Patrick O'Keefe

The Los Angeles Times reports that Michael Jackson has died. CNN has confirmed it.

As with so many others, he was definitely a part of my childhood. From time to time my parents joke about me doing “the Michael Jackson dance” when I was little. This basically meant I moved around in a sort of jittering fashion like a crazy person, resembling Jackson’s moves for maybe a second and by accident.

At EPCOT, I loved the Captain EO ride. I had the Michael Jackson sneakers from L.A. Gear (black with gold, metal circles). I was really young, so I didn’t really listen to or buy albums, but the big singles, especially “Beat It” and “Bad,” I loved. I didn’t end up buying any of his music until the past few years, which is when I got a little deeper into his older stuff and other tracks. I still need to go back and buy all his albums and I’ll do that one day.

So, today is a sad day. He was a tremendous talent, which goes without saying, and his accomplishments were immense. He inspired a generation of entertainers. He’ll be missed.

On June 12, the new “Must Be Love” music video by Cassie featuring Diddy premiered. I’m a bit fan of the record and the video has a really cool concept, as well. Check it out below.

I really like Fabolous’ new song, “My Time” featuring Jeremih. The video is cool, as well, featuring an epilogue with Ryan Leslie, who I’m a huge fan of, as well. Check it out below.

I’m really loving this song and video. I’m looking forward to Day26′s new album, “Forever in a Day,” which will be released on April 14.

I’ve blogged about Ryan Leslie numerous times. He’s a music producer, a singer and an entrepreneur, as well as other things, I’m sure. There’s a lot that I respect about him. I love his music and I identify with him, as an entrepreneur. He was even kind enough to write advance praise for my book, “Managing Online Forums,” which pretty much guarantees I’ll always be in his corner.

For a long time, he’s dreamed of releasing his own album. That’s the reason he got into the music industry, in the first place, after graduating from Harvard. But, it wasn’t meant to be, at first, so he stayed busy – by writing and producing for other artists and launching NextSelection, a label of sorts, where he signs and develops artists – the most noteworthy, thus far, being Cassie, who is signed to Bad Boy.

His album has been delayed, repeatedly and, one of those things that I do respect about him is that he hasn’t really complained about it. There have been hints of frustration, sure, but he’s never complained or taken a less than classy route. And his dream is finally coming true as Casablanca Records, through Universal, will be releasing his self-titled debut album on February 10. I’ve heard 9 out of 12 songs that will be on the album (legally, mind you) and 8 of them are in my playlist (i.e. the songs I want to listen to again and again). When I enjoy something, I support it. Add to that, that he supported my book with advance praise, and you know that I am going to be pre-ordering this album.

He posted a video blog today, where he held the actual physical copy of the CD in his hands and talked about what it meant to him. He admitted that this meant that other people have it to and that it has already been ripped and put online for free download. He encouraged people to listen to it and, if they like it, to please buy it legally because, if they do, he’ll go back to the studio and make more. Here’s the video:

Ryan Leslie’s Album Drops from Ryan Leslie on Vimeo.

I’m rooting for Mr. Leslie. I hope this album does really well.

As a follow up to the first video, Ryan Leslie has released the second video for “How It Was Supposed to Be.” Check it out below. It’s an entertaining video, directed by Leslie and model Tyson Beckford.

How It Was Supposed To Be (Military Version) from Ryan Leslie on Vimeo.

Ryan Leslie release a new music video today for his latest single, “How It Was Supposed to Be.” This is the first and three music videos for the track, he says. The video version is a bit of a rock remix as it has guitar elements that the original doesn’t have. I like the song a lot. I like the original a little better, I think, but this version is cool, as well. Here’s the video: