When Michael released off the wall in 1979, the album’s commercial and critical success was such that the album quickly became the best-selling album by a black artist. It was expected that, Off the wall would be nominated in several categories at the 1980 grammy awards. The reality was the opposite, Off the Wall got two nominations but only won one award. Michael felt ignored even by his colleagues. “Michael was disappointed, so he said to himself: wait until the next one – they can’t ignore the next album.”
In a letter written in his own hand, Michael declared: “white people have always been on the pages of history, placing them above black people and calling them noble, like Elvis being the king of rock , Springsteen being the boss and the Beatles being the best. Yes, these guys were good, but they weren’t better singers or dancers than black people. The difference is that, white people control the press, the media and can make the people believe whatever they want. I will change that now with power of my songs and dance. I’m not prejudiced, its just time for the first black king.”
We all know the rest of the story, Michael left with 8 Grammys in hand in 1984 for his album thriller. Which quickly became the biggest selling album of all time.
