Michael Jackson was the defining male artist of the 1980's, with the themes of his music moving away from simple feel good tunes to songs and videos that represent social problems of the time. His music video for the 1987 song Bad chronicles the real life story of the 1985 death of black Stanford scholarship student from Harlem, Edmund Perry by a plainclothes white police officer.
"Michael Jackson's short film for "Bad" was the first of nine short films produced for recordings from Bad, one of the best selling albums of all time. The "Bad" single hit No. 1 in three countries in 1987, topping the charts in the United States, Spain and the Netherlands and reaching Top 5 in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. In the U.S., "Bad" was the second of five consecutive No. 1 singles from one album on the Billboard Hot 100-making Michael the first artist to achieve this milestone. Inspired by the real-life story of Edmund Perry, a prep school graduate from Harlem whose shooting death by a plainclothes policeman galvanized New York City, "Bad" stars Michael as Darryl, a student returning to his inner-city home while on break from a prestigious academy. In the short film's extended black and white sequence, Darryl comes into conflict with his neighborhood friends (led by actor Wesley Snipes in a breakthrough role) after showing discomfort over their attempts at petty crime. Angrily dismissed by his friends for no longer being "bad," Darryl challenges them in an abandoned subway station. As the film suddenly transitions to color, Darryl, clad in the black leather outfit Michael wears on the Bad album sleeve, leads a troupe of dancers in a high energy performance of "Bad," asserting his toughness without resorting to violence and ultimately earning the respect of his peers." description of the official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUXAEzaC3Q
"Michael Jackson's short film for "Bad" was the first of nine short films produced for recordings from Bad, one of the best selling albums of all time. The "Bad" single hit No. 1 in three countries in 1987, topping the charts in the United States, Spain and the Netherlands and reaching Top 5 in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. In the U.S., "Bad" was the second of five consecutive No. 1 singles from one album on the Billboard Hot 100-making Michael the first artist to achieve this milestone. Inspired by the real-life story of Edmund Perry, a prep school graduate from Harlem whose shooting death by a plainclothes policeman galvanized New York City, "Bad" stars Michael as Darryl, a student returning to his inner-city home while on break from a prestigious academy. In the short film's extended black and white sequence, Darryl comes into conflict with his neighborhood friends (led by actor Wesley Snipes in a breakthrough role) after showing discomfort over their attempts at petty crime. Angrily dismissed by his friends for no longer being "bad," Darryl challenges them in an abandoned subway station. As the film suddenly transitions to color, Darryl, clad in the black leather outfit Michael wears on the Bad album sleeve, leads a troupe of dancers in a high energy performance of "Bad," asserting his toughness without resorting to violence and ultimately earning the respect of his peers." description of the official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUXAEzaC3Q
The message is clearly anti-violence, in particular in gangs and from the police. It also represents the period as it was a defining moment in terms of choreography and became one of his most famous songs and videos.
In terms of contemporary videos that define the era, Kanye West's 2013 song BLKKK SKKKN HEAD defines modern racial issues. Obviously the title alludes to the KKK, as well do other lyrics in the song. The broad context of the song is race related crimes, especially by police. This shows that in the 23 years between the release of the songs, little has changed. However, Kanye is more obvious with his lyrical content: with such examples as the lines
"Stop all that coon shit (black)
These niggas ain't doin' shit (black)
Them niggas ain't doin' shit"
Rolling Stone said of the song "next time someone says America is post-race, play 'em this, and watch their head explode". http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-songs-of-2013-20131204/kanye-west-black-skinhead-19691231 It is particularly interesting to note that 2013 was the year that #BlackLivesMatter trended on twitter after the aquital of George Zimmerman for the shooting of black youth Trayvon Martin.
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