‘Xscape’ keeps Michael Jackson’s voice ‘pure and raw’
Even five years after his death, there is no escaping Michael Jackson. The latest evidence, Xscape, arrives May 13 with eight “contemporized” castoffs the pop superstar recorded from 1983 to 1999.
The project, completed at warp speed compared with the glacial pace Jackson kept during his career, was hatched in September when Epic Records chief Antonio “L.A.” Reid met with Jackson estate co-executor John Branca.
Reid, who was eager to take on a meaty challenge after two seasons on The X Factor, proposed a vault search for material that could be modernized without violating Jackson’s artistic identity. He didn’t want scraps.
