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Was Rodney Jerkins the right producer for MJ?

Fammy fam

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Spaceship

Spaceship

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He produced the most tracks on Invincible. "You Rock My World" didn't impress critics when it first came out, but it was a worldwide hit and is considered today as an early 2000s pop classic. "Unbreakable" was acclaimed by critics when the album first came out, and the song remains popular with fans today. The other Darkchild cuts on the album aren't as popular, but "Heartbreaker" is considered by some fans as a pioneer or precursor to dubstep and "Threatened" also gets praise for its production. "Invincible" and "Privacy" seem to be the only Darkchild cuts that barely anyone seem to care for. That's understandable; I can tolerate "Invincible", but "Privacy" may be the only song on the album that I truly dislike.

As for outtakes, "We've Had Enough" and "Xscape" are more popular than all the others; fans have liked the latter ever since it first leaked in 2002, and they considered the former to be the gem of the Ultimate Collection in 2004. Shame MJ didn't pick them to be on Invincible; I'm sure Darkchild would be more liked if those two tracks made it over "Invincible" and "Privacy". Overall, I don't think he was much worse than Teddy Riley. I think he was better for MJ than Dallas Austin, R. Kelly, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, will.i.am, Neff-U, and Ne-Yo were.
 
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That's an interesting question. YRMW is undoubtedly excellent and catchy. Unbreakable, Xscape, and We've Had Enough have the energy and aggression I like to hear from MJ. Rodney has done some good work. I can't think of anyone who could have done it better at the turn of the millennium. Not even the Neptunes, who sounded too soft with Timberlake.
 
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I feel the only truly good song Darkchild produced for MJ was "We've Had Enough". What I like about that song compared to MJ's other songs that called for world peace is its composed anger. It's not cheesy like "Heal the World" and "Cry". It's not overly self-indulgent like "They Don't Care About Us" and "Earth Song". It's an anti-war song about rising up and standing together against corruption. I don't care what anyone says; it's the best song MJ recorded post-1995. It'll forever be a shame it didn't make it on Invincible. How the hell did it and "Escape" not make the album ... but "Cry" and "Privacy" did? smh

I hope that someday it retroactively gets the praise it deserves from the mainstream public like "They Don't Care About Us" did. The estate should make a music video or something.
 
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