American rappers has inspired the music video and the trailer, revealing their title album. It shows Jackson dancing with the dancers in the original. Jackson premiered a trailer for the song on June 9,1987. The video, directed by Colin Chilvers, was shot between mid-February and April 1987 at Culver City, California, and in the backlot at Universal Studios Hollywood and premiered internationally on MTV on the night of October 13, 1988. The video and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film The Band Wagon, particularly the 'Girl Hunt Ballet' (itself inspired by the novels of Mickey Spillane) scene. Paterson, who was a lead dancer in the music videos for ' Beat It' and ' Thriller', co-choreographed the 'Smooth Criminal' video with Jackson and Jeffrey Daniel of the soul music group Shalamar. Paterson listened to the unfinished song and came up with the concept of a 1930s gangster club. Jackson asked Vincent Paterson to conceive a concept for the short film. Music video Jackson performing the 'anti-gravity lean' in the 'Smooth Criminal' music video The song reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Spain and the top 10 in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. It is certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. 'Smooth Criminal' peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the sixth top 10 single from Bad. Trainees learn to say 'Annie, are you OK?' while practicing resuscitation on the dummy. The chorus refrain, 'Annie, are you OK?', was inspired by Resusci Anne, a dummy used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. The lyrics describe a narrator who finds a bloodstained carpet and an unconscious body. It is in the key of A minor, and Jackson's vocal spans from G 3 to C 6. 'Smooth Criminal' evolved from an earlier song written by Jackson, 'Al Capone' (named after real life gangster Al Capone), released on the 2012 reissue Bad 25. 'Smooth Criminal' was re-released in 2006 as a single as a part of Jackson's Visionary: The Video Singles boxset. It has appeared on numerous greatest hits albums and was performed on all of Jackson's solo tours. Rolling Stone wrote that it was 'his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess, and a turning point in his shift toward darker, harder-edged material'. Retrospective reviews have described it as one of Jackson's best songs. The song reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Spain.

It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It reached number two on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart.

'Smooth Criminal' reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the sixth top-10 single from Bad. In the video, Jackson and the dancers perform an apparently physically impossible 'anti-gravity lean'. The 1930s setting and Jackson's white suit and fedora pay tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film The Band Wagon. The music video for 'Smooth Criminal', which premiered internationally on MTV on October 13, 1988, is the centerpiece of the 1988 film Moonwalker. The lyrics address a woman who has been attacked in her apartment by a 'smooth criminal'. It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. ' Smooth Criminal' is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 14, 1988, from his seventh album, Bad (1987).

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