A new Michael Jackson track has appeared online. Actually, it is a track by what I assume is a rapper by the name Tempamental, and features Michael Jackson and Pras (of The Fugees). The title is either “No Friend of Mine” or “Gangsta”, depending on who you want to believe. I like the former more.
Michael is said to be working on a new album to be released by the end of this year, so could this track give some idea about the direction that he is taking? I certainly hope not, as it sounds pretty much like something from his previous album Invincible, which I wasn’t too keen on.
The track has of course already leaked out on mp3, and can be downloaded from the usual places. You can apparently even catch it on some radio stations. Alternatively, you can go and see a fan-made video for the song at YouTube, or even head to Tempamental’s MySpace page, but I would rather you don’t as I truly hate MySpace for it is probably the ugliest and least navigable web community that there has ever been.
They say that “No Friend of Mine” was played over 100,000 times from Tempamental’s MySpace during the first five days that it was there. Clearly then, even when considering repeated listeners, Michael Jackson still generates quite some interest. Heck, even I am typing this now while what I should really be doing is watching Barcelona vs. Liverpool.
There are reports that Michael Jackson will make another “come-back” (to follow his “comebacks” in 1987, 1991, 1995 and 2001) in this year’s World Music Awards on November 15th. Even more interestingly, he will apparently be giving a live stage version of his “Thriller” music video. I can’t wait for the Youtube video. 
The top 10 of the Spanish singles chart this week (see here, for example) looks rather interesting:
- “Bad” Michael Jackson
- “Suffer well” Depeche Mode
- “Beat it” Michael Jackson
- “Sueños de ayer” Sonblue
- “Billie Jean” Michael Jackson
- “Thriller” Michael Jackson
- “Rock with you” Michael Jackson
- “Un Blodymary” Las Ketchup
- “Don’t stop ’til you get enough” Michael Jackson
- “La mitad de nuestras vidas” La Buena Vida
The Jackson singles are from Sony’s current Visionary releases, which explains their appearance on the chart. These singles have actually been charting around Europe, but Spaniards seem to like the King of Pop more than anyone else.
If you want my opinion, the Visionary box set is actually a rather pointless release in that if they would really have wanted to make it properly, they would have included all the remixes and alternative versions to each song. To have just a b-side or two doesn’t really make me want to buy the stuff, whether or not the new pressing is a ground-breaking dual-disk that includes the video. And I’m a fan (if you haven’t figured it out yet).
