June 2009, My family and I are moving to France. Here I am, 3 years old sitting in the middle of boxes and suitcases. In order for my mom to not lose her mind while packing, she turned on my favourite TV channel at the time: MTV

But that day wasn't just any day.

Suddenly, I saw my mom drop what she was holding and look at the TV with choc. The greatest entertainer this world will ever know was gone.

MTV was paying tribute to the man that made generations sing, dance and dream for the past four decades.

And I, the tiny baby that I was, was glued to my TV. Eyes shining, pupils dilating.

For the first time ever, I was experiencing the magic of Michael Jackson.

In honor of this new biopic coming out today, this is my love letter to the artist that shaped everything from the way I hear, see, and feel music all the way to my creative process.

Oh and I better see y’all moonwalk to the damn theater!

MJ was the first artist I studied. And when I say studied I mean it

I grew up in a house where music was almost a religion and my dad was the preacher.

The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd…he would spend entire afternoons on YouTube giving me entire backstories before pressing play.

So by the time I was eight, I had the music taste and knowledge of a sixty-year-old. But one thing that my dad taught me was to know who, what, when and where the music I was listening to was coming from. So one of my favourite things to do at 7 years old was to read album credits. A very classic activity for a 7-year-old.

And funny enough, Michael wasn’t an artist my dad listened to. So for the first time ever, I had to do my own digging. That’s when my very obsessive phase started (and never really ended). And my mom kept his death a secret from me. She dropped the bomb when I was 8. And I genuinely spent my afternoon crying.

However, I hadn’t realised his impact on me until way later, at 15 when I started being a creative myself.

We all know how he started. 8 year-old him in a band with his brothers. He was a mini James Brown with the most angelic voice you could think of.

And even though he was a literal child, he had more technique and precision than most of y'alls favourite artists.

Then he went solo. And my favorite producer of all time helped him transition.

And the holy trinity began.

First, he released Off the Wall at 20 years old. He got 3 Grammy nominations and won 1.

Guess who’s also 20 right now?

yeah…

Off The Wall is a mix of everything Michael grew up listening to and it’s usually Hip-Hop’s favourite MJ album (Jay-Z, Kanye, Kendrick…).

Then came the biggest selling album of all time, the album that doesn’t even need to be named.