Songs review : Michael Jackson family now and his top albums: For the most part, the collaborations actually hurt the songs. No, “Monster” isn’t the next “Thriller”, as 50 Cent claimed it to be, but it’s a decent song. Jackson sounds awkwardly retro, the beat shuffles ‘n’ sweeps, and it feels right…until you’re thrown next to 50’s uninspired rap that sounds more fitting for a summer blockbuster theme. The same goes for the highly irritating and incredibly repetitive “Hold My Hand”, where Akon belts out the same thing again and again in an equally monotonous pitch. For a lead single, it’s tepid and incredibly campy. Then there’s “(I Can’t Make It) Another Day”, featuring guitar wizard Lenny Kravitz, who churns out a chalky riff that tires 45 seconds into the song. Jackson himself sounds angry, forceful, and dominating, but altogether it doesn’t beg for a re-listen. That’s sort of a must when it comes to his music.

He wasn’t alone. His longtime competition Prince sought to re-connect in a similar fashion, forming the New Power Generation with rapper, Tony M. Released just one month before* Dangerous*, the purple one’s Diamonds and Pearls* *exists as a companion piece, documents of blurring eras. As ’80s pop gave way to ’90s hip-hop, they sought to find their place in the re-configured landscape. Except while Prince predictably constructed his own insular unit, Jackson looked outwards to Riley, the hottest producer of the moment. Meanwhile Jackson’s sister Janet had recently delivered a hard-stomping R&B-pop classic in 1989’s Rhythm Nation 1814. Its influence on her older brother was so great that he even asked Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to produce Dangerous. Out of loyalty to Janet, they turned him down. According to his engineer, Bruce Swedien, Michael was searching for something “very street that young people would be able to identify with.”

When Michael Jackson was alive, I received anonymous phone calls that my son Joshua would be kidnapped. Therefore I had to bring him to his father in 2003. Unfortunately, when I felt the situation had calmed down sufficiently, my ex-husband did not want my son to return to me. This led to a lengthy court case, where my ex abused his knowledge of Michael Jackson being my father by describing me as delusional. This lead to a mental examination, which showed my sanity was fine, but also revealed that I was seriously traumatized. The court ruled that Joshua should return to me. However, due to many delays and postponements the whole case dragged on for some 4 years! After that, a new judge decided that Joshua had already stayed so long with his father that he would stay there. The hell that my ex Charat Graafland put my child and me through because of the situation between me and Michael Jackson has made me lost a lots of time with my son Joshua. Read additional details on Mocienne Petit Jackson – Michael Jackson’s Daughter.

I have never asked for judgment from people who do not know me. Or to agree with me on what I believe. I live in a world where internet can destroy your life because people you do not know, like people working for the media or fans of Michael Jackson, can write about you what they want. What if I am wrong, and a DNA test proves that Michael Jackson is not my father?

Bad (1987): And now, we get to the heavy hitters. Bad is one of the defining albums of my childhood – one of my earliest memories is “proving” to my parents that I knew every word of the title track by singing it at the dinner table. Equal parts rock, pop and soul, Bad may have suffered from the Thriller curse in the 80s – pundits recognized it was good, but not AS GOOD as one of the best albums ever made, always an unfair criticism – but the album’s cavalcade of hits, and its influence on pop and R&B at the time, cannot be denied. Bad may not have aged as well as some of MJ’s other top-shelf releases but that doesn’t make it any less groundbreaking. Forgotten Favorites: “Speed Demon,” “Just Good Friends,” “Another Part of Me”.