The day that Michael Jackson fans have been waiting for has finally come … today, a BRAND NEW single from the late King of Pop titled Breaking News has been made available to fans all around the world. But, the single’s release does not come without its fair share of controversy … as you might expect from anything Michael Jackson-related. The Jackson family does NOT believe that this new track released by Sony Music is a genuine MJ song. They insist that the vocals on the song are not of Michael Jackson. In an effort to bolster their claim, Katherine Jackson and her business partner Howard Mann released a song titled Opis None as a genuine MJ song in retaliation. The only problem is that their song isn’t the genuine article at all. Mann released a statement admitting that the song Opis None is NOT a new MJ track but is, in fact, an extended remix of an old MJ song titled Destiny. Whoops!
Undaunted, Sony Music released Breaking News on MichaelJackson.com at midnight last night … here is our first look at the single cover artwork:
Naturally, Sony will NOT let the song be streamed on any site but their own … so you’ll have to click HERE to listen to Breaking News in full. I’m not familiar with the more recent MJ music so I can’t really tell if the vocals sounds like his or not. The song deffo has a Michael Jackson feel to it but, well, you be the judge — is it really Michael Jackson singing or not? UPDATE: Listen to Breaking News in full, after the jump …
I will say I have much more confidence in Sony Music and their vocal experts than I do in the Jackson family and their leechy business partners. If Sony says that this song and the others to be released on the new album Michael next month, then I believe them. Do you?
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Wow, it really does sound like an impersonator. Michael Jackson had a horrible relationship with Sony, so I am a bit suspicious of them. After hearing that song for myself, I feel like their “vocal experts” are full of it.
it’s not mj. that’s all i can say. it doesn’t sound like mj. i don’t know why mj would sing a song like that. it doesn’t have the mj feel. mj has some kind of paranoia but not like this. i’ve listened to enough mj in my life.. to know that it’s not mj. even his most vocally enhanced song 2000 watts sounds more like him than this one. mj’s voice has more power.. sharp phrasing, lighter accents. its like lightning.. this one feels heavy. not really the vocal talent.. mj is known for. even the ooows and heeee heees sound odd. mj at his most tired also (during concerts) don’t sound this heavy, and will not give those sort of owwws and hee hees. i think this song is partially sampled, though. there might be some mj voice in there but not all.. completed by someone else.. and then very cleverly masked over. but as i said, even his most modified voice..(2000 watts) fans can up-pitch and know its him. this one nothing we can do, will tell us it is him. good song though. a bit dated kind of melody.. don’t think mj would have approved of releasing. and trent, when it comes to mj.. sony simply cannot be trusted. mj himself didn’t trust them. i mean just listen to lenny kravitz and mj’s work another day and then this is it.. you don’t even have to play this guessing game. his voice is distinct.
@hailey — Yeah, as I said I’m NO MJ expert so I’ll defer to your judgment. In the end, because MJ is no longer with us to speak for himself, I guess we can never ever be sure about the validity of anything that will be released from these unreleased tracks.
Hm… It sounds like it COULD be him, I’m no expert just on the voice analysis aspect. But this is the kind of silly self-indulgent Britney Spears/Lindsay Lohan “everybody wants a piece of me” song that I just can’t see MJ doing.
Yes, he had some bizarre views about himself and how the world saw him and treated him, but I don’t think he would actually write a song like this. It’s not his M.O. His big self-indulgent songs tended to be more about how his ideas could save the world — he goes for big themes, not “poor little me” themes.
So on THAT basis, rather than the voice itself, I would doubt the authenticity.
I am on the fence because I believe we are all expecting him to sound like his did on the History, Dangerous, Bad, Thriller etc albums but if you listen to Invincible you can hear how he changed up his style a bit, while keeping the high notes but adding more deep vocals. Furthermore the beats also sound close to Invincible. I have to disagree though that he wouldn’t write this song because this was in 2007 after the second trial and we all have to admit that NONE of US know what state of mind he was in. I believe, after all that turmoil and how the press basically lynched him everyday in the news, I would say its possible.
I would just like everyone to keep in mind that these songs were never meant to be released or finished for the public. They are mere demos that never made the cut for his numerous albums. I don’t expect these songs to be stellar, and since the unreleased tracks are demos I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought in a vocalist to finish the songs. As for the track, I love it and I do believe it to be authentic. (well at least part of it)
@Daniel — While you are right about the demos, I was under the impression that MJ had recorded at least an entire new album for release but either never got around to releasing it or was saving it for release later in life. Also, among any collection of demos, there are sure to be gems. I’m curious to hear what Sony will be releasing.
Not impressed.
You’d think someone as talented as Michael Jackson could come up with something that sounds better than a Justin Timberlake B-Side.
And they lyrical content is crap. I mean, more “I’m famous, i’m on the news all the time” is something i’d expect from the pussy cat dolls or something.
I gave it a listen and I wasn’t really impressed with it. I don’t know but it just seems to be missing something, it’s missing that pop “umph”. Oh well..
This is not MJ. I think it was most likely a very rough demo Mike was working on and they completed it with a different singer….The MAin vocals on this are rumored to be this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-uOMgVyXOU listen for urself….”Breaking News” sounds much more like him than like Mike