Thriller IN THE MAKING
Ghetto Michael Jackson wants to become next sensation
For more than a week, videos of a local Michael Jackson impersonator have been flooding social media. The subject of the video is Akeem Walker, who says he has been a fan of Jackson since he was 10 years old.
His love for the late pop legend sparked his interest in dancing and so he began mimicking the choreography from Jackson’s music videos.
Now 21, Walker rarely refers to himself by his birth name. “Hi, this is Michael,” he said as he answered the phone trying to imitate Jackson’s distinctive rhythmic tone.
The aspiring entertainer, who hails from Matthews Lane in west Kingston, said he has always had the desire to dance, but was discouraged in his teenage days as people thought it would cause widespread ridicule.
“Dem laugh after me and mock me when me used to dance long time. When party used to keep me always wah dance, but people used to tell me no. Dem say everybody a guh laugh after me. But me never feel no way because me just love dancing. It make me feel good,” he said.
Walker’s confidence kept his love for dancing alive and so he kept learning and executing his Jackson routines. As fate would have it, his act was captured on camera, and today, he’s on his way to becoming Jamaica’s next Internet sensation.
MORE SUPPORT
“Since mi dancing videos dem start guh around, people start show me more love and more support. Now dem happy fi mi, dem nah really laugh again, dem excited. Dem say, ‘Oh Michael, we love you Michael’, and it makes me feel happy and nice. Every weh me guh people wah take pictures wid me,” he said.
Necus Fisher, more popularly known as Wessy Wessy, and his girlfriend, Swayne Smith,
are the persons responsible for sending Walker viral.
The pair believe that while there have been many Michael Jackson impersonators across the world over the years, Walker is the real deal.
“Him come from my community and as a man weh know talent when him spot it, me decide fi help him because the yute have it, enuh. Me wah get him thing sorted out the right way so we can send him a road because him ready,” said Wessy.
“Michael (Akeem), based on my perspective, is a man of many talents. Him draw, him dance, him put together him outfits by sewing the glitter on to him pants and gloves and everything. With the right management he will make it far in this industry. Mi know in the past yuh have more than one Michael Jackson (impersonators), but he stands out because him have everything, and most of all him determined. With some more practice, Michael will be one of the biggest entertainers in Jamaica,” said Smith.