Spike Lee's documentary of the King of Pop's first solo album after Michael Jackson broke away from Motown has just debuted its trailer. It was a delicious taste of what "Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to 'Off the Wall'" has to offer. The Weeknd, David Byrne of Talking Heads and Questlove of Roots, all appear in this first peek. Byrne and Questlove were seen joking about being into "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" even though they could not tell what Michael Jackson was singing.
"I didn't even know that he was saying, 'Keep on with the force, don't stop,' I thought it was about forks," Questlove laughs, referencing what is a "Star Wars" influence on the song.
Lee has a few interesting tidbits to share with Billboard about the making of the documentary. One of them of how the choice of the title "Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to 'Off the Wall'" is not really his. A title that he gave the "Off The Wall" documentary in 2009 was "Brooklyn Loves MJ." The "Malcolm X" director further admitted to "Off the Wall" being his favorite of Jackson's three albums produced by Quincy Jones. Although "Thriller" was the most commercially successful of MJ's work, Lee says it was a kind of harbinger for a lot of the complications that came to Jackson's life.
Lee told Billboard that MJ's mom, Katherine, revealed how hurt Michael Jackson felt over winning only one Grammy Award for the "Off the Wall" album. Apparently, MJ used this disappointment to push him to do an even more exceptional job with "Thriller."
The director described how he came to work with "Off the Wall" out of all the songs in Jackson's "HIStory" album. "Pick any song you want to direct," MJ told Lee while they listened to the album. Spike Lee decided that he liked "Stranger in Moscow."
The choice was then vetoed very charmingly by Michael. "No, that's not the one you want! You want to do 'They Don't Care About Us'," Michael laughs.
The "Chi-raq" director spoke of how, even when people had doubts over Michael Jackson's career when he was making "Off the Wall," the singer never once doubted himself. He also was certain that he needed the freedom to go it on his own, and that he needed to move away from Motown and away from his brothers.
Billboard asked Lee about the elephant in the room that is not in his latest Michael Jackson documentary. "Here's the thing, and I appreciate your question: So many people focus on the other stuff. We wanted to focus on the music," Lee explained.
Spike Lee confesses to wanting "Thriller" to be his third Michael Jackson documentary, "Bad 25" being the first. He has notified the executors of Jackson's estate of his intent and it's all a matter of wait-and-see now.
Have you seen "Bad 25?" Tell us what you expect from "Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to 'Off the Wall'." Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
