Musical Time Warp by @TheRadioShaq

Could you imagine scrolling down your twitter timeline and seeing a vine of James Brown, and his illustrious dance moves for the first time? Or scrolling through instagram and seeing a quote from the newest Luther Vandross song? Relationship goals right? What if the great musicians of the past had access to the exposure, and social media outlets that the new generation of musicians have? Let’s use our imaginations, and put together some scenarios in which those great musicians of the past could have been impacted by. 

Michael Jackson, James Brown, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Selena, Aaliyah, and Luther Vandross, some artist who have performed, retired, and passed away before their careers could have been impacted by the social media era. Before their deaths though, and during their careers, each of these artist changed the way music was created, performed on stage, and added their own unique folds to their respective genres. Of the 7 artist I mentioned before, Michael’s career may have benefited most by the current exposure of today’s generation. After his death especially, Michael’s legacy was carried on through the media, through video games, through social media outlets, and the internet in general. The other 6 can definitely be considered “before their time”, and being victims of untimely demises.

Selena, who was murdered in 1995 by Yolanda Saldivar, could have benefited so much by YouTube, and other video outlets. Selena was named the “Top Latin Artist of the 90’s” and a singer with that much international prestige, who was as beautiful as Selena was, could have uploaded a video of her brushing her teeth and would have received millions of views. Aaliyah, who died in a tragic plane crash, could have also been much larger in this sense.  Aaliyah’s smash single “Try Again” became the first single ever to reach #1 on The Billboard Charts solely off Radio Play. Guys would have been obsessed with her, she would have been millions of guys and girls’ Woman Crush Wednesday. Her social media accounts would have been swarmed with whatever her fan club’s name was ie; (Bey Hive, and Rihanna Navy). Aaliyah would have been in that elite class of Female R&B artist, along with Beyonce & Rihanna.

Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, was well known for his show stopping dance moves, and music that impacted millions World Wide. Michael Jackson’s Thriller album reportedly sold between 51 and 65 copies worldwide. Can you imagine vines of he, and James Brown’s dance moves? The YouTube craze that would have been his Moon Walk for the first time? How many Twitter followers would Michael Jackson have had? Would he have even had a Twitter? I think Michael Jackson would have benefited greatly from today’s social media, and exposure. But of all the artist that I mentioned, I think Michael would have also been impacted in the most negative way by today’s exposure. We know how social media followers can get these days, and his hang ups would have been aired out even more than they already were through television. In the 70’s James Brown innovated the Polydor Recordings, despite harsh criticisms. He used Polydor Recordings on highly successful records like “Funky President” “The Payback” and “Stoned To The Bone”. He already changed the way entertainers moved on stage, with access to Vine, and YouTube, his talents would have spread even further, and at a faster rate. That’s scary to think about, how many remake videos, and fails would there have been?

Ray Charles, and Luther Vandross would have benefited in some of the same ways, and some different ways. Luther Vandross would have been used up, for Relationship Quotes, “This could be us..” memes, Relationship Goal Post, etc. His legacy would have been used even more to bring people together, through social media. In 1959 Ray Charles became the first artist to negotiate ownership of his own recordings as he did with ABC – Paramount Records. Charles, like Michael Jackson, could have had a very negative impact from today’s exposure. A generation that doesn’t hold back on who or what they joke about would have had a field day on Ray Charles’ visual ailment. But Ray would have also benefited positively, from the people who appreciate great talent, and the obstacle he had to overcome. I’m not the biggest Elvis fan, and I think this is how he could have benefited positively, the exposure could have helped him crossover even more.

God Bless, TheRadioShaq