Who’s Bad?

Let me give it to you straight. Each decade reflects a turning point in society politically, fashionably, intellectually, technologically, you name it. You wanna know what happened in that decade? Well, skip the history lesson and plug that aux cord in. Every musical decade is known for something, but, only one decade is known for producing true trailblazing, show-stopping icons. Even now you have a person in your head from this decade. That’s right. The 80s all day. Now I was born in the 90s and to be honest, it is my personal favorite. However, I deserve to be arrested for negligence if I do not give credit where credit is due.

We do not even sing Happy Birthday the same anymore. Thank you Stevie. Arguably, the best national anthem rendition came from an artist from this decade. Thank you Whitney. We would not show off our legs to date if it was not for Proud Mary. Thank you Tina. I learned that Love is Battlefield at a young age. Thank you Pat. Are you pregnant and don’t know how to tell your parents? Well Papa Don’t Preach honey. Thank you Madonna. Can you feel that? Well I can feel it coming in the air tonight. Thank you Phil. Look at the World right now. Are we not living on a Prayer? Thank you Bon Jovi. My Father never left the house without his blistex because of the smoothest cat in the game. My mama said Thank you LL Cool J. A new beginning of Freedom of Speech in music began with the launch of an entire genre. Thank you Public Enemy. Thank you to a host of other Rappers who made it okay for my generation and my children’s generation to not just use music as an expression of love and pain but of justice and truth.

The list can go on and because this essay is about them, I will. Our first stop on this train is Fashion. Yes fashion is an entire industry but its globally showcased on a mainstream level through celebrities. Iconic ensembles from Prince to Madonna to Cyndi Lauper. We also cannot forget the Real Lady Marmalade, Aunt Patti. Gitchi Gitchi ya ya da da, you know what I mean. Our next stop is Television Sitcoms. Many Shows in the 90s have a lead actor whose career started in the 80s with Music. There is Queen Latifah, and LL Cool J, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Next Stop is Art. The Cover Art for many of the albums in the 80s scream creativity. While many of the best Rock Bands started out in the 70s, when they stepped into the 80s it was three two one takeoff. Many of the Rock Bands Greatest Hits fall into the 80s category even though that is not the bands origin. Next and final stop is back at Music Central. Not only did rap fully takeoff in the industry, but Women made sure they had a seat on the train. Whether with a Microphone like Gloria Estafan or with drumsticks like Sheila E, women were ruling the scene. This turning point in the decade is where you see the beginning of career liberation for women.

A host of other artist from this decade are arguably the greatest of all time. If I have not proven my point by now, I won’t stop till you get enough. Get it? The King of Pop? The one and only Michael Jackson? His paragraph alone would slaughter any decade. Pure musical genius. The musical composition from every genre was breath-taking ingenuity. I haven’t even touched Arditti String Quartet in the Classical Genre, The Winans and Clark Sisters in Gospel, Boy Bands like New Edition or All Girl Bands like the GoGos. No era after the 80s has measured up and no era before has seen anything like it. By now, I think we can agree that this is the best decade and one of the best conclusions you’ve every drawn.