it wasn't the whole "singing high" thing, because there are a lot of dudes (Eddie Kendricks comes to mind) that sung in a higher register but didn't have the same effect MJ did.

MJ sounded "young". like, until he was past 40, he sounded much like he was a teenager when he sang.

and that's what a lot of these dudes who imitate him are trying to emulate. considering, if you go by the old adage that dudes are singing for the chicks... that's what they're going for. for some (Stokely of Mint Condition comes to mind), that's just how they sound (almost on that EJ from Enchantment shit).

the "gonad" singing sounds "old" in comparison. too much I've read borderline disparaging words written toward K-Ci (but not Jo-Jo, LOL), Johnny Gill and the like because they have an "old man" voice. Gill is a special case because when HE was a teenager he still sounded like that. Even before Bobby Womack crossed 40 he sounded "old" all the time to people... which was some bullshit to me.

I think it's hard to push that youth angle and still sing from the gut. Jaheim was a latter-day singer who had a voice that suggested "gonad" singing, but his lyrics were the equivalent of the Michael Jordan Fashion Collection (or shit, perhaps his own).