Is it really Michael Jackson singing on "Breaking News"?

  The new Michael Jackson song that Sony had anticipated over the weekend has finally premiered today and the reactions could not have been more controversial. Just like when he was alive, the name Michael Jackson is surrounded by a new scandal as his family and fans from all over the the world are questioning if the voice heard in the song is the singer's or an impersonator.

   A lot of different answers to that question have emerged during the day, some of them from those who were closest to him like his own nephews or Teddy Riley, a good friend of MJ and producer of many of his songs, including "Breaking News". Riley took his twitter page and wrote:

  "I was called on this project by the estate, Sony, and the family co signed it. These songs are created by the Cascios. I did not write the Songs, I was called in to mix and finish what I was given, Without compensation only cause of Michael. Only cause of Michael and the jackson family, who felt I should be on the project, cause of my relationship with Michael. All of the producer that worked on this project got paid before they worked. At the last minute of working on this project.

 These issues about MJ vocals not being real came into par. The vocal yes I feel they are MJ vox…they are very processed.. The vocals I was given to me from the Cascios was all I had to work with. I can’t and no one can prove anything but MJ.

 Michael is not here to voice himself and let you know the truth. I asked the company to bring in everyone. Professionals, friends, family, and the people who worked with Michael many year and before me. Everyone said it is Michael except the family who says its not because there’s no proof.

 All I’m gonna say here is that I believe its MJ. The truth of this of it all no one knows be MJ and god knows.I have nothing more to say and I can’t prove anything…I did not original produce his vocals nor these songs. I remix, made the tracks different from what they had which would have been unacceptable."

On the other hand, members of the Jackson family, specially the late singer's nephews, have expressed their suspicions about the vocals heard in the track.On his Twitter page, TJ said:

"Deceptively merging shady vocals with MJ samples (from prior MJ records) will never fool me. Why they would ignore the obvious, look the other way and rush a suspicious track that was NEVER on my Uncle's radar is beyond me (sic)."

He added: "The vibrato is a dead give away that it's not my uncle. Fans, I am so sorry you were put through this If you heard the acapella you would be even more disgusted."

His brother Taryll also voiced his opinion on the matter:

 "I was at the studio when these questionable files were delivered. I heard these 'so-called' Michael Jackson songs raw and without the distraction of the well produced music by Teddy Riley.

  How they constructed these songs is very sneaky and sly. many people who have worked on this project either have strong doubts and questions while others KNOW the truth yet decided to turn and look the other way with their hands out for $$$.

  There are songs that ARE my uncle singing on the upcoming album and I will support those 100%. But I will not support 'Breaking News' and a few others because it simply is not him. They tried to fool me and they tried to fool you. I told them it would never happen."

  And then there's Sony Music, who defends the authenticity of the song and claims that they have "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".

  Those are some of the statements, but ultimately, it is the listener that has to decide for himself. As a Michael Jackson fan for over 26 years of my life, I have to say that I was really anticipating this new song and record of unreleased material. When I heard "Breaking News" for the first time, I didn't completely recognize Michael in the song. His voice just wasn't completely there, and I became suspicious. As I much as I want it to be him, my heart tells me that Sony is fooling us by mixing up his vocals with those of someone else. His pronunciation, his pitch, sounds nothing like him. However, I do believe that there are bits and pieces of the song where Michael's voice is in there somewhere, sampled and mixed with newly added vocals.

  I really cannot understand why Sony would release such an ambiguous song when they have plenty of unreleased and verified material from MJ's past projects. Good news is that Sony has revealed that this track won't be the first single from the forthcoming release, "Michael". 

 You can listen and judge for yourselves by clicking the song below:

  Do you believe it is really Michael Jackson's voice? Let me know in the comments!