No categories

R. Kelly Hoping To Finish Michael Jackson’s Last Album

rkelly jh R. Kelly Hoping To Finish Michael Jacksons Last Album

R&B star R. Kelly has plans to finish the album Michael Jackson was supposedly working on before his death in June. In an interview with Blackvoices.com, Kelly said that he and the King of Pop had been speaking not long before Jackson’s death about helping complete the album.

It was Kelly who penned one of Jackson’s biggest hits, the ballad “You Are Not Alone.” The platinum-selling single was the first record to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 when it debuted in 1995.

“I recorded five joints for Michael Jackson,” Kelly said.

“This studio here is where Michael recorded. And we had been talking on the phone about his new album, and I was going to finish what Michael was doing at the time. We’re going to get it out though. Michael liked the way I would try to sing the songs just like him.”

Now, Kelly does have a new album, Untitled, set for release on Oct. 13, so much of this Michael Jackson business might be fuel for the publicity fire. That’s not to say Kelly isn’t absolutely sincere about his intentions to complete the last works of Michael Jackson, but (music) business is (music) business.

With awards and record sales and collaborations with many of the biggest names in the ‘biz clearly Kelly is just the kind of talent many Michael Jackson fans would want crafting what remains of his unfinished album.

But that certainly does not mean he is just going to waltz right into a studio and start doing his ‘thing.’

If recent history has proven anything, not even a song lyric is going to slip by the lawyers, family members and estate handlers currently managing the legacy and corresponding business opportunity that is Michael Jackson post-death.

And definitely an argument can be made that Kelly is not the person best suited to finish Jackson’s final project. No denying he has the credentials, but ultimately the team with the rights to the incomplete music will decide who gets to add his or her talents to what Jackson left behind. Perhaps more than one musician/producer will get a shot. And hey, we’re not so sure what Jackson left behind was Off the Wall part 2, so it’s hard to know if even the most talented music people get involved that the last Jackson album will be something special.

That’s probably not the number one issue in the big picture, but the point remains.

R. Kelly might believe in his heart that Jackson would have wanted him to steer his last album to completion, but oh how a written statement from Jackson would have helped to speed up the process for Kelly to finish the job.

What do you think about the possibility of R. Kelly finishing Michael Jackson’s last album?