The magic of an artist and his mark on history has to do in part with his persistence over time at a posthumous level. And Michael Jackson is a great example of that. The singer, who died on June 25, 2009, published “Michael” on December 10, 2010, his first posthumous album loaded with unreleased songs. Now, 12 years after that release, doubts are emerging about the true authorship of this album, which has led to a reaction on the platforms. Sony Music has decided remove three of the “Michael” tracks from streaming sitesdue to doubts about the authenticity of the singer’s voice.
Both Sony and the foundation that manages the legacy of the King of Pop, Estate of Michael Jackson, announced their decision to withdraw the songs through a statement. “Breaking news”, “Monster” y “Keep your head up”. An action that they justify as “the best and simplest form of leave the conversation behind once and for all associated with these songs. And it is not the first time that several Jackson fans confirm that these tracks are not played by him, but belong to the American singer Jason Malachi, which Sony denies. An example of this was Vera Serova, a fan of Jackson, who filed a lawsuit against the three subjects for violation of the consumer protection law, unfair competition and fraud. According to “Variety”, justice ruled four years later in favor of the foundation and the record company
The removal of these themes from the platforms does not mean, however, that the entities that manage this legacy succumb to the claim that they do not belong to Jackson. “This has nothing to do with the authenticity of the songs, but is about leaving behind the distractions that surround them,” they explain. For his part, as published by “TMZ”, Jason Malachi acknowledged the facts in a publication through Facebook in 2011, but later his manager assured that this writing was false. “Jason wants everyone to know without a doubt that he didn’t sing a single note on the album.“, he claimed.
Regarding the song “Breaking news”, Sony stated that it had “complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals on the new album are his”. “Michael” was listed as an album of previously unreleased songs that the “Thriller” singer had worked on in 2007. Released through Epic Records in conjunction with Sony, production was handled by Teddy Riley, Theron Feemster and Eddie Cascio. among others, as well as featuring 50 cent, Lenny Kravitz and Akon as guest artists.