YOU ROCK MY WORLD

Live, 30th Anniversary Performance of

You Rock My World

Featuring Usher and Chris Tucker – 2001

“You Rock My World” is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was the debut single from his 2001 album Invincible. The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson’s last top ten hit in the United States. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 44th Grammy Awards. The music video for the song is the last to feature any participation from Jackson; the follow-up single, “Butterflies”, had no video, and he does not appear in the video for “Cry”.

Song information

A comedic spoken intro was recorded by Chris Tucker and Jackson, which involves Tucker and Jackson discussing their attraction to a particular woman, and the two arguing about whether or not Jackson can “pick her up”. In the music video, a majority of Tucker’s dialogue is composed of references to Jackson’s past singles, e.g. when the two have reached the club in pursuit of Jackson’s love interest, Tucker is suddenly nonsupporting of Jackson’s goal and asks that they “beat it”, suggesting that the girl is “dangerous”. While Tucker and Jackson are eating at the beginning of the video, Tucker notes that the girl is a “pretty young thing” and states that “the girl is mine”, precipitating a competition between him and Michael to see who will get the girl.

Jackson and Rodney Jerkins played all the instruments in the song, which was recorded at Record One Studios in Los Angeles from July to September, 2000. The single marked Jackson’s 30th anniversary as a solo artist (his first solo single, “Got To Be There”, had been released in October of 1971).

Music video

The music video for “You Rock My World” was premiered in Europe, Asia, and South Africa on September 21, 2001. In wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., the premiere was delayed there until September 26.

Like many of Jackson’s music videos, this one takes the form of a short film, based on a story written by Michael Jackson and Paul Hunter. It follows a story in which Michael Jackson and Chris Tucker spot an attractive woman (played by actress-choreographer Kishaya Dudley) and follow her into a gangster-infested nightclub (called The Waterfront Hotel, in reference to the famous film starring Marlon Brando, who plays the club’s owner in this music video). Obviously, they are not wanted there, because it seems the woman already has a love interest (played by Michael Madsen). However, Jackson is determined to meet this woman.

Jackson serenades her with a song (“You Rock My World”), as well as performing his complicated dance moves. He is then challenged to a fight by one of the regulars at the club (played by Billy Drago). When asked by Drago to “show me what you got,” Jackson, backed by a line of dancers, pulls off a dance sequence choreographed by himself, Anthony “Tone” Talauega and Richmond Talauega. After the dance sequence Drago says to Jackson, “Is that all you got? You ain’t nothin’!” This provokes Jackson into punching Drago, the violence leading to the breakout of a fire in the building. When he evacuates the building and finally meets up with the attractive woman, the two share an intimate moment before driving away in Tucker’s car. The cast also includes one of Jackson’s confidants, Frank Tyson[/wikipop] (who appears in only one shot). The video won an NAACP Image Award for Best Music Video in 2001. There are short-film and single-length versions of the video. There is also a longer version of the video featuring more dialogue between Tucker and Jackson, along with various other changes available on the web. It is unclear whether this third version is an official product or a homemade edit using outtakes.

Charts

The song was Jackson’s last worldwide hit, peaking at #1 on the French Singles Chart and at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, the Canadian Singles Chart, the Dutch Singles Chart, the Danish Singles Chart, the Norwegian Singles Chart, and the Finnish Singles Chart. In both China and the United Kingdom, it was held from the top spot by Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You out of My Head”. The song also peaked at #4 on the Australian Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart, and at #10 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson’s highest charting single since his 1995 number-one “You Are Not Alone”.

The day following Jackson’s death in June 25, 2009, “You Rock My World” peaked at #15 on the iTunes Store in the United States.

2 Responses to “YOU ROCK MY WORLD”

1. Rayy says:

   December 3, 2010 at 12:23 pm

   i freakinn LOVE dis video to death <3
2. niki500 says:

   July 6, 2011 at 1:49 pm

   this is amazing to me