"Bad" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on September 7, 1987, as the second single from his seventh studio album, Bad. The song was written and composed by Jackson, and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. It was influenced by a true story Jackson read about a young man who tried to escape poverty by attending private school but was killed when he returned home.
"Bad" received positive reviews, with some critics noting that "Bad" helped give Jackson an edgier image. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained there for two weeks, becoming the album's second number-one single, and Jackson's eighth number one entry on the chart. It also charted on the Hot R&B Singles, Hot Dance Club Play and Rhythmic chart at number one. "Bad" is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, the song was also commercially successful, charting at the top of the charts in Ireland, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands as well as charting in the top ten in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, West Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The short film for "Bad" premiered in a TV special, Michael Jackson: The Magic Returns, on CBS during prime time on August 31, 1987. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and co-starred Wesley Snipes in one of his first appearances. The video, inspired in part by the film West Side Story, shows Jackson and a group of gangsters portraying a street gang dancing in a subway station, set at the Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station. It has been praised by critics as an iconic and one of the greatest videos of all time; Jackson's outfit has been recognized as an influence on fashion.
Background and inspiration
Michael Jackson wrote and recorded "Bad" in 1986. It was co-produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones, and included on his seventh studio album, Bad, in 1987. Jackson planned to duet on "Bad" with Prince, but Prince declined the invitation; in a later interview, Prince said: "The first line of that song is 'your butt is mine'. Then I said 'Who's going to sing that to who?' ... because you sure aren't singing that to me, and I sure ain't singing it to you." Prince instead submitted his song "Wouldn't You Love To Love Me", but Jackson rejected it, so it was instead given to Taja Sevelle.
In Jackson's 1988 autobiography Moonwalk, Jackson wrote:
In a 1988 interview with Ebony and Jet magazines, Jackson said he was inspired by a true story that he had read about in either Time or Newsweek. Jackson stated that the story was about a student who went to school in upstate New York, who was "from the ghetto", had tried to make something of his life and planned to leave all of his friends behind when he returned from Thanksgiving break. He added that the student's friends' jealousy resulted in them killing the student; Jackson stated that the student's death was not included in the music video. Various Jackson biographers have concluded that the story he was referring was that of Edmund Perry. However, Perry was not killed by kids in his neighborhood; he was killed by a plainclothes police officer when Perry and his brother allegedly attacked and badly beat the officer in a mugging attempt.
Composition
The song is written in the key of A minor with a time signature in common time. The pitch is raised almost a quarter of a whole tone from standard pitch, A440 Hz, up to circa A454 Hz. Jackson's vocal range spans from G3 to A5. The track has a tempo of 114 beats per minute. The main bassline is based in the pentatonic blues scale.
"Bad" was viewed as a revived "Hit the Road Jack" progression. Davitt Sigerson wrote in Rolling Stone magazine, "When Jackson declares that 'the whole world has to answer right now,' he is not boasting but making a statement of fact regarding his extraordinary stardom. If anything, he is scorning the self-coronation of lesser funk royals and inviting his fickle public to spurn him if it dare." Sigerson compared the track to material by James Brown, whose "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is openly referenced by the four chromatic note brass introduction to the song. Lyrically, "Bad" pertains to proving to people that you are tough by boasting, with Jackson asking "who's bad?"