Nearly 35 years after their original recording dates, brand-new unreleased music byMichael Jacksonhas been discovered on cassette tapes. Jackson was known to be a very prolific artist, something that’s evidenced by the sheer volume of unreleased music that continues to come to the surface even long after his passing in 2009. Still, most of these songs were those that fans were either already aware of, and that the Jackson Estate has either discussed or even polished up to release to the public.
The latter has happened on several occasions, most notably in the form of Jackson’s 2014 posthumous albumXscape. The Jackson Estate released both remixed versions by producers such as Timbaland and the original versions in a collection for fans to enjoy, though it’s since been rated as controversial by Jackson’s fans. Most recently, the Jackson Estate formally added some of Jackson’s unreleased songs from the making ofThrillerto celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary. Now, an impressive array of unreleased Jackson songs has appeared yet again.
New Michael Jackson Songs Have Been Found
The Recordings Are From The Dangerous Album Sessions
As reported byTHR, a man by the name of Gregg Musgrove came upon a collection of cassettes and DAT tapes that contain unreleased Jackson songs, which were recorded between the years of 1989 and 1991 - when Jackson was working on hisDangerousalbum.There are 12 completed songs included in total, which could compose a short album of their own. The tapes were found in a storage unit in the San Fernando Valley, as the unit had once belonged to the music producer Bryan Loren, with whom Jackson had presumably recorded those tapes.
Musgrove even went on to say that he approached fan sites to see which of the songs were known and which weren’t, and he was shocked to discover that some fans - even the biggest fans - had no idea about some of the names on the list. While some of the fans may have known the titles of other songs or heard small leaks over the years,these tapes still include the full versions of these songs that no one has heard before. This is an absolutely remarkable discovery, especially so long after Jackson’s untimely death.
Every Unreleased Michael Jackson Song That Was Just Discovered
12 Completed Songs In Total, But Also Some Bonus Snippets
Among the 12 complete unreleased songs is a surprising variation from track-to-track.“She Got It”, “Work That Body”, and “Serious Effect” are all well-known tracks amongst fans, with many having heard those leaks over the years, but there are plenty of brand-new names as well. Below is the full list of songs discovered on these tapes, in addition to some incomplete creations as well.
Every Unreleased Michael Jackson Song on the San Fernando Valley Tapes
“Son of Thriller”
“Truth on Youth”
No (chorus only)
“Serious Effect”
Yes
Musgrove has provided a few details on some of these songs, citing that the experience of listening to him gave him “goosebumps” at the thought of no one else having heard it before. He cited that “Don’t Believe It” seemed to be addressed to the public, particularly the media and tabloids, which was a popular topic for Jackson at that time - when he was also penning songs such as “Why You Wanna Trip on Me” and, a few years later, “Tabloid Junkie.” As for “Seven Digits”, this presumably darker track refers to body identifications in a morgue.
One New Song Features 1 Thing Michael Jackson Never Did
Jackson Always Dipped Into New Genres
There’s one new song, however, that stands apart from the others, particularly because it features Jackson doing something he never truly did in an officially released song: rapping.On the track “Truth on Youth”, Jackson is heard rapping with LL Cool J, the latter of whom had confirmed that he had worked with Jackson before on music. While Jackson had certainly dipped his toe into the rap genre in creative ways on albums such asHIStory,Blood on the Dance Floor, andInvincible, he never fully committed to performing a rap performance.
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Apparently, that is not the case on this unreleased track. Based on the title alone, it’s easy to imagine someone like Jackson rapping about the state of youth at that time, as he was very passionate about acknowledging current issues - particularly those that concerned children and their childhoods, given he never really had one of his own. He would continue to sing about topics such as this on future tracks such asInvincible’s “The Lost Children.” Of course,it’s very Jackson-like to have attempted to do so with this topic in a rap song, to appeal more to the youth.
Why The Unreleased Michael Jackson Songs Will Never Be Released
Jackson’s Estate Is Strict About What Comes Out & What Doesn’t
Unfortunately, it’s very unlikely that these Jackson songs will ever be released, something that has much to do with Jackson’s Estate. The Estate is well-known for keeping Jackson’s unreleased songs locked tightly within their own vault, only saving them for very special occasions - as seen withXscape,Bad 25, andThriller 40.It could be that, for an upcoming milestone anniversary ofDangerous, the Estate chooses to release some of these songs to celebrate, but for now, the public won’t get to hear these tracks.
Seeing as Jackson never authorized these to be released while he was still alive, and made the executive decision not to include these songs on his original record, it stands to reason that he would forever intend for them to remain private.
Oddly enough, Musgrove even alerted the Estate to the existence of these tapes, but refused to buy them, all the while reminding Musgrove of the copyright they still owned for the music on the tapes. This is becausethe Estate confirmed that they had all the original master recordings in the aforementioned vault. The Estate, however, seems quite certain that these songs are to remain in their vault for the long haul, even if hope still remains that fans may get to hear all these songs one day.
It’s perhaps for the best that these songs remain in Jackson’s vault, continuing an important conversation about unreleased music created by late artists. Seeing as Jackson never authorized these to be released while he was still alive, and made the executive decision not to include these songs on his original record, it stands to reason that he would forever intend for them to remain private. At the same time, however, fans are eager for new material fromMichael Jackson, though they may still have to wait a while longer.
