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SAT
DEC 29th 2007
USHER
AND MJ
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R&B superstar Usher Raymond recently
spoke up about his new role as a husband and father
as well as his next album, which may feature a special
guest appearance from the "King of Pop"
himself, Michael Jackson.
In a recent interview with the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution Usher revealed his plans to release
a new album by Spring of 2008.
"I've been diligently working on
creating a masterpiece," the singer said. "It's
going to be out first or maybe the second quarter.
And there will be a video and single out at the top
of the year."
So far Usher is planning to drop "Love
In The Club," which was produced by Polow Da
Don, as the album's lead single. Fans may also be
treated to a collaboration between Usher, Michael
Jackson and T-Pain - however the details are still
being worked out.
"It's been created, but it's not
recorded," Usher admitted. "As long as Michael
is open to it, hey, anything goes!"
A newlywed father, Page Six reports
previously blamed album delays on Usher's new wife,
Tameka Foster-Raymond. The couple tied the knot this
August and welcomed the birth of their first child
together, son Usher Raymond V, in November.
"I'm really like super dad,"
Raymond told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I
really cook for the family. ... Now I basically do
chicken and broccoli and steamed vegetables, because
I'm on this diet. But believe me, I can fry some chicken
too . . . I really clean up. I walk the dog, myself.
I burp the baby. I change the diapers. I'm super dad.
And it's only begun!"
Usher and his wife have yet to publicly
release any photos of the child, however his new role
as a father has also encouraged a budding photography
hobby.
"I've become an instant photographer,"
Usher said. "Developing them and everything."
An official release date for Usher's
upcoming as-yet-untitled project has not been released.
SOURCE: http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/13318
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FRI
21 DEC 2007
Beat
It 2008 ft Fergie
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Press Release:
THE DUTCHESS MEETS THE KING OF POP: FERGIE JOINS
THE THRILLER 25 PARTY
WITH “BEAT IT 2008,” A NEW REMIX OF
CLASSIC MICHAEL JACKSON TRACK PRODUCED & MIXED
BY will.i.am
25th Anniversary Edition Of Michael Jackson’s
Thriller — The World’s Biggest Selling
Album Of All Time — Premieres New Remixes
By Fergie, will.i.am, Akon & Kanye West Thriller
- 25th Anniversary Edition Available Tuesday, February
12, 2008
Pop culture superstar Fergie has joined an already
stellar line-up of guest artists for the 25th anniversary
edition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the
world’s biggest selling album of all time.
Alongside new remixes of classic Jackson tracks
by musical contemporaries Kanye West, will.i.am.
and Akon, Fergie has added her signature vocals
to a new version of “Beat It” entitled
“Beat It 2008,” produced and mixed by
her fellow Black Eyed Pea will.i.am.
Epic/Legacy Recordings proudly celebrates the 25th
anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller
with a newly expanded deluxe edition of the phenomenal
record-breaking pop culture touchstone, available
in the U.S. on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. The album
will be available worldwide the week of February
11, 2008.
Sony BMG
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TUES
DEC 18th 2007
MJ
TAPED
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Ignore the tape on Michael's face,
it seems he could be taking the MICHAEL out of the
press with this picture.
Michael was spotted shopping with
his kids in Vagas at the Barnes and Noble book store.
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DEC
14th 2007
THRILLER
25
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This news come from
www.mjwn.com
MJWN have attended an exclusive hearing of three
songs from Michael’s forthcoming 25th Anniversary
Edition of Thriller.
The three tracks played at Sony BMG’s headquarters
in London were ‘The Girl Is Mine’ performed
by Michael and Will.I.Am, ‘Wanna Be Startin’
Somethin’’ performed by Akon and the un-released
track ‘For All Time’. Below is a review
of what we heard and some never before released details.
THE SINGLE:
‘The Girl Is Mine’ - We can exclusively
reveal that ‘The Girl Is Mine’ will be
released as a digital single on January 14th, followed
two weeks later on January 28th by a three track CD
version.
The song, credited as a remix by Michael Jackson
and Will.I.Am, has a heavy beat and Paul McCartney’s
vocals from the original song have been removed. New
unheard vocals from Michael also appear at the end
of the song. The song is just over three minutes in
length. It’s absolutely FANTASTIC and could
easily be a number one single. Probably the best re-mix
to be given to a Michael song.
‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’’
– Akon has given this classic song a new modern
touch. It’s predominately a cover (rather than
remix) with Michael providing backing vocals and one
verse.
‘For All Time’ – This is a wonderful
ballad with loads of emotion driving through it. Many
know that it has unfortunately been leaked in the
past. For those who have heard this version around
the Internet, this is the same version but re-mastered
to sound brilliant as well as featuring a bridge in
the song that has previously not been heard. The song
is just over four minutes in length.
THE ALBUMS:
The album will be released in four different ways:
Classic CD Edition:
This will be an audio CD featuring the tracklist as
per the Press Release. It will have a cardboard slip
on case with the traditional ‘Thriller’
picture. The only twist will be that it is a holographic
cover.
Zombie CD Edition:
The content is identical to the Classic Edition, but
has the famous picture of Michael with the zombies
around him as the slip on case display. This will
also be a holographic cover.
Deluxe Limited Edition:
This comes as a hardbound book, containing the same
CD and DVD as above. However it will also come with
a booklet containing more photos and extra content.
This will be limited to only 20,000 copies.
12” Vinyl:
The album will be released as a gatefold double LP.
A must have for all collectors!
PROMOTION:
As well as planned posters and radio advertising,
the album will get a thirty second TV advert; the
first time ‘Thriller’ has ever been advertised
on TV. The advertisements are due to start on February
11th.
The single ‘The Girl Is Mine’ will get
its first radio airplay on the same day as the digital
release, January 14th.
The Classic and Zombie CD Editions, with an audio
CD and DVD, will be printed up to near the end of
2008. They then plan to revert to just the audio version
of the CD being sold.
Source: MJWN
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THURS
DEC 13th 2007
Michael
Ordered to Put Up or Pay Up
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A Los Angeles Superior Court judge
on Wednesday issued a court order giving the reclusive
entertainer 25 days to turn over financial information
to a law firm that previously won a $256,000 judgment
against him in July.
Should Jackson balk at turning over
the records requested by the firm of Ayscough &
Marar, he instead has the option of making good
on his unpaid legal fees.
Jackson engaged the firm during his
2005 child-molestation trial to perform such tasks
as obtaining court orders to block information from
being publicly released and delaying discovery in
several civil cases.
The firm also represented him in a
lawsuit brought by former business associate Marc
Schaffel, who ultimately won a $900,000 judgment
against Jackson.
In October, Ayscough & Marar won
a second judgment against the singer, ordering him
to cover the $175,000 in attorneys' fees the firm
spent in hiring outside lawyers in the original
case.
Jackson is currently appealing the
$175,000 ruling, meaning the firm can only pursue
the $256,000 award for now.
Judge James C. Chalfant said Wednesday
Jackson had agreed to turn over the records requested
by Ayscough & Marar in October but had yet to
comply.
"While the court has no reason
to doubt the sincerity of the representations of
his attorneys, the fact of the matter is that under
law, Jackson must provide further responses to the
[law firm's] request, particularly since he agreed
to do so through the meet-and-confer process,"
Chalfant stated in his order.
Jackson's legal team has said the
funds he plans to use to settle his debt with the
law firm have been tied up, in part because he has
not yet completed a planned refinancing of his Neverland
Ranch.
The singer's spokesperson, Raymone
K. Bain, denied reports last month that Jackson
had defaulted on a $23 million loan and was in danger
of losing the property.
"Contrary to published reports,
Mr. Jackson was never in default of the loan,"
Bain said, adding that the 49-year-old Moonwalker
was "in the final stages of [a] refinance."
On Wednesday, Jackson's attorney,
Marshall L. Brubacher, told the judge his client,
who is reportedly mulling a Jackson 5 reunion tour,
could come up with the funds within nine days.
Sorting through Jackson's financial
records for the information requested by Ayscough
& Marar, on the other hand, could take longer
than the 25 days allotted by the court, Brubacher
said.
"I went to Neverland last week,
and it's a mammoth amount of work, because there
are 30,000 boxes of financial documents," Brubacher
said. "It's going to take a tremendous amount
of time."
