Every family has that one home video. The kids are tiny and somebody’s holding the camera. Everybody’s trying to get in the shot.
Michael Jackson’s family has one too, and in 2018 his daughter Paris shared it with the world.
She posted it on Instagram on Feb 13, 2018, the day her big brother Prince turned 21. In the clip the two of them are little, and they’re competing for screen time. Prince is dancing. Paris is mugging for the camera. Anyone who grew up with a brother or sister knows exactly how that goes.
Good Morning America has the clip on its site at https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/video/53045841 if you want to see the two of them in action.
At one point a voice behind the camera says, “Let me see you dance.” W Magazine says that voice is their dad. Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight didn’t name who it was.
So what song was playing while Prince showed off his moves?
You’d assume it was one of Michael’s. The King of Pop’s own kids had a whole catalog of their dad’s hits to pick from.
It wasn’t. The song was “Juicy,” the 1994 hit by the rapper The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls.
That’s a fun surprise, and it isn’t as random as it sounds. Michael later recorded with the same rapper. Biggie raps on “This Time Around,” a song on Michael’s 1995 album “HIStory.”
If you’ve never heard the song that got little Prince moving, here’s the official video, so you can picture the beat he was dancing to.
The official video for “Juicy” by The Notorious B.I.G.
The video was sweet on its own. What Paris wrote with it made it even sweeter.
“My dearest brother. i could fly to the moon and back a thousand times and the distance still wouldn’t amount to how much i adore you,” she wrote. She kept her lowercase “i” just like that.
“I’ve always looked up to you, and to this day you’re still the greatest role model i could ever hope for.”
Paris called Prince her best friend and then ran through the things they did together as kids. They wrestled, and Paris says she used to have a chance of winning. They played with Hot Wheels and My Little Pony. Pirate fights and Harry Potter wands were part of the deal too.
Saturdays had their own routine. They’d eat porridge and drink orange juice in front of “Gargoyles” and Transformers cartoons. “Crash Bandicoot” made the list too. And at night Prince told her bedtime stories, which always had a twist at the end.
It reads like a list straight out of any big brother’s job description. Prince clearly took the job seriously.
Paris also wrote, “my home is with you and the little guy.” The little guy is their younger brother, who’s now known as Bigi.
She finished with the simplest line of all. “i’m so proud of you. happy birthday.”
Go back and watch the clip again after reading all that. Those two little kids fighting over the camera grew up to be each other’s best friends.