It's extremely difficult to write about him right now; with everyone sharing perspectives it feels like there is so much content to be processed reflecting on his life, his music and his psychology, it's very difficult to think of anything to say. Michael's peak came around the time I was born; the emanating shock waves continued to reverberate when I first became aware of popular music. And of course, the generation raised on Michael became pale reflections of his persona, style and music; Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Usher. All incredible artists at various times, all a generation of Jackson acolytes. But his significance feels so unquantifiable and massive. Even DJ Paul's (pretty great) album from earlier this year had a track reflecting on his influence, "Wanta Be Like You":

I remember watchin TV in 1983 when michael jackson first did the moon walk
the next day all over the world man that there was the big talk
seein him and quincy jones rackin up awards
so many #1s songs on billboard
it had me sayin man i wanna be like mike
they made me wanna sit my lil ass down and write
i wanted to make hits

Many folks are making a lot of bad jokes about this, but I don't really feel like irreverence is the appropriate tone here. Even those who want to damn him for his crimes seem too self-satisfied in their judgment to consider the tragic, underlying sadness that permeates his entire life and career, as well as those he knew and may have harmed. Personally, Off the Wall has always been my favorite Jackson-related record; this feels increasingly like a cop-out, the MJ for people not ready to grapple with the complicated person he really was. But watching the performance of Billie Jean at the Motown Anniversary show from '83, you begin to realize how powerfully who he was became a part of his music -- not just lyrically, but the creeping paranoia and darkness of it all. The desperation. Earlier this year, Tom Ewing wrote a great piece on the track, which discusses exactly that.

Here are some pieces that are really worth reading:

-- Chuck Eddy remembers Michael Jackson
-- Tom Ewing's reflection on MJ, "After Pop"
-- Linda Holmes for NPR
-- Vibe's Danyel Smith
-- Roger Ebert, typically thoughtful
-- Sasha Frere-Jones with the New Yorker
-- flickr of the vigil outside MJ's childhood home in Gary

And Oliver Wang has a list of links to other writers discussing Michael, including this amazing piece from Hua Hsu.