As one can imagine, being the child of someone like Michael Jackson is a bit unusual. And now, at age 19, Jackson’s son Prince Michael Jackson has opened up about what life was like growing up in such a unique and strange environment.
For Prince the family weirdness appeared to hit a high mark in 2002 when his dad made all sorts of headlines by dangling his then eight-month old brother, Prince Michael II, over a balcony in Berlin, Germany.
Another odd thing that always surrounded him as a youth was the fact that he and his sister, Paris, were always spotted in public wearing an assortment of masks or veils.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Prince Michael finally explained why his dad always made him wear the masks when they went out in public…
He understands the choices his father made as a parent. “My dad spoke to me like an adult. He told us the reason for the masks was he wanted us to have our own life without him,” Jackson said, noting he and his siblings could often go out without their father unbothered because they were unrecognizable.
“I don’t think I ever thought about if other kids lived like that when I was younger. But once I knew who he was, I realized it wasn’t normal.
“I remember being in Disneyland and I went to the window and there were all these fans waving and taking pictures of me. I thought it was normal, so I just waved back,” he continued. “It wasn’t until I saw a video of him performing and people were fainting and passing out, when I realized the work he did meant a lot to people.”
As for whether he will be following in his father’s musical footsteps? He will be, sort of…
“Everyone thinks I’m going to do music and dance,” he says, laughing wryly because, as he is the first to admit, he cannot do either.
Jackson is interested in producing entertainment but from behind the scenes. Earlier this year he produced his first music video, for Omer “O-Bee” Bhatti’s “Automatic,” and used it to launch King’s Son Productions, the name a wink toward his father’s 1980s coronation as the King of Pop. Another video, for the Sco Triplets, soon followed.
“Music is a big part of my life,” Jackson says. “It shaped who I am because of my family, but I’ve always wanted to go into production. My dad would ask me what I wanted to do and my answer was always producing and directing.”
Coming from that family, how could music not be a big part of his life? It will be very interesting to see as Prince gets older just much success he has in the same field his dad dominated for so long.