Scream/Childhood - "Scream" - Scream Music Video - Reception and Influence

Reception and Influence

The video premiered in the summer of 1995, on MTV and BET and the next evening on ABC-TV's "Primetime Live" during Diane Sawyer's interview with Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. The interview was broadcast to approximately 64 million viewers. The video is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed pieces, Heather Phares of Allmusic described the video as a "stylish, interstellar clip". James Hunter of Rolling Stone called it a contemporary video, "in which Michael and his sister Janet jump around like '90s fashion kids trapped in a spaceship stolen from a Barbarella film set". Jim Farber called it a "supercool black-and-white clip"..."The clip's great allure is that neither of the siblings looks quite real. While the visuals hold barely any connection to the lyric, and seem to have no clear point, the weird look captivates". He was of the opinion that while Michael Jackson outshines his sister in the vocals, it is Janet Jackson who gives the better performance in the music video.

In 1995, Scream gained 11 MTV Video Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won "Best Dance Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction". Reacting to this, Jackson stated that he was "very honored", explaining that he had worked "very hard" and he was "very happy" with the reception up to that point. It was also given a Billboard Music Award for best Pop/Rock video. A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form; shortly afterward Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made at a cost of $7 million, although this was later refuted by the director. In 2001, VH1 placed "Scream" at number nine on their list of the 100 greatest music videos.

In 1997, "Scream" was remixed as "Scream Louder (Flyte Tyme Remix)" for Michael Jackson's remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. The remix used elements from the Sly & The Family Stone song Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again). Another official remix was produced by Naughty By Nature and was called, "Scream (Naughty Remix)" and has a new urban R&B instrumental beat & a rap verse by Treach of Naughty By Nature.

"Scream" was a creative influence on other music videos such as the 1999 release of the award winning "No Scrubs" by TLC. This influence was also present on the 2008 release of "Shawty Get Loose" by Lil Mama and Chris Brown. Reacting to the comparisons made between the videos, Mama explained, "I feel honored, because that was one of the initial goals, and I feel that it was executed well". She adding that the emulation was intentional and that Brown was the only logical choice to step into Michael Jackson's role.