On the ninth anniversary of his passing wanted to celebrate Michael Jackson’s music through the collaborations he conducted with prominent hip-hop artists. He made his debut with a hip-hop artist on 1991’s Dangerous album. He would have other hip-hop collaborations on the albums HIStory and Invincible that followed. Wanted to highlight some of the tracks.
The first track to discuss is “Jam” which served as the fourth single off of Dangerous featuring Heavy D. It peaked at number 26 on the charts. The video itself also included Michael Jordan and cameos from rap groups Kris Kross and Naughty by Nature. A second track meant for a repackaging of Dangerous but never released was “Serious Effects” featuring LL Cool J
Michael Jackson – Jam feat. Heavy D
Michael Jackson – Serious Effects feat. LL Cool J
For his next project HIStory, releasesd in 1995 Michael worked with the Notorious B.I.G. on the track “This Time Around”. It served as a promo single and had multiple remixes. The song managed to chart on the strength of radio airplay alone. The other song from the album to mention is “They Don’t Care About Us” the Charles Fuller version which featured Ill AL Skratch. The original served as the fourth single for HIStory and was a top 30 hit.
Michael Jackson – This Time Around (Maurice Hip-Hop Mix) feat. Notorious B.I.G.
Michael Jackson – They Don’t Care About Us (Charles Fuller Mix) feat. Ill Al Skratch
On “You Rock My World” the lead single from Michael’s 2001 album Invincible Michael recruited Jay-Z to hop on the remix. The song was a top ten hit. The last single released on the project, “Butterflies” received the remix treatment with Eve from the Ruff Ryders camp on the track. The song peaked at number 14 on the charts on the strength of radio airplay alone.
Michael Jackson – You Rock My World (remix) feat. Jay -Z
Michael Jackson – Butterflies (remix) feat. Eve
Michael Jackson seamlessly was able to mesh with the hip hop heavyweights of the time. He loved hip hop music and the culture loved him back. His impact and influence on hip hop will be forever lasting. There will never be another Michael Jackson.
