More Music from Thriller 25: Billie Jean Remix by Kanye West, PYT by will.i.am, and Beat It by Fergie
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Kanye West Remix)
Michael Jackson - Beat It (ft. Fergie)
Michael Jackson - P.Y.T (ft. will.i.am)
DCMA request to remove links.
Vpell pointed out in the last post that MJ’s Tribute is an “artist interpretation of standards is a fantastic way to pay homage.” Excuse my hate.
Listening to MJ’s new music from that perspective, this Kanye West remix is hot. Kanye stayed close to the original, but added some crazy drums and modified some minor details of the song.
Fergie adds her own spin to “Beat It.” I can’t front - she did a good job with her aggressive approach and high energy singing. Fergie’s spin sounds like it’d be great for a Grammy tribute.
will.i.am’s P.Y.T is sounds very retro. Similar to his remix to Girl Is Mine, I like the production and I like the song, but something it’s just not 100% about it. Despite my initial hate, the only track that was horrible was Akon’s “Wanna Be Startin Something,” I am excited about the project and can’t wait until it’s release.
More Info on Thriller 25 (source: Wikipedia):
Jackson collaborated with several modern pop artists in Thriller 25, including will.i.am and Kanye West. will.i.am is producing the newly recorded content for the album, with Jackson serving as Executive Producer. Thriller 25 was officially announced on November 30, 2007 in a press release from Epic Records, and an advertisement was put on Jackson’s website.
The press release also mentioned further events in celebration of Thriller’s anniversary. This will last throughout 2008 (when Jackson’s new album is released) and begins with the release of Jackson`s first single in nearly five years, on January 14, 2008. The single will be a remix of ‘The Girl Is Mine’ featuring will.i.am. while Paul McCartneys vocals have been removed. There will be “a multi-faceted global marketing campaign” featuring high-profile poster, radio, online adverts as well as 30 second Television adverts that will begin on February 11, 2008.
What do you think of Kanye’s Remix? Did you like Fergie’s tribute? Did you like how will.i.am slowed down PYT? Which track is your favorite remix and why?
Posted by thehonorable
[...] Original post by thehonorable [...]
The songs they’re remixing are classics, so they have to be extremely careful.
Beat It w/ Fergie is horrible.
Kanye West did a decent job with the remix of Billie Jean. He basically just added drums and modified a few other sounds, but it sticks very close to the original song. Obviously, he was aiming to play it safe with this one. It’s alright…
will.i.am did the best by far. P.Y.T. and The Girl Is Mine both sound amazing. It’s obvious that he has the best chemistry in the studio with Michael Jackson. Not only is will.i.am remixing the songs with all new instrumentals, but he also lends his vocals as well. The main thing is that it sounds great! Propz to will.i.am, he deserves more credit in the music industry than people actually give him.
~ stephen
I think this shit is pretty hot… I always like to hear artists reinventing themselves. I’m not too big on the “it’s a classic, it shouldn’t be touched” thing because music was made to be copied. If you can do it better… then prove it! We would miss out if people didn’t experiment with older music.
shaff - is music really made to be copied? or is that a new, evolved concept of our generation?
sidebar - why kanye is my favorite artist right now:
““I’m a pop enigma. I live and breathe every element in life. I rock a bespoke suit and I go to Harold’s for fried chicken. It’s all these things at once, because, as a tastemaker, I find the best of everything. There’s certain things that black people are the best at and certain things that white people are the best at. Whatever we as black people are the best at, I’m a go get that. Like, on Christmas I don’t want any food that tastes white. And when I go to purchase a house, I don’t want my credit to look black.” (c) Kanye West
very very poor. sounds like bad demos.
Is this the best they can come with.
Kanye West played it safe on that song. I like what he did with the string section.
Fergie isn’t bad but I don’t think this song will be embrace well outside her fanbase. I’m surprise Usher isn’t on this album since a lot of people like to think of him as the king of pop.
Not bad on Will.i.am part but I think like the original one better.
Honorablemedia - I kind of like that comment Kanye West wrote but come on if a white people said that he would be in so much trouble right now.
Hey,
I may be the biggest Michael Jackson fan this side of a certain former Home Alone star, but I have to agree with Reecie on this one. The Will.I.Am stuff sounds really good, and I enjoyed the remix of Billie Jean, but its just not getting me 100% Maybe its due to my disappointment that Michael’s “new” single is just a rework of an old classic. I really wanted to here him on some new stuff with Will.I.Am. Oh well, maybe Mike is using this as a test to see what these producers can do before he gets back into the studio for some new stuff.
P.S. Akon needs to get smacked, that shit was horrrrrrible
no lupe fiasco for me
There’s nothing wrong with covering a song if you’re going to give another interpretation of it or do the original version some justice. That is definitely not new to hip-hop. That was actually abandoned and has only been done sparingly within the last twenty - thirty years. Donny Hathaway covered “What’s Going On.” No big deal. I’ve Heard it Through the Grapevine” was recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips and was later covered by Marvin Gaye. The list goes on.
That being said, for the most part, I’m not a fan of these “interpretations.” Kanye’s remix drags. The drums on Fergie’s Beat It don’t hit nearly as hard as the original. I dig will.i.am’s mix (a whole lot actually), I just wish he’d step off the mic.
Can someone Re-Uploaded the Tracks? Please.
that cover is sick. im not interested in hearing any of these remixes at all.
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Just my 2 cents worth.
Beat It is really off, fergie just detracts from the rhyme that we are all used to from mich.
The Girl Is Mine is a hot track, with a great level of likeability across audiences. This is gonna be the first single off the album and i hope it does well. P.Y.T is a decent enough song, but I loved the original and i dont think it comes close to it. then again they’re basically completely different songs.
Kanye West did pretty well on Billie Jean i thought. Its a “club banger” type beat, sadly tho i think the bassline in the original Billie Jean was probably the best element in that song, and probably the most infectious beat ever. Obviously kanye removed this, i would’ve liked to see someone try to make that bassline even better.
Akons effort is unique in that it doesnt feature much of MJ in it really. Its an ok song by itself that would probably do alright on the charts if it wasn’t related to MJ. I think most agree it just makes u wna hear the original again, Akon imo, shouldnt be working on the new album. GET TIMBALAND!
I dont think these remixes have got anything to do with new interpertations. This album is being released to let the world know michael is still recording and is ready to rock the music world again. The remixes are there to let all us die hard fans hear what type of sound to expect on his new album coming later in 2008.
Does anyone remember Teddy Riley’s attempt at a Billie Jean remix?
yup - with Blackstreet - it wasnt good at all. lol
lol wasnt that bad! Well I guess im sayin that cuz in my mind TR never does any wrong! Man I miss his productions!