"Monster" is a song credited to American singer and recording artist

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, featuring American rapper

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

, released on the 2010 edition of Jackson's first posthumous album, ''

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''. The song was allegedly written by Jackson, Eddie Cascio, James Porte, and its rap part was written by Curtis Jackson. Along with "

Breaking News Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...

" and "Keep Your Head Up", the song was allegedly recorded in the Porte/Cascios' basement in 2007. These tracks have been controversial since their release, with Jackson's fans and family members doubting their authenticity. On August 21, 2018, the California Court of Appeal heard the oral argument for the appeal. It was incorrectly reported that

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

had conceded that the three songs "

", "Keep Your Head Up" and "Monster" were indeed performed by an impersonator, Jason Malachi, and not Jackson. However, Sony's lawyer Zia Modabber stated that "no one has conceded that Michael Jackson did not sing the songs". On July 6, 2022, Jackson's estate and Sony Music removed the song from streaming services

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and

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

amid allegations that the vocals are not Jackson's.

Background and release

"Monster" was allegedly written by Michael Jackson, Eddie Cascio, and James Porte, with the rapping segment written by Curtis Jackson. Jackson allegedly recorded the songs in 2007 while he was living with the Cascio family in New Jersey. Other tracks recorded during that time include "

" and "Keep Your Head Up", as well as "All I Need", "All Right" (aka "Everything's Just Fine"), "Black Widow", "Burn Tonight", "Fall in Love" (aka "Let Me Fall in Love"), "Soldier Boy", "Ready 2 Win", "Stay" and "Water".

did not record together with Jackson physically; after Jackson's death, he received a call to come into the studio and perform his portion of the track. Once in the studio, the rapper worked with producer

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American record producer, singer, and songwriter credited with the creation of the R&B and hip-hop fusion genre, new jack swing. Musical artists who utilized Riley's production and songwri ...

on the song. On December 10, 2010, the song was officially released on the posthumous album ''

'', and two original demo versions leaked online in 2015. Also, an alternative version that doesn't feature 50 Cent surfaced online before the album's official release.

Critical reception

"Monster" received mainly negative reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Huw Jones from ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' said "Monster" is "weighed down by an unnecessary rap by the increasingly unnecessary 50 Cent". Alexis Petridis from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said the song was "a lumpy attempt to re-create the atmosphere of '' Thriller''

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

from the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' said the song picked up "an unfortunate theme in Jackson's latter-day work as the oppressed media victim".

Controversy over authenticity

The authenticity of "Monster" was questioned as soon as it was released. Doubts over whether the vocals were actually by Jackson have been raised, reportedly by Jackson's mother

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

and his two eldest children, in addition to many of his fans. His brother

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

posted a series of messages about the album on his Twitter account stating that family members were not allowed at his studio where the album was being completed. According to Randy, when producer Teddy Riley played him some of the tracks, "I immediately said it wasn't his voice". In a statement, Sony Music Group countered that it had "complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals on the new album are his own". Riley,

Frank DiLeo Frank Michael DiLeo (October 23, 1947 – August 24, 2011) was an American music industry executive and actor, known for his portrayal of gangster Tuddy Cicero in Martin Scorsese's '' Goodfellas''. From 1984 to 1989, and again in 2009, he was Mi ...

and Jackson's estate have since defended Sony's claims that the song is authentic. Riley, who worked on the songs " Hollywood Tonight", "Monster" and "Breaking News", claimed that he had to do "more processing to the voice, which is why people were asking about the authenticity of his voice", stating, "With the

Melodyne Celemony Software GmbH is a German musical software company that specializes in digital audio pitch correction software. It produces Melodyne, a popular audio pitch modification tool similar to Auto-Tune, although the program itself is manual t ...

we actually move the stuff up which is the reason why some of the vibrato sounds a little off or processed, over-processed. We truly apologize for that happening, but you are still hearing the true Michael Jackson." Many fans who have cast doubt on the Cascio tracks have suggested that singer Jason Malachi sang the lead vocals of the Cascio tracks, but a statement by the Jackson Estate said that he was not involved in the recording. On January 16, 2011, a statement appeared on Malachi's

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page noting he was the vocalist of the songs in question, calling it his "confession". He later claimed on Myspace that his Facebook and official website were hacked. Malachi's manager Thad Nauden later that day told

TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...

that "someone created a phony Facebook page in Jason's name. Jason wants everyone to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, he did not sing a single note on the album." On August 23, 2018, it was reported that Sony had admitted in court that the vocals on the three Cascio songs were not performed by Jackson and were instead recorded after his death by Malachi, apparently missing the first part of Sony's counsel sentence " r purposes of the argument" which is used in court not to be an admission, but rather a statement of "even if the alleged action happened". However, the next day, Zia Modabber of Sony Music's law firm, Katten Muchin Rosenman, recanted these reports, stating that "no one has conceded that Michael Jackson did not sing on the songs". On July 6, 2022, Jackson's estate and Sony Music removed the song, along with "Breaking News" and "Keep Your Head Up", from streaming services

and

amid the allegations that the vocals are not Jackson's.

Other versions

* "Monster" (alternative version without rap) – 5:19 * "Monster" (Jody den Broeder & Chris Cox club mix) – 7:32 * "Monster" (Jody den Broeder & Chris Cox dub mix) – 6:15 * "Monster" (Jody den Broeder & Chris Cox radio edit) – 3:49 * "Monster" (original demo) – 5:05

Personnel

* Written by Michael Jackson, Eddie Cascio and James Porte * Published by Mijac Music, Jab Me Music, Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) Music Publishing * Produced by Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley and Angelikson * Mixed by Jean-Marie Horvat and Teddy Riley * Programming by Teddy Riley * Children screaming: Nigel and Naiden Maynard * Recording engineer: Scott Elgin, Khaliq Glover a.k.a. Khaliq-O-Vision, Stuart Brawley, Quenton Gilkey (assistant engineer), Luis Navarro, Zachariah Redding (assistant engineer on the rap recorded at Boom Boom Room), Glen Marchese, Joe Corcoran, Drew Harris * Rap performed by 50 Cent * Drum programming: James Porte, Joe Cocoran and Chalmer McDermott * Percussion by

Rudy Bird Rudolph Bird is a drummer and percussionist with over thirty years of experience as a stage and studio musician. He has toured throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa with many musicians including Miles Davis, the Duke Ellington O ...

and Joe Cocoran * Bass by Eddie Cascio and Stuart Brawley * Keyboards by Eddie Cascio and Stuart Brawley * Guitars by Joe Corcoran and

Orianthi Orianthi Penny Panagaris (born 22 January 1985), known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter. Her 2009 debut single " According to You" peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8 in Australia and No. 17 in the US; her ...

* Guitar effects by Jake Landau * String arrangement by Eddie Cascio and Stuart Brawley * Cello by Cameron Stone * Violin by Sharon Jackson * Background vocals by James Porte * Digital editing by Joe Corcoran * Assistant Mixed by John Baracan * Assisted by Drew Harris and Fiona Brawley * Recorded at The Backyard, Los Angeles

References

{{Authority control 2010 songs Song recordings produced by Teddy Riley Songs about the media Music controversies