Randy Jackson has gone public over the dispute about Michael Jackson's new album, joining Michael's mother and children in allegations that it contains songs sung by someone else. "Sony has 250 million reasons to convince the public that it is [Michael's] voice," Michael's youngest brother wrote. "Some of the songs are him, and some aren't. I would be [sic] my life on that."
In a series of around 50 tweets, Randy also argued that executors John Branca and John McClain had wedged themselves between the Jackson family and Michael's musical legacy. Not only have armed guards allegedly been "involved" since Michael's death, Randy claims, but family members were barred from the recording studio during work on the new album. "The family and the executors of the estate … are not on the same page," Randy wrote. "We don't see eye to eye."
According to Randy, although Branca and McClain were both invited to Michael's burial, they "didn't show up". "Maybe," he suggested, "they were too busy getting deals done." But Randy even calls the executors' deal-making into question. This March, the estate signed a $250m (£164m), 10-album contract with Sony. "When I heard about the Sony deal, it made me sick," Randy wrote. "After [it] was inked, McClain ... [started] calling all over the place, looking for music with my brother's voice." Why would McClain be searching for material even after the deal was signed, Randy asked. "If they don't even have enough product for one album how are they going to make 10 albums?"
When engineer Teddy Riley finally played him some of the tracks, "I immediately said it wasn't his voice," Randy recalled. This puts Michael's little brother in the same camp as Katherine Jackson and Michael's own children, who have complained about the possible involvement of a Michael soundalike. "I think they all know now it is not him," Randy said. But the King of Pop's estate and record label have pushed back hard against such claims, even issuing statements from "forensic musicologists". These experts "work for pay", Randy insisted. "I don't know what they heard."
Reports suggest John McClain has said some of the tracks on the album contain vocals that are not Michael Jackson's, while other reports suggest it was McClain and Branca who asked for forensic music experts to examine material from the new album.
Sony previously addressed the claims by saying they had "complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals on the new album are his own".
But Randy remains unconvinced. "My brother isn't here, and all these people are more concerned about making money off his death," he said. "This story has not ended."
