


Looking at the 2015 headlines, it’s clear her pleas for listeners to heal society’s divisions through love and dance were not 100 percent effective.

But its political legacy is about as mixed as Jackson expected. 1 hits, 20 million copies sold, with factory-floor sound effects and strident lyrics about bummer topics-poverty, racism, war, homelessness. Rhythm Nation’s commercial achievement seems more and more improbable with each passing year: four No.
