Xscape (album)

Xscape
Standard edition cover
Compilation album by Michael Jackson
Released	May 9, 2014 (2014-05-09)
Recorded	1983–1999 (original songs) 2013–2014 (reworked songs)
Genre	Pop[1] funk R&B[2]
Length	34:25 (standard) 38:30 (vinyl) 73:43 (deluxe)
Label	MJJ Epic Sony
Producer	Michael Jackson Paul Anka Babyface Dr. Freeze J-Roc Rodney Jerkins Daniel Jones King Solomon Logan John McClain L.A. Reid Cory Rooney Stargate Timbaland Giorgio Tuinfort
Michael Jackson chronology
Bad 25 (2012) Xscape (2014) Scream (2017)
Singles from Xscape
"Love Never Felt So Good" Released: May 2, 2014 "A Place with No Name" Released: August 12, 2014

Xscape is the second posthumous album by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson.^[3] It was released on May 9, 2014, by Epic Records, MJJ Music and Sony Music Entertainment, four years after the release of Michael (2010). L.A. Reid, chairman of Epic Records, curated and served as executive producer for the album, enlisting Timbaland to lead a team of record producers, including Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, and John McClain, to remix and "contemporize" eight selected tracks, which were originally recorded between 1983 and 1999. The standard version of Xscape features the eight reworked tracks, while the deluxe version also includes the original versions of the songs, a bonus remix, and two videos.

The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Love Never Felt So Good", which includes a newly recorded version featuring Justin Timberlake. It reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, giving Jackson his first posthumous top ten and his first since "You Rock My World" in 2001. "Love Never Felt So Good" became Jackson's highest charting single on the Hot 100 since his final number one, "You Are Not Alone", in 1995. A second single, "A Place with No Name", was released later that year. Xscape was promoted across the Sony group of companies; Sony Mobile used a snippet of "Slave to the Rhythm" in their advertising campaign for the Xperia Z2 mobile phone. A Pepper's ghost illusion of Jackson performed "Slave to the Rhythm" at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards in May 2014.^[4]

Xscape was a global charting success and received generally positive reviews. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States. It became Jackson's tenth UK number-one album after it debuted atop the UK Albums Chart. The album also debuted at number one in Belgium, Denmark, France, and Spain. Xscape was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by the end of 2014.