy. He was the one that was used by the elite, by the white man, to kill Michael Jackson. Yeah, so, unfortunately, so unfortunately.

Speaker 1: 26:39

June 25th 2009, 2009, michael Jackson was found unconscious because of these pills that had been prescribed to him via Dr Colin Murray, via the white man, because these pills ain't made by black people. We don't make these kind of pills, you know, these semen pills or whatever. We don't make them. Yeah, they're made by Europeans and, to an extent, asians, ie Indians. So that's how the elite was able to get rid of Michael Jackson. Yeah, by using Dr Karen Murray to prescribe Michael Jackson with these dangerous pills that Michael Jackson tragically overdosed. And so, when Michael Jackson died in 2009, michael Jackson still owned half of Sony Music.

Speaker 1: 27:26

It wasn't until 2016, seven years after his death, that's when the white man was finally able to convince the Jackson estate to sell Michael Jackson's share in Sony Music, and even that they had to pay money because, like I said, you know that was worth a lot of money. So something that Michael Jackson bought for roughly $50 million. The estate of Michael Jackson sold that catalogue for more than three quarters of a, for roughly 50 million dollars. The estate of Michael Jackson sold that catalogue for more than three quarters of a billion dollars. So, even in death, Michael Jackson won because that was the biggest, you could say, return on investment in the history of the music industry. You bought a back catalogue for 50 million dollars, yeah, yeah, and it was sold by your estate, not because wanted to, but because obviously you died and the estate had no choice but to sell it to your enemy. But you made a massive profit of about 500. So from 5050 million to $750 million, that's a massive profit.

Speaker 1: 28:39

So, even in death, mark Jackson still won the music industry. And that's why Mark Jackson was killed, because he owned half of a major company. B became too powerful for work executives and. C they could not manipulate him to sell his share in that company, which is why they used every trick in the book to get rid of Michael Jackson and unfortunately, you know they got their being at the end by getting one of our own to give him powerful drugs that eventually kill Michael Jackson.

Speaker 1: 29:19

So that's my take. Well, it's not my take, it's a fact, because we will show you like I said, I'll leave you the video in the footnotes as to why the white man killed Michael Jackson and why Michael Jackson had to be killed. Yeah, just to get that you know, access to that ATV music publishing that is now worth multi-billion dollars. Yeah, so I hope you've enjoyed this special edition of African Focus looking at the legacy of Michael Jackson, but, more importantly, why the white man of Michael Jackson? But, more importantly, why the white man killed Michael Jackson.

Speaker 1: 29:58

And so subscribe to the show, if you haven't already. You can subscribe to Ghana Advocate and Focus on YouTube. Subscribe to Ghana Advocate and Focus on Spotify. Please share to your friends and your family, and if you'd like to donate to the show, click on the donate button and you can donate as little as three US dollars a month. All right, and so until next week, where we look at Ghana City, the best performing city or the best performing currency in the world this year Is it accidental or what's really behind the city, appreciating against all major currencies? So that's going to be a very interesting take that we'll have next week for you on Ghana in Focus. So until then, from myself, kwame, from all the crew here on Africa in Focus, it's thanks very much for listening and we'll see you next week for some Ghana in Focus.