Yep, the Michael Jackson song. You may or may not know that R. Kelly was the man behind the lyrics, as Kelly penned it back on the back of some personal issues. The rest is history.
Interestingly, Kelly’s released his own version of the track, 15 years later, as a bonus addition to his hugely-anticipated Love Letter album (which you can stream). It’s a fantastic effort that does justice to the original version, though that was unlikely to ever be in question with the vocal power of Kelly. Definitely worth a listen.
When a rough version of this track leaked back in 2008, I was a pretty big fan of it, and this final version is even better. The 08 version didn’t really have many MJ vocals and was Akon-dominated, but it’s a nice duet here as Akon trades in the Autotune for a much more melodic style.
It’s an MJ track all over, with the feelgood vibes and positive outlook emanating throughout. The video plays on that superbly, with a simple mixture of youth and classic Michael Jackson concert footage furthering that blissful innocence to the point of tugging on your heartstrings. Definitely worth a watch, and certainly worth a listen. Be sure to grab that album next week.
Another one from the upcoming Michael album. Interestingly, this opens with one of the prominent quotes from Kanye West’s recent Runaway film (“don’t pay attention to anything on the news“), and whilst it’s true the media were very harsh on MJ, it’s brashness doesn’t really go with the feel of the track.
The song itself is a gentle, delicate pop-acoustic track that is full of Michael Jackson’s innocence and childish qualities. There’s almost a nursery rhyme feel about this track, as it’s incredibly simple, very relaxed and comes across as a bit of a ‘storytime’ lesson for kids, and hence works on a nostalgic angle to captivate the adults among us.
The song is not from the upcoming Michael album, but is actually found on his 2003 compilation, Number Ones.
“This was to be the official video for the single, which was written by R. Kelly. Prior to the video being shelved, Michael Jackson approved this cut and stored the original source materials in his personal archive. Previously unreleased and never before seen in its entirety, “One More Chance” captures Michael Jackson’s distinct magic as a performer”.
There you have it. Couldn’t have said it better myself, and this does really capture MJ’s ‘fantasy’ style really well. It’s funny to think that if this had been released in 03, it would have been viewed as corny. Now that he’s passed, it becomes a shred of his brilliance to hold on to.
The tracklist for the first (and probably not the last) posthumous album of unreleased MJ material.
1. Breaking News
2. Hold My Hand ft. Akon (A version of this leaked in 2008)
3. Hollywood Tonight
4. Keep Your Head Up
5. (I Like) The Way You Love Me
6. Monster ft. 50 Cent(What?!)
7. Best Of Joy
8. (I Can’t Make It) Another Day
9. Behind The Mask
10. Much Too Soon
From the upcoming posthumous album Michael, the first single is released amidst speculation that this track/album weren’t actually sung by Michael Jackson. Those rumours have been denied by Sony, but it’s going to be difficult to convince everyone.
Lots of electronic snares, stretched out vocals and a very catchy hook give this the vintage Jacko sound. It’s not a classic by any means, but as far as unreleased material goes it’s very enjoyable. The vocals have noticeable differences to Jackson’s usual tones though, and its this controversy that will plague the project. It could be because the song is fundamentally unfinished, his vocals may sound a little off and not as studio perfect as we’re used to. If not, it’s quite simply someone else on the vocals. I’m inclined to agree with the former, as the song is clearly rough and hence the imperfections in his voice are magnified. Also, having not really had any studio material from MJ in 9 years, his voice is likely to have undergone some slight changes: just ask Shyne. Michael Jackson-Breaking News
Really good cover (not that I/we expected any less) from Ne-Yo, taking on the MJ classic and doing it justice. There really isn’t a great deal more to say here as we’re all familiar with the original, and all familiar with Ne-Yo’s vocal gifts!
In tribute to the 1 year anniversary of MJ’s passing on Friday, DJ Green Lantern provides us with his own tribute to the King of Pop. With a fusion of hip-hop, this mix isn’t something you’ll want to miss out on and is perfect for this hot summer Sunday.
DJ Green Lantern – Michael Jackson Tribute Mix
I still vividly remember the evening the news of this broke. It was incredibly surreal, and hard to believe it was actually happening. The widespread/global reverberations of his death were unlike anything I’d experienced in my (adult) lifetime, and its only right we once again remember and pay respects to Michael Jackson.
Of all the tribute tracks released, the two posted here were by far the best, feel free to revisit them and reminisce on how blessed some of us were to grow up with his music.
Even after letting loose of 3 Bruno Mars-related goodies in the last 24-hours, this may as well be R&B Fridays: Bruno Mars edition. A bunch of unreleased Bruno material leaked last weekend (he has 11/20 tracks in here!), and the sheer quality of it makes it dominant in this episode. Make sure you check out the amazing track from his upcoming EP beforehand.
Good material from a range of other artists too, including Ciara and The-Dream. I never say this on any of my posts because I don’t want to ‘force it’, but I genuinely think you guys should be looking to grab everything in this week’s episode, such is the quality.
I’m really proud of this week’s episode, as it’s absolutely packed with playlist dominators, and the only way to do justice to these tracks was to spend time on the reviews: make it worth my time and click on.
Sometimes when I post a track, preview or whatever there’s usually follow-ups that occur. This can be in the form of a video, some written hype, or a longer snippet etc. and I usually refrain from posting anything other than the final version. I’m making an exception.
Below, you can grab a pretty low quality version of the full version of the track. Remember: this is NOT the final, and this is NOT good quality. It’s still a good indicator on how the track will turn out, and it sounds rather good. Everyone should check this out, and keep your eyes open for the final version which I’ll out up as soon as it’s given to me.
Michael Jackson-Another Day ft. Lenny Kravitz (Rough)
Two (very short) snippets that are worth grabbing below. I normally steer clear of snippets, but these two are rather good.
The first is a Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravtiz collabo that may/may not see a full version get released. I hope it does get released, as it sounds very good in fairness. I will of course throw it on here if I get it.
The second is a Drake snippet, which could either be a snippet for a future track, or simply a cut from something unreleased. You might recognise the opening few bars from Young Money’s Every Girl but it is a new verse after that. The track has some real potential, and again I hope this surfaces too. Apologies for the DJ tags on this, you know we normally roll tag-free but I can only work with what I’m given!
Since news broke of this late last week, I’ve been itching for it to come out. The legend that is DJ Jazzy Jeff has put together a 49-track (that’s right!) mixtape dedicated to Michael Jackson. Click below for more info, and to pick up the mixtape.
I’ve updated the link below with a .zip file which has three versions of the track, all in high quality.
This Is It is the title track from the film/documentary (of the same name) of MJ’s preparations for his tour. It’s an unreleased track that is set to feature on 2-disc soundtrack for the film, and features the rest of the Jacksons on backing vocals.
Have a look at a quick teaser for the upcoming This Is It film, which is set to be comprised of footage from MJ’s rehearsals for the tour. It’s set to be released to cinema in the very near future.
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