Dope History: When Michael Jackson Was Almost Sonic

What does The Super Bowl, Michael Jackson, Sega Genesis, Jaleel White, & Cree Summer All Have In Common? Dope History.

If we were to look at history in the same scope as Disney+'s What If series, we'll find that so much of history is really shaped by very small happenings, mishaps, and coincidences. For I Am Alex Auguste, we're going to be using Black History Month as the catalyst to dive into our own series of blog posts, videos, reels, and more called Dope History. In this series, we'll be taking a look at specific points in history that are shaped by events we're familiar with, but dig into the ramifications of what those events changed for other ecosystems in the world we live in.

For our first one, we take a look at how the pop icon Michael Jackson got involved with Sega in the early 1990s. At the time, the musical genius was just a few years removed from Bad and Dangerous albums. Unbeknownst to a lot of people, Michael Jackson was actually a huge fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games on the Sega Genesis console, and had made a large bid to not only voice the character, but also be the Executive Producer for the upcoming 3rd installment in the gaming series. While Sonic The Hedgehog 3 isn't nearly as popular as the first two games despite is being one of the highest gross selling Sega games of all times, it's most known for introducing Knuckles as a character - a knod that even the most recent movie is taking advantage of.

But in 1991 and 1992, having Michael Jackson approach you for wanting to turning his own vocals and beatboxing into music for 8-bit video game was a relatively big deal. In fact, had it been done in the manner Jackson had intended, it may have changed video game music much earlier than anyone would have thought.

You might recall that Michael Jackson was also the very first Super Bowl Half Time Performance by a celebrity. Prior to him, The Super Bowl focused on local acts like bands, circuses, and never really understand the impact of having superstars and celebrities as the headliner for the Half Time show. Michael Jackson's 1993 Super Bowl XXVII Half Time show was the first of its kind, and since then, the show's have looked to get bigger and bigger, with acts like Beyonce, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Paul McCartney, and even Janet Jackson (we'll never forget). But the reality is, for anyone who's ever watched that performance in 1993, there's likely no Super Bowl Half Time Show Performance quite like his.

So, again, Sega being approached by Jackson to be the EP for the game was major.

However, as history would show it, 1993 was also the year that the first of many sexual  abuse allegations would have came forward for the pop star, damaging his public image for a very long time and creating the unfortunate tarnish on his legacy well after his death in 2009.

So, what was Michael Jackson's goal?

There's long been rumors that the King of Pop wanted to voice the blue hedgehog, both in the game as well as the upcoming animated series that would later air on television that Fall. There's been plenty of iterations of Sonic the Hedgehog TV series, but the first one, which aired in September of 1993 has a particularly interesting connection to Michael Jackson. Due to those allegations, Sega decided to distance itself from Jackson, hoping to keep a relatively clean slate so that the game would release successfully. When it came to the TV show, the King of Pop was seemingly outbid for the voice of Sonic by a very young and rising star by the name of Jaleel White - who we'd also recognize as Steve Urkle from network television's Family Matters. Starring alongside the likes of Cree Summers, with music composed by Michael Tavera, the show lastest just a year with two 13-episode seasons.

Read: Michael Jackson DID actually write music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3

On the gaming front, though, it had appeared that Michael Jackson's agreements and dealings with Sega were most handshake deals and unsigned agreements. And so, opportunity falling into their hands, they landed a few songs from the pop star, with the songs even making it to the final edits of the game. Most notably, and my favorite, "The Carnival Night Zone" is one of the most easily recognizable Michael Jackson songs on Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which sonically fits the vibes and feel of his 1991 album Dangerous as well as songs like "Scream" with Janet Jackson and more. Jackson chose to go uncredited with his contributions, but the inspiration from those level songs fed into "Stranger in Moscow" and his subsequent music and albums in the 90s.

So, had it not been for the sexual abuse allegations, Michael Jackson would have seemingly elevated Sega Genesis and the Sonic franchise to a level that maybe none of us can even think of, creating an unleveled competition among gaming consoles like Nintendo and the soon-to-be-birthed Sony Playstation that debuted in 1994.

There's no telling what it would have done, but the fact of the matter is, to date, if you play Sonic the Hedgehog 3, you'll hear sounds directly from Michael Jackson, and if you ever watch the earliest version of Sonic the Hedgehog the Animated Series, you'll hear Jaleel White voicing the speedster. The King wasn't necessarily beaten out by the young voice actor, but had history taken a different turn, White's longevity may have ended at Family Matters. Or, and who knows, maybe Nintendo would have gotten competitive and grabbed Prince to voice Mario, or even Playstation grabbing him to voice Crash Bandicoot.

The possibilities are endless.

But Michael Jackson nearly being the voice and executive producer for Sonic? That is Dope History.

What are your thoughts? How would things have played out differently if Michael Jackson voiced Sonic and produced all the music for the game? Comment. Share. And Subscribe to I Am Alex Auguste for more Dope History!