Ne-Yo has revealed that six to eight never-before-heard Michael Jackson songs he collaborated on could finally be released, with a suggestion that Jaafar Jackson—the nephew who plays Michael in the hit biopic Michael—record them.
The songs were intended for a comeback album in 2008, but Jackson passed away before they were officially recorded. Ne-Yo stated, 'They are sitting in my archive, waiting for me to figure out what the hell I'm gonna do with them. I've been given some really good ideas.'
Jaafar Jackson Suggested as Performer
One idea involves Jaafar Jackson, who portrayed his late uncle in the record-breaking biographical film. Ne-Yo explained, 'Somebody just recently said - 'cause Jaafar, who played Mike in the movie, he's an artist - they were like, 'Why don't you give them to him?' And I'm like, 'That's not a bad idea, either'.' He also mentioned a charity possibility.
However, Ne-Yo faces a dilemma: the tracks feature his own vocals, not Jackson's. 'No, no, no, it's still my vocals. Still my vocals. But...it doesn't feel right for me to put them out as mine. Because I wrote them for him. Doesn't necessarily feel right for me to give them to anybody else, because I wrote them for him. So that's where the dilemma sits.'
Other Ideas and Origin
Ne-Yo also considered giving the songs to Janet Jackson, saying, 'Like, give them to Janet? She's still doing stuff. Like, that's not a bad idea, either, but in the moment, all of these ideas that aren't bad ideas, the second I think, 'okay, I'm gonna do, something it just feels wrong'.'
The songs were originally intended for an album produced by will.i.am, with recording planned after Jackson's This Is It tour. Ne-Yo recalled, 'The plan was to record these songs right after that This Is It tour. You know, we started working on them right before that, uh, right before rehearsals for that happened. And then, of course, his untimely passing, we didn't get a chance to actually cut them.'
Jackson co-wrote the songs with Ne-Yo, who described the process: 'He wrote them with me, basically. So we met up. We talked about music, we talked about the music that he wanted to record. And from that process, I would go in the studio, write something, send it to him. He would call me and go, I really like the second verse, 'I feel like the hook could be a little stronger. You know what, maybe take the verses in reverse them. I think if the second verse was the first version', blah, blah, blah, blah, right?'
For now, the songs remain in Ne-Yo's archive. 'So, they're sitting in the archive, and every now and then, I pull them up, and I listen to them, and I think about, you know, what, what could have been and should have been. And then I put them away and just keep rocking with life.'
