Xscape is a posthumous compilation album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. 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 1980 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.
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.
The title track "Xscape" was recorded in 1999 for Jackson's tenth studio album, Invincible. American producer Timbaland and Epic Records chairman and CEO L.A. Reid were executive producers, with additional production from Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate and John McClain. Timbaland said that Reid had personally approached him at his home to discuss the new Jackson project. Jesse Johnson, former lead guitarist of the American band the Time worked on elements of a cover of "Hot Fun in the Summertime" that featured Mary J. Blige, Questlove, and D'Angelo. The track was ultimately not included on the album.
Reid said that they wanted to honor Jackson's legacy when naming the album: "The title of this album (Xscape) honors Michael's album naming process. He always chose a song from the album to name his projects and, beginning with Thriller, used only one word titles, each with an edgy quality to them (Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible)."
• "Love Never Felt So Good" was co-written by Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka and was originally recorded in 1980 as a demo with Anka on the piano. The song was also recorded by American entertainer Johnny Mathis. The duet version of the song with Justin Timberlake samples percussion and breaths from Jackson's 1979 song "Working Day and Night".
• "Loving You" and "Do You Know Where Your Children Are" were recorded during the Bad sessions, the former in the mid-1980s and the latter in 1986.
• "Slave to the Rhythm" was recorded during the Dangerous sessions in 1991. A version produced by Tricky Stewart leaked on the internet in 2010; it was slated for inclusion on Michael (2010). Justin Bieber also recorded a "duet version" featured with Jackson's vocals, which was leaked in August 2013. The Michael Jackson Estate stated that they had not authorized the release of this recording.
Four songs on the album were originally recorded for possible inclusion on Invincible (2001):
• "A Place with No Name" was written and recorded in 1998. The track is based on "A Horse with No Name", the 1972 single by American rock band America. A 24-second snippet was leaked online by TMZ in July 2009 and a full version was leaked in December 2013.
• "Blue Gangsta" was written and recorded in 1999. Rapper Tempamental remixed the song without Jackson's permission and made it available on his MySpace page in late 2006. The remix titled "Gangsta (No Friend of Mine)" featured Pras of the Fugees.
• "Chicago" (originally called "She Was Lovin' Me") was recorded in 1999.
• "Xscape" was written and recorded in 1999 and leaked on the internet in 2002. The song was reworked by its original producer, Rodney Jerkins, and features samples of "You Rock My World", a song recorded for the same album.
Xscape became Jackson's tenth UK number-one album after it debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with 47,764 first-week sales. Currently, sales of the album in the United Kingdom stand at 135,500 copies and has been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. The album also debuted at number one in Belgium, Denmark, France, and Spain. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard charts with first-week sales of 157,000 copies in the United States. In its second week of sales, the album sold 67,000 more copies. In its third week it sold 35,000 copies bringing its total sales to 259,000 copies. In its fourth week, it sold a little more than 25,000 copies, and the fifth week it sold a little less than 25,000 copies. On September 18, 2014, the album was certified Gold in the US, selling 500,000 copies up to that date.
In Canada, the album debuted at number three on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 12,000 copies.
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