Have you ever watched the official music video for Michael Jackson’s 1991 “call for racial unity” statement piece? The song’s title is called ‘Black Or White’, and its critical reception was favourable at the time. The John Landis-directed music video features an iconic cameo from (then) child actor Macaulay Culkin (famously known for his lead role in Home Alone), and there is an unforgettable guitar solo at the beginning that still makes me think about how I used to sit at home and watch MTV’s curated video countdowns and world premieres.

For some reason, the guitar on JonoJono’s single ‘She’ reminds me of a young Macaulay Culkin dancing around in his room to Heavy Metal as his dad (portrayed by George Wendt) watched a baseball game on television downstairs. And before the Texas artist’s record ends, there’s a section (3:18) in the song that feels like the melody from Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ released in 1995, which I mentioned during our conversation via my Instagram Live session.

JonoJono said it wasn’t something he was aware of when he recorded the song, but he did acknowledge my comparison. Next, the arrangement of ‘She’, specifically, how the backing track or instrumental changes genres, makes another connection to one of Jackson’s most-watched premiered videos (500 million viewers upon its release to 27 countries, simultaneously).

Some catchphrases that still sit with me are “I turn a thot to a centrefold” and “she eat[s] that dick like a dinner roll”.

Rock, Rap, and Pop have crossed paths for forty plus years; When it is done right, it is memorable and something you want to pass on. In the case of an uprising artist named Jonojono, that’s what happened.

Over the Summer in July, JonoJono released the deluxe version of his project called ‘Aphasia’. It is nine tracks long, and Dontaskgen and OMB Bloodbath are the only features on the experimental body of music. Stream it below if you have thirty minutes to check out his well-produced and well-mixed project. As you must know, my favourites are ‘Fireflies’ and ‘Addiction’ and the guitar in the opening of ‘She’ is nostalgic and masterfully done. The artist played some of the records during my Instagram Live sessions.