However, if Jackson wants to avoid
making good on the payment to Ayscough & Marar,
turning over the records is his only option.
Michael McCarthy, a lawyer for Ayscough
& Marar, dismissed Brubacher's description of
Jackson's so-calling filing system.
"Thirty-thousand boxes, that's
not even credible," McCarthy said.
Apparently, he has yet to learn that
when it comes to Jackson, pretty much anything is
possible.
SOURE : YAHOO NEWS
AVAILABLE TO BUY FROM -
http://www.mjjshop.com/shop/
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SAT
DEC 01st 2007
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY THRILLER
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MJONE : The following article has been found on
the net.
Michael Jackson: Remember The Time
Posted Fri. Nov 30, 8:33 PM ET by Billy Johnson,
Jr. in Hip-Hop Media Training
You can't blame kids for just wanting to download
singles for .99 as opposed to buying an entire album.
Why bother? They really don't need the other 16
tracks on the CD. They are just filler anyway.
I'm not sure who is at most fault--the artist,
label or media--but this whole notion that it is
acceptable to deliver an album that is only digestible
in small dosages is annoying. Considering the slump
in record sales in recent years, it is apparent
that the buying public has had enough.
This wasn't the case 25 years ago when Michael
Jackson released his classic Thriller album. I'm
looking at the track listing and the notes about
the performance of each single, and it is actually
pretty shocking when compared to contemporary records.
Thiller had just nine songs on it. Of those nine
songs, seven reached the top 10. If you break down
those seven top 10 tracks, five entered the top
five, two of which even hit number one. Talk about
getting your money's worth. Soulja Boy has been
Yahoo! Music's most searched artist for more than
two months, but doesn't the Superman craze stop
with "Crank That"?
I am not comparing the artistry of Michael to that
of Soulja Boy. I'm just making the point that there
is a major difference between the music crazes that
consumed 13-year-olds today and 25 years ago. I
should know. I was in the 8th grade when Thriller
came out. The only song I hated on the album was
"Billie Jean" and that's solely because
my name is Billy, and all the kids thought it was
so funny to call me Billie Jean.
Even as a young teen it was easy to appreciate
Mike's good music. For me, it was the pureness in
his voice when he sang ballads like "She's
Outta My Life" from the Off The Wall album
or the way he attacked each syllable on "Beat
It." Add to that the production genius of Quincy
Jones and all the elements of performance that Mike
brings to the table and it was revolutionary. 25
years later it is still relevant.
Eighteen year-old Chris Brown can impress his fans
by incorporating a tribute to Mike during his show
while more bits of Mike's work can be found in offerings
from everyone from Usher to Ne-Yo to Fallout Boy
(see Mike influences video show).
A couple more young Mike fans will be paying their
respects in an even bigger way. Kanye West, will.i.am,
and Akon contribute remixes to Thriller - 25th Anniversary
Edition due out in February.
Will.i.am remixes "The Girl Is Mine 2008,"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," and "Wanna
Be Startin' Somethin'," the latter also features
Akon. Kanye provides "Billie Jean 2008."
These are packaged along with the original track
listing, a few previously unreleased songs and a
DVD featuring three videos and the classic Motown
25: Yesterday, Today And Forever performance of
"Billie Jean" where Michael introduced
the Moon Walk.
It's crazy to think that a person with such a legacy
has descended from the uncontested self-proclaimed
King Of Pop to that of the King Of The Tabloids
for his controversial plastic surgeries and affection
for kids.
After the child molestation trial in 2005, I seriously
wondered how his catalog would fare after he endured
such turbulent media frenzy. Water cooler talk about
the trial had not been in Mike's favor. I got my
answer when attending my wife's company's holiday
party that year.
While socializing and eating hors d'oeuvres, the
deejay started the party, kicking things off with
Michael's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."
I felt a lump in my throat. I thought, Everyone
is sick of Mike right now. No one wants to give
him a second thought. The deejay needs to change
the song.
But I was wrong. People put down their drinks and
packed the dance floor within minutes. It was like
it was 1979 all over again.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/hiphopmediatraining/11479/michael-jackson-remember-the-time
