The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

New Album or Just New Controversy?

It wouldn’t be controversy if none other than Michael Jackson was involved. It has been 18 months since the legendary King of Pop died.

Since then, there has been a movie concert entitled “This Is It,” a Cirque de Soleil show commemorating Jackson’s famous moves and songs, and a new Wii game, “Michael Jackson: The Experience” where fans can dance like the singer with his iconic moves.

But this year, Jackson fans will get to hear the legendary singer once again with brand new music. Sony Music and the Estate of Michael Jackson have cosigned a deal for a whopping $250 million to release posthumous albums of prerecorded music. One of the biggest recording contracts in music history, the album was co-produced by longtime Jackson friend, Eddie Cascio, and it includes some tracks from different eras of Jackson’s career.

On Nov. 8, Michael Jackson.com announced a world premiere of a brand new song entitled “Breaking News,” originally recorded in New Jersey in 2007. When streamed on the site, there were immediate reactions. Even Jackson’s family had something to say, including his brother, who responded to the track on his Twitter account.

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“I heard the music and I immediately said it wasn’t his voice …  Some of the songs are him, and some aren’t. I would [bet] my life on that,” the late singer’s brother Randy Jackson wrote.

The attorney of the Estate of Michael Jackson released a statement about the circulating issues. They have backed up the fact that it is his voice and confirmed it by letting some of Jackson’s former producers who worked with him on past albums, engineers, and two of the best known forensic musicologists listen to the music.

However, even with these expert claims, some still do not think a new album is a tribute to his legacy. Stated on Music Mix.com, Black Eyed Peas front-man Will.i.am said that the new CD is disrespectful.

“Whoever put it out and is profiting off of it, I want to see how cold they are … He just wasn’t any ordinary artist. He was a hands-on person. To me it’s disrespectful. There’s no honoring,” said Will.i.am.

But as always, just as Jackson said, it’s all about the fans, and fans will ultimately make their decision about the new album. The first single of the new LP, “Hold my Hand” is a slow aunthenic song about grasping on to each other in hard times. “Hollywood Tonight” is an upbeat and fast-paced track, that is reminiscent of some of Jackson’s old work. Rapper 50 Cent also lends a hand to another song, “Monster,” which he calls the 2010 version of “Thriller.”

The album  “MICHAEL” can be be bought now on the official site and is also available on iTunes and stores.

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Josh Benjamin, Staff Writer
Josh Benjamin is a sophomore at Walter Johnson High School. Besides doing hours and hours of homework and studying for tests after school, Josh enjoys playing guitar and piano. He hopes to start another instrument soon.  He also loves going on Facebook for hours on end.  He also wants to start a new sport this spring season. For the school newspaper, The Pitch, Josh has written for the online site and the print newspaper as well. He has written about upcoming HBO shows as well as having done interviews with students at WJ.  In addition, he has written about the Redskins on the online site. His hopes are to first, get into college, second, work hard in college and third, get a great job. His dreams for the future are (hopefully) to do something in the music industry, from helping record music, to learning how songs are produced.
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