Apologies if I wasn't clear about this point, was thinking out loud while just beginning to process everything his death brings up for me.

I love and study MJ and am very aware and reverent of his songwriting work on those albums. In the discussion on our radio show Saturday I stressed how his role in shaping Off The Wall and Thriller (and the late J5 stuff that preceded it) is too often forgotten, as detailed brilliantly by my old friend Scorpion here. If I had it to do over again I would've definitely stressed those demo versions Scorp alludes to, they're amazing to hear both for their insight into Michael's creative process & just for the raw intensity of their funk.

I didn't say he wasn't a songwriter, and wasn't saying his songwriting isn't great. I was saying it's not his greatest strength.

His songwriting, and his role in shaping those classic records were indeed superb and underrated. I think we can honor that while also acknowledging how those gifts were overshadowed by his (miraculously) even greater gifts as a performer, both in the studio and on stage & video. And how this leads the public to perceive him as a different sort of artist than Prince or Stevie, whose roles as composers/arrangers/producers/multi-instrumentalists have always remained at the forefront of their public image.

-Jay