Speculation began circulating the internet yesterday that rap legend Tupac Shakur would make a surprise posthumous appearance on the title track of the new Michael Jackson album ‘XSCAPE’.
After attending the exclusive VIP listening session hosted by Epic Records in NYC on April 8, VIBE Magazine Music Editor John Kennedy published an article detailing some fun facts he learned at the event. One of those facts was that L.A. Reid had revealed an alternate version of the song “Xscape” featuring a rap verse from Tupac.
Click here to check out Kennedy’s short but sweet VIBE article – one of the better pieces on ‘XSCAPE’ that I’ve read to date.
“On the second playback of Xscape, after many of the attendees were already retrieving phones and bags from coat check, L.A. Reid unearthed a version of the title track with vocals from Tupac Shakur’s Changes,” reports Kennedy in the article. “And believe it or not, it was epic.”
This sparked widespread discussion and debate online, particularly on Jackson fan sites, regarding the pros and cons of the posthumously-crafted collaboration.
I reached out to Mr. Kennedy today for clarification regarding the track, asking him whether or not he knew if there were plans to include it on the album.
“According to Epic’s PR, Pac’s verse will not appear on ‘Xscape’,” he told me. “No word on whether it’ll ever come out.”
Jeff Jampol, who serves as both manager of The Estate of Tupac Shakur, and consultant to The Estate of Michael Jackson, gave me the following statement:
“It was just an idea floated by a remixer during a meeting, I’m told. No one has approached the Tupac Shakur Estate about it, nor has any permission been granted. So I’d say it’s a nonissue.”
Damien Shields is the author of the book Xscape Origins: The Songs & Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind about Michael Jackson’s artistry and creative process. Click here to order your copy today - also available via Amazon, Kindle, iBooks, and Google Play. Follow Damien on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date with Michael Jackson-related news.
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Hi Damien!
First of all, thank you for all your hard wokr and dedication to MJ and this “new” album
I’d like to ask you, When you talked to Mr. Kennedy, he told you that the version of Xscape (song) with 2pac will not feature in the Album?? or he actually was talking about both Album and Single?
I’m asking this because MAYBE he was talking only about the album’s 8th track, but the 2pac version could appear as a remix in the single
I can dream.. can’t I? haha
Cheers!
I want to hear this so much!!
I was so excited to read that last night, well, I hope it’ll be released sometime soon……..
I have always been a major 2Pac fan. And I will be the first to tell you, how they remix his music can be somewhat awful because not only does it change the original meaning or essence of the song but it often sometimes puts 2Pac with other artist he never worked with. In this case, I don’t think there would be a problem with Michael Jackson. 2Pac sampled Michael Jackson several times and they were suppose to work together on the original chorus of Thug/Niggaz Nature which is a play on Human Nature.
I would love to hear this version even though it is a already released 2Pac verse. However, I fully understand if Michael Jackson fans are against this. I realize that original content is important thing to fans. I myself, have been waiting almost two decades to see the original songs released.
Ew..No thanks. And not because I’m not a fan of Pac’s, I just don’t think it’s a good collaboration. Michael worked with BIG, but I’ve never heard of him expressing any interest in recording with 2pac. Not only that, but I think part of the reason Michael was so fond of BIG was because he always had great composure, you never saw BIG get completely disrespectful or be all loud with the media and all that, he was a laid back guy. So they somehow meshed well. Tupac and Michael though? I just don’t see that being anything but volatile. Not violent, but I just see Michael saying to his team during one of Pac’s in-studio rants while accompanied by Suge Knight, “Get me out of here and fast”. I just don’t believe personally that Michael was a fan of the whole Death Row movement that was going on at the time. I think in a sense Michael was fascinated by the street life, he loved the authenticity of it, as proven by Beat It and TWYMMF video shoots, which is why he admired BIG so much, but Tupacwas just completely over the top at times.
Now, along with that, anybody have any credible source of Michael collabing with Tupac for Thugz Nature? I just DO NOT see Michael re-recording his chorus from Human Nature on another persons song and simply exchanging the word “human” with “thug”…Just don’t see him signing off on that.
I have a feeling that this will be released as part of the ‘Xscape’ single – the song serves at title track for the album, so it will probably be released as a single. It will probably have the contemporary version featured on the album, Michael Jackson’s original version, and this version featuring Tupac
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