Culture

New Album 'Xscape' Will Feature Unheard Music from Michael Jackson

Nearly five years after his death, the world is getting previously unreleased music from Michael Jackson. Xscape will hit stores May 13 and feature eight previously unreleased tracks. 

By Ben Cosman
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Nearly five years after his death, the world is getting previously new music from Michael Jackson. Xscape will hit stores May 13 and feature eight previously unreleased tracks.

Associated Press

The album announcement came this morning from the late Jackson's official Twitter account:

And the official website had a full description:

After mining by the Estate of Jackson’s archives, [Epic Records CEO L.A.] Reid was granted unlimited access to the treasures spanning four decades of material on which Jackson had completed his vocals. Reid then teamed up top producers to “contemporize” the songs while retaining Jackson’s essence and integrity, creating the best music you’ve never heard.

Timbaland led production, working with Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, J-Roc, and John McClain. Epic records will release the new album in an agreement with Jackson's estate.

This isn't the first batch of unreleased recordings that has come from Jackson posthumously (that would be the soundtrack for 2009's This Is It, which featured six previously unreleased tracks), but it's the largest collection so far.

Xscape goes on pre-sale tomorrow April 1, so hopefully this isn't some dastardly prank.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.