Will.i.am Furious About the Release of Michael’s Album

As you know, it has been said that an album consisting of several previously unheard Michael Jackson songs will be released to the market in November this year. This news has upset one of Michael’s younger collaborators. Will.i.am—also known as William, the first member of Black Eyed Peas, who has collaborated with Michael in recent years on several songs that were never released—says Michael’s songs should never be released! "This is a bad idea. These songs should not be released at all. He (Michael) was a perfectionist and wouldn’t have offered these songs in their current form. How do they plan to release Michael Jackson’s songs when he isn’t here to approve them?"

He says Michael was meticulous about every aspect of his work, from the sound to the song arrangements and musical instruments.

"Now that he’s not part of the process, what are they doing with his songs? How can they release songs like this? Since he was my friend, I think what they’re doing is insulting. Aren’t there already enough songs that he himself released that they want to put these out too?"

When he was asked whether the high demand for Michael’s songs isn’t a good reason to release his works, Will.i.am lost his temper:

"Well, what? You can’t disrespect a deceased person. How much more do you want to suck his blood? Free-loading leeches."

Michael, along with Akon, Will.i.am, and Ne-Yo—who are all young, Black stars in the music world—created several songs but did not release them. All three believe that the songs they worked on with Michael belong to him, and they don’t have the right to decide about them. Ne-Yo said in an interview that he does not intend to give the songs he wrote specifically for the King of Pop to another artist to use. Akon also said he has no intention of releasing these songs.

Akon and Will.i.am, along with Kanye West and Fergie, collaborated with Michael on the Thriller 25 album, which was made to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic Thriller album. The songs on that album are the old songs from the original album, but with new mixes and the voices of young singers—though, as you know, they are in no way comparable to the original versions of the work, even though it sold well at the time of its release.

There is little information about the promised Michael album, but Michael’s brother, Jackie Jackson, has said that he is working on the album with his brother Marlon and John McClain, a lawyer and one of the trustees of the Michael Foundation, as well as the former executive manager at Sony Music.

Source: eMJey / AP