After years of controversy, the estate of Michael Jackson recently decided to remove three controversial songs from the posthumously released Michael album on streaming services. The three songs in question, “Monster” (featuring 50 Cent), “Breaking News,” and “Keep Your Head Up,” also known as the “Cascio” tracks, were songs that any long-time Michael Jackson fan would notice were not Jackson’s vocals. In addition to fans, several members of the Jackson family have also expressed they believe Jackson does not sing the songs. Frank Cascio, a long-time friend of Jackson, who even penned a book titled, My Friend Michael, has maintained Jackson recorded the songs in question in his New Jersey music studio during the later years of his life. The three songs in question marred the first posthumously released Michael Jackson album, released in 2010, which was headlined by an unreleased 2008 penned duet with Akon, “Hold My Hand.” Including these songs, not sung by Jackson himself, showcases a blatant mishandling and generally disregard by Michael Jackson’s estate to uphold his legacy accurately.
According to Jackson’s estate, the tracks were removed due to the “distraction “they have caused; rather, they wanted people to focus on Jackson’s extensive and iconic catalog. The estate cleverly neither confirmed nor denied whether the tracks are authentic or not, as they’re in the midst of a lawsuit over the songs. A blunder of this proportion ushers another discussion over the ethics of posthumous releases, specifically in music, whether they’re genuinely ethical releases or extreme examples of the capitalistic nature of the music industry. In the music industry, we’ve repeatedly seen that an artist’s brand and image generate money without consent, even when they are no longer with us. All their lifelong material has their personal touch, leaving it to be commodified for profit.
When it comes to an artist such as Michael Jackson, handling all aspects of his legacy in life and death is/was complex. As Jackson was a classic perfectionist, releasing numerous unfinished materials can be considered disrespectful to his artistry and legacy. Does what the artist wanted and the integrity matter or is the drive of the dollar the ultimate goal? Because when we start venturing into the territory of fake vocals, it gives the impression that the image and allusion of Michael Jackson, or any posthumous for that matter, is more important than the artist’s quality. Now, if we’re talking about material that the artist had planned to release and they experience an untimely passing, such as Notorious B.I.G.’s murder just two weeks before the eerily ironic album Life After Death, that is understandable.
In recent years, we’ve seen even more elaborate examples of dead artists still being profited after their death, that being the use of holograms. One example of successful use of such technology on a grand scale would be the Tupac hologram of Coachella 2012, something hip-hop fanatics and casual music lovers were mesmerized by. Compared to releasing material, the hologram experience is the closest many can get to “resurrecting” an artist and getting that feeling of experiencing them live. This “Ghost performance” continued with Jackson himself, where a hologram performed posthumous material at the 2014 Billboard music awards. The success of these “ghost performances” has culminated in a recently successful Whitney Houston Las Vegas residency, where yes, a hologram of the iconic singer mesmerized audiences by “singing” her greatest hits.
In a world where the lines of reality continue to be blurred, we risk turning the legacy of our iconic artist into eerie cash grabs. Michael Jackson’s estate attempted to do such by using vocals not sung by him; to fans’ credit, they pushed back vehemently. At the same time, with technology advancing and the demand for nostalgia rising, we will continue to see more artists, black artists, be “risen” from the dead, while some fans are mesmerized. It will only be more polarizing as the ethics are made known. We can only hope these artists’ musical legacies and the quality they stood for are not forgotten in vain.
