1982Released
6:03

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. By Songfacts®.

Jackson wrote this song, which can be interpreted as an angry attack on the tabloid press and others who hounded him. A struggle with fame and being misunderstood were common themes for Jackson, and in this song he lashes out at those who take advantage of him: "They eat off of you, you're a vegetable."

At the end of this song, the chorus is "Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sas." The line is borrowed from Cameroon native Manu Dibango's 1972 song "Funky Soul Makossa." Jackson did not have permission to appropriate the song, and reached an out-of-court settlement with Dibango over the use.

Bruce Swedien, who was an engineer on the Thriller sessions, claimed this song is about "Michael's brothers' wives and how they were always creating trouble."

Top Listeners

Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
AKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
122BPM

Album

The album Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
Epic
(P) 1982 MJJ Productions Inc.

See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.

Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.

6.1MArtists
75.6MSongs
13MAlbums
6.5KGenres
2.6MLabels
496KPlaylists