Idk I just know there was a s***ty version with Justin Timberlake and it just sounded awful. Like you can’t take a thriller cut and put 2000s production on it. You’ve got to meet it where it’s at.

The original is on the Xscape Deluxe Edition. It was one of the best ideas they've had.

Disc 1 was the (already dated) "contemporizations" and Disc 2 was MJs originals

i was young at the time but i remember rumblings online that xscape used impersonators and other similar sounding singers for some of the disc 1 songs. is there any truth to that? i like the timbaland version of chicago for example much more than the original but if theres non michael vocals on there i would completely rule out ever listening to that in the same way i would an official MJ release that used ai vocals.

It's the 'Michael' album, released in 2010.

Eddie Cascio + James Porte (Eddie's brother in law) were working on songs before Michael passed away. Michael died, and two days later they registered those songs under his name at the copyright office. Only issue, MJ never worked on those songs.

From then on, 12 songs were finalised + made with Jason Malachi (the most famous MJ soundalike at the time). The Estate, after finding little material, bought those 12 songs, contractually obligated to include them on future albums.

Teddy Riley got involved and asked for writing credits etc because he was broke, and in the hope they would give him a "real" MJ song for the album.

Keep Your Head Up, Monster (feat 50 Cent) and Breaking News were released. All fake, containing copy + pasted words/phrases to sound more authentic.

Those songs were since removed from the album.

Xscape, released in 2014, is authentic and 100% MJ in terms of vocals.

NUMBER ONE

Hate to be negative but expect another wave of hit pieces

F*** em

i've always loved will you be there 💕

that orchestra intro into the choir is so tasteful to that piano riff. I love the themes he touched upon in his music being so universal. He was an incredibly gifted artist who i didn't really learn to appreciate until adulthood.

But they told me

A man should be faithful

And walk when not able

And fight til the end

But I’m only human

❤️

Have you seen this?

(At 4:42 you can see the bald spot where they inflated his scalp with a balloon to heal the Pepsi burn)

wow. I have never seen this b4

how bad was the pepsi incident did his hair never really recover?

Third degree + nerve damage, I believe. Guaranteed bald spot + excruciating pain.

I'm not going to post it outright because it's quite graphic, but here's a shot of the scalp before + after initial surgery:
https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:924/1*TLubi9WOVoH_ANPRl7ZFSw.jpeg

Follow on treatments included the scalp stretch using a balloon placed in his head to stretch the skin. Must've been unbelievably painful

August 29th 1958 - January 27th 1984 (day of the burn) = 9,282 days

January 27th 1984 - June 25th 2009 = 9,281 days

Almost the exact midpoint of his life. Pretty crazy.

No from what i understand his burns were never able to fully heal due to his lupus. In terms of his hair he worse extensions and hairpieces and eventually full on wigs as he got older (unsure if he was balding other than the burned area)

Lupus is often overlooked - but a great mention

I know he was very different to the normal person but considering everything he went through as a child, the lack of social interaction, the autoimmune diseases, and everything else it's fascinating how well he understood people + the music he wrote could connect with the entire world

A true gift

He settled for 1.5 million which to me seems quite low. I would of thought he would want a slice of being part of the company.

It's sucks that this what led to his painkiller habit and sleeping issues.

For someone who was very self concious of his image (not from his own doing) this must have had another blow to his self-image.

Despite all of these setbacks he still came back and shut the entire culture down again with 'Bad'. GOAT shyt man

Yes, donated every penny of it to the burn centre that treated him too

Dirty Diana entering the global Spotify charts. One of my fav songs

Earth Song is up there with fosters best producing work. The way the song builds up is mind blowing. The way each piece is added as the song goes on is 🤌🏽 the strings, the choir, the drums, the guitar… all amazing.

I don't get when people like to label the track as melodramatic like the weight of the theme is so grand that it's gonna seem over the top, but i feel it was delivered perfectly.

MV is hard asf too hope we get a 4K remaster soon.

An absolute masterpiece, from start to finish. No one else could make that song.

I know it sent Prince wild when it came out too. He brought his entire team into his office to play it, proclaiming how truly genius the song + MJ were.

Bruh the amount of MJ I found myself randomly playing lately has been crazy. Also been just combing through the discography while at work. Had to add several more songs to my wedding playlist

that co-sign tho 💐🔥

that era of large-scale a***og-pop production had people like David Foster, Quincy Jones, and Mutt Lange treating arrangements like architecture. You can hear every layer being placed deliberately.

HIStory sounds so crispy. I'm not one for listening to intrumentals; however i will make an exception for this project.

If you start listening to MJ you just can't stop

Immaculate discography

The estate confuses me sometimes man, how is it controlled by a bunch of entertainment lawyers yet they’re allergic to making money (biopic aside) for the par few years they’ve been ignoring the largest fanbase in the world which is a guaranteed money printing machine and instead put out lazy bs

I think what I’ve gained the most the details. My house was huge on MJ and as a kid it’s just straight bops but the instrumentation the songwriting I’m discovering it’s just