“The rap thing, that is happening now.” Jackson said. “When it came out, I always felt that it was gonna take more of a melodic structure to make it more universal, ’cause not everybody speaks English. [ He laughs. ] And you are limited to your country. But when you can have a melody, and everybody can hum a melody, then that’s when it became France, the Middle East, everywhere! All over the world now, ’cause they put that melodic, linear thread in there.

You have to be able to hum it, from the farmer in Ireland to that lady who scrubs toilets in Harlem to anybody who can whistle to a child poppin’ their fingers.