Michael Jackson's posthumous album is due out May 13 via Epic Records. Xscape features material from the singer's archive that has been "contemporized" by Epic Records label CEO and executive producer, L.A. Reid. It features eight track of Jackson's vocals set to new music from Timbaland and J-Roc, Rodney Jerkings, Stargate and John McClain.
In interview in Billboard explores the genesis of the project. Here are five things we learned:
1. L.A. Reid decided to take on the project after John Branca, the co-executor of the Jackson estate, told him he couldn't pursue a biopic on the late icon.
2. The originals featured on Xscape were recorded from 1983 to 1999, the period right after Thriller and before Invincible.
3. Five years after his death, Jackson still remains a money-making machine, having sold 12.8 million albums in the United States.
4. The goal of the project wasn't initially to sell records but to "reanimate Jackson's presence in today's pop universe." The producers wanted to make sure that the tracks on the effort could compete with the rest of the music in today's mainstream pop.
5. Jackson recorded more songs than he needed for each project. In choosing which tracks to include in the record, Reid and Sony A&R man John Doelp picked tracks that "Michael sang beginning to end multiple times, multiple tracks, because that was the only indication that I could find that spoke to Michael's love to the songs," Reid said.
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