Michael Jackson’s ‘Xscape’ Announced: Posthumous Album Out In May

Carl Williott | March 31, 2014 7:09 am

Epic Records today (March 31) announced a new posthumous Michael Jackson album called Xscape. The collection features eight previously unreleased tracks with updated production and is out May 13, and it was executive produced by Epic Chairman and C.E.O. L.A. Reid, who was given unlimited access to Jackson’s recording archive from the Jackson estate.

From there, Reid selected a final list of unheard tracks, and handed them over to producers to clean them up and give them modern tweaks — “contemporizing,” as Reid calls it. Timbaland served as the album’s lead producer, with additional production from Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon and John McClain. The title track was both written and produced by Jackson and Jerkins, and thus it’s the sole track on the album that was retooled by its original producer. And if you want to hear how MJ originally envisioned the tracks, the deluxe edition includes the original sourced recordings.

There’s no tracklist yet (so it’s unclear if “Slave To The Rhythm” made the final cut), but you can see a high-res version of the album cover below. 

michael jackson xscape large
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