Who Is It
| Who Is It | |
|---|---|
| Michael Jackson | |
| publication | July 13, 1992 (Europe) August 31, 1992 (USA) |
| length | 6:38 (album version), 3:59 (single / 7 "-Edit), 4:05 (7" -Edit with intro) |
| Genre (s) | Contemporary R&B , Soul , New Jack Swing |
| Author (s) | Michael Jackson |
| album | Dangerous |
Who Is It is a R&B song by Michael Jackson . It was released in July 1992 (USA: August 1992) as the fifth single from the album Dangerous . He became quite successful. It reached number 10 in the UK and number 14 in the US . In Switzerland the song also reached number 14, in Austria number 5. In Germany the song was number 9. The song was never played live, but it was planned and already rehearsed, an instrumental version on the This-Is-It tour to use, which however no longer took place due to the death of Jackson. The name of the planned tour was an allusion to the piece.
Musical style
Who Is It is one of the quieter and more introverted pieces on the Dangerous album . The recording of the ballad was accompanied by an acoustic orchestra, the cello and flute sounds in particular stand out here. Numerous keyboard surfaces were also placed on top, which gives the song a peculiar hybrid mood between organic and synthetic pop music. Added to this are the heavily accented drum computer beats typical of contemporary R&B and New Jack Swing of the early 90s , which were one of Jackson's trademarks and were to shape black music to the greatest extent in the following years.
history
Who Is It , whose lyrics are about being abandoned by someone you love, was written by Michael Jackson and recorded with Bill Bottrell for Jackson's album Dangerous . The piece is written in D minor and held at a moderate tempo of 103 beats per minute.
Music video
The short film music video was shot by David Fincher . It apparently shows Jackson singing about his girlfriend. He finds a silver nameplate with the name Alex on it, apparently a lover of his girlfriend. It turns out that this is not true and that Alex is a name from one of several other identities used by the girl who works as a high-class prostitute . In the end, Jackson leaves town by helicopter. The girl comes to Jackson's house with the request to be let in. Jackson's assistant, who knows that he has left town, shakes her head at her request. When she asks why, the assistant shows her a number of silver plaques, including the one with the name Alex. The girl nods and walks away.
The video was included on the Dangerous: The Short Films and Michael Jackson's Vision DVDs . There is a second video that first aired in the United States in 1993. This shows u. a. Excerpts from live performances and past videos.
Individual evidence
- ↑ release date UK
- ↑ release date US
- ↑ http://chartarchive.org/r/19777
- ↑ a b http://hitparade.ch/song/Michael-Jackson/Who-Is-It-2486
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477715/synopsis
- ^ Booklet Dangerous , 1991.
- ↑ Who Is It - Michael Jackson Digital Sheet Music (Download) . In: MusicNotes.com . Alfred Publishing Co. Inc . Retrieved April 21, 2010.