i like michaelel jackson because e he can sing good, he's's bad and h he knows how to d dance. he's s so sexy andnd so gorgeo. he's exciting! michchael jacksoson is the mn of the '80s. graham: mtv starts to get pressure from cbs records, which was michael jackson's label. rock andnd roll in i itself rereally was the thing that broke a lot of rules. and when you're very successful, you try to make your own rules occasionally. graham: as the story goes, cbs essentially said, "we will pull every other artist we have onon mtv if y you don't p play this." they h had to be e essentially blackmkmailed into doioing it. ♪ i it doesn't t matter whoho'sg or right ♪ ♪ just beat it ♪ he was the artist that mtv really needed. they didn'n't know they neededed him, but boboy, when wewe started t e ththe michael l jackson viv, it was just unbelievable. ♪ and no one's going to... ♪ questlove: then there's the domino effect. suddenly you see prince videos from warner brothers do the same thing. ♪ so o tonight i'i'm going totoy lilike it's 1999 ♪