This doesn't make Michael a ''leader,'' it only certifies his prescience, his keenness as an artist. Blood on the Dance Floor is a throwdown, a dare to the concept of innocuous Black pop. And the remixes ring political changes on the HIStory tunes. 2 Bad'' is a Fugees remix simplified by new vocals and a lonely guitar figure playing the bassline from ''Beat It'' that rethinks the King of Pop's 1982 ascension and gives Michael the plangent consciousness of reggae. And even without Biggie Small's guest rap, ''This Time Around'' pumps, exchanging African beats for dance thrust, significantly claiming new marginality and might.
Every legend tells of conquest and liberty.
It's epiphany and advice. This great artist won't be an easy target to hit. There is real pain and pathos in these new songs, feelings difficult to convey underneath so much studio production and gloss. Jackson's pain is often the world's merriment, and this is probably true of his new songs, which fret about painkillers, sexual promiscuity and public image. In many of them, Jackson seems like the elephant man, screaming that he is a human being.