My It's been almost a full decade since we lost the one and only King of Pop, Michael Joseph Jackson. No doubt, the state of pop music, and pop culture in general, has gotten even worse in his absence. Most importantly, the unpalatable truth is that no one is willing to work as hard as MJ to become an icon, because it's all about image over raw, God given talent. Well, with the exception of Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and any artist who came out before the early 2010s, but even they will never truly recapture everything about MJ's essence. It doesn't help that much that we lost Prince two years ago, but more on the Purple Wonder's impact will be expanded on in the future.

I can remember what I was doing when the news came on CNN announcing: "Michael Jackson, dead at age 50". Like the millions of fans around the world, I was just sitting there, with blank emotion, feeling like I'd been gutpunched. This legendary icon, to a certain extent, influenced me, in terms of singing, dancing and how I look at the world. The media did absolutely horrible and unforgivable things to him, but they could never knock his legacy. And every artist who is a part of Generation X and onwards can attribute a significant part of their artistry to the King of Pop. Here are some of the reasons why he was one of a kind:

His stage presence was like no other

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From the time that he burst onto the scene as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, you could sense his charisma, energy and "it" factor. It's no surprise to anyone why every single one of his world tours has made the Guinness Book of World Records in some magnitude.

Dance moves always on point

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From the moonwalk to the spin to the spins, he never missed a beat. Plus, he could jump right into the background choreography, and still keep the rhythm running. A rare skill indeed.

His everlasting influence

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Whether it's New Edition (minus Johnny), Usher, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake or even The Weeknd, you can clearly see just how much they took after him. Now tell me, who was the last successful artist that was influenced by Taylor Swift or Selena Gomez? I didn't think so.

Iconic music videos

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Everything from the Thriller album, Bad, Smooth Criminal, Black or White, etc. Those right there are the reason why the VMAs Vanguard Award is in his namesake. Need we say more?

The ability to unite listeners from all walks of life

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It wasn't just his star power that attracted the millions of fans across the world, it was the messages in his music.

Those unique vocals

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So. Much. Soul. Quite possibly the greatest falsetto of any male singer, next to Freddie Mercury and Prince. Above all, he could sing a myriad of styles and make it timeless.

His style was effortlessly sharp

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From the white sequined glove, to the red Thriller jacket, to the military epaulets, he was pop music's ultimate trendsetter.

TWO stars on the Walk of Fame

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First with the Jackson 5, and then one of his own. I don't think you can name another entertainer who has accomplished this feat.

Breaking the barrier on MTV

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We all know how the story goes: in the early days of MTV, only white rockstars and bands were given airtime. That all changed in January 1983, when Billie Jean premiered on the network, and the rest is history.

Throwing shade the right way

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He loved his fans of all ages to no end, but that didn't deter him from biting his tongue, especially in his later years. Plus, I couldn't resist using this legendary GIF of him eating popcorn! 😂

As of August 29th, he would have been a year short of sixty. None of us can go back in time and dissuade the media from doing the brutal scrutiny on him, although it probably needed to happen for us to truly appreciate his legacy. We know he's looking down from heaven on us, still faithful that pop music will truly become astounding once more. RIP MJ