The prelude; Michael Jackson and Chris Tucker having a conversation about a “fine” girl they’re supposedly looking at, though there isn’t any background noise to help set the scene; is like the skit at the beginning of Black Or White. It may be funny to listen to initially, but it’s replay value is nowhere near that of the song it introduces. Listeners of at-least the official album versions of these tracks may, in other words, find themselves skipping past, or at-least zoning-out on, the first several seconds. That means the tracks, essentially the songs, would be better without their preludes. In the case of You Rock My World, the title of which doesn’t come across nearly as corny as it should, the song would also make more sense without it. The dialogue implies that the girl is a total stranger to both Chris and Mike, but the song lyrics have Jackson already romantically entwined with her.

“It feels like I’ve finally found a perfect love this time,” he insists before going into one of his best song choruses yet. “You rocked my world, you know you did,” it goes, utilizing a harmonic vocal stack similar to the haunting Ghosts, “Who’d think I’d find someone like you to call mine?” The words are trite; on paper the song would read like a high school crush poem; but the vocal melodies, even on the verses and bridge, are quite awesome. The music, highlighted by dramatic keyboard strings where applicable, is a slinky soul groove that goes back to the relative timelessness of the Thriller album. Despite an unnecessary scratch break near the end; the ad-lib peak section should take the song out; it’s producer Rodney Jerkins at his best. It’s not Michael Jackson at his best, but it’s damn close. If the quality of this love theme is any indication, I’d guess he got the girl.

my rating = 5 of 5

2001