It starts as a Floetry demo — McClain plays it, one track stops him. ■

Written by ⌜Marsha Ambrosius and ⌜Andre Harris of Philadelphia's A Touch of Jazz camp — before Floetry had a record of their own out. Manager John McClain presents Jackson the demo tape; one track stops him cold, and he asks to keep it.

INTERCEPT ┤ N-01 — THE DEMO, AND THE ASK

> AMBROSIUS, on McClain playing the demo for Jackson: “Mike hears this Butterfly Song on this Floetry demo — 'What's that? Can I have that?' Mike, you can have the entire album if that's what you want. No — just that.”
> AMBROSIUS, on the demo's real-world origin: “I wrote about a guy who I had a crush [on]… who used to work at a McDonalds in Shepherds Bush, London.”

REPORTED SPEECH, NOT VERBATIM · R&B Money Podcast · press ▤

Sessions begin at the Hit Factory. ▤

⌜Ambrosius and ⌜Harris are in session with Jackson at the Hit Factory, New York, by March 2001. Ambrosius, 23 at the time, directs Jackson from the talkback mic on pitch and phrasing.

INTERCEPT ┤ N-02 — IN THE ROOM AT THE HIT FACTORY

> AMBROSIUS, on first seeing Jackson at the studio: “I remember going through the doors... Michael Jackson is already in there warming up his vocals... Mike just throws up the peace sign... [He] just comes over and hugs me.”
> AMBROSIUS, on Jackson wanting the original feel preserved: “Mike wanted me to make that song feel the way he felt… when he heard that demo.”
> AMBROSIUS, on being asked to coach Jackson's ad-libs: “He encourages me to tell him, show him how to sing that ad-lib... And he was like: 'No, I'm still learning. When I heard you — I heard myself, and I want to do your song… but I want you to show me how you did it.'”
> HARRIS, on the working relationship warming: “At first he would shake my hand… so like, you know, third, fourth day he started hugging me.”
> HARRIS, on Jackson's finger snap: “I remember we'd be sitting at the console… and he'd be snapping to the back to the music —… the snap was so loud we ended up recording it.”

REPORTED SPEECH, NOT VERBATIM · R&B Money Podcast · TV One "UNCENSORED" · "Can We Talk RNB" Ep. 13 · press ▤

Jackson asks Floetry to stay on him the whole way through. ▤

Jackson invites both Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart into the process and asks for ongoing feedback through recording.

INTERCEPT ┤ N-03 — NATALIE STEWART, ON THE ASKING

> “It was incredible because he asked, he continually asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for?' He was so open.”

REPORTED SPEECH, NOT VERBATIM · New Jack Thriller City · press ▤

He steps out for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — then comes right back. ■

Jackson calls Ambrosius to ask permission to miss a session for his induction, then returns the next day. The 16th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony took place March 19, 2001, at the Waldorf Astoria, New York — concurrent with the Hit Factory sessions of N-02.

Jackson lets Harris keep his publishing. ▤

Jackson does not require ⌜Harris to sign away songwriting/publishing rights as a condition of the track's inclusion on Invincible.

INTERCEPT ┤ N-05 — "THIS IS YOUR BEGINNING"

> HARRIS, on Andre Harris's publishing: “I had worked with Michael Jackson. You know, and he allowed me to keep my publishing… and all these different things at the time.”
> HARRIS, on Jackson's framing of the opportunity: “He was like: 'Don't discredit your journey… and what it took to get you to this point'... 'This is your beginning. