Michael Jackson, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ | DANCE GEMZ 🕺 💎 🎶

In the 14^th edition of DANCE GEMZ 🕺 💎 🎶 (2023), we totally get down with Michael Jackson performing the danceable gem, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”.  

Prepare to take it to the dance floor, folks! DANCE GEMZ 🕺 💎 🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome dance songs from the past and present.  The records that grace DANCE GEMZ 🕺 💎 🎶 aren’t merely limited to music explicitly characterized as dance.  That means all genres of music – electronic, pop, rock, disco, etc. – are welcome as long as the particular song is associated with dance. In the 14^th edition of DANCE GEMZ 🕺 💎 🎶 (2023), we totally get down with 🎙 Michael Jackson performing the danceable gem, 🎵 “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”.

“I took my baby to the doctor with a fever / But nothin’ he found,” 🎙 Michael Jackson sings on 🎵 “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, one of many highlights from the 1982 masterpiece, 💿 Thriller – 34 times platinum, baby! Good news, right, with the lack of a diagnosis? In the first verse, Jackson continues, “By the time this hit the street / They said she had a breakdown.” Really? That’s a dramatic shift! Of course, that’s now how it went down, but tabloids are gonna always tabloid.  The more memorable lines, which recur in the second and third verses, with a variation in the fourth, follow: “Someone’s always tryin’ / To start my baby cryin’ / Talkin’, squealin’, lyin’ / Sayin’ you just want to be startin’ somethin’.” Hence, Jackson’s sets up the first track of the album that totally changed the game.  Ultimately, this slickly produced dance-pop/R&B cut would peak at no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It marked one of seven top 10 singles from Thriller 💪. 

There are plenty more decadent lyrical moments too.  The chorus is utterly infectious, backed by the bright, exuberant production by 🎛  Quincy Jones.   

“I said you wanna be startin’ somethin’

You got to be startin’ somethin’ 

It’s too high to get over (Yeah, yeah) 

You’re too low to get under (Yeah, yeah) 

You’re stuck in the middle (Yeah, yeah) 

And the pain is thunder (Yeah, yeah).” 

The groove, the bass line, guitars, keys, and those articulated horn riffs pack a sizable punch, fueling The King of Pop’s fire.  Of course, Michael Jackson was beastly in the vocal department, as well as a true artist who delivered plenty of personality with each performance.  His tenor/high tenor is on point from start to finish, giving listeners an engaging, truly elite vocal for the ages.  Of course, given its dance cues, post-disco,  “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” is one of the MJ songs that instantly makes you want to hit the dance floor.  The verses are fun, with tuneful melodies, and the chorus is, well, big, but arguably, the section to beat is the outro.  The outro is infectious to the nth degree thanks to the use of Swahili lyrics: “Ma-ma-say, ma-ma-sah, ma-ma-coo-sah!” Adding to the allure is when Jackson riffs over the backing vocals jubilantly delivering those unforgettable lyrics. Notably, the lyrics are sampled from 🎵 “Soul Makossa” by 🎙 Manu Dibango [Note: Dibango would sue Jackson, as well as 🎙 Rihanna, who sampled the song in her own hit, 🎵 “Don’t Stop the Music”]. All told, 🎵 “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” is a DANCE GEM 🕺 💎 🎶 for the ages!

Appears in 🔻:

• Start: 5ive Songs No. 7 (2022)

🎙 Michael Jackson • 💿 Thriller • 🏷 MJJ Productions Inc. • 📅 1982

Michael Jackson, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’: Dance Gemz 🕺 💎 🎶 No. 14 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; MJJ Productions Inc.; Beatriz Braga, Dhemer Gonçalves, Niko Twisty, via Pexels]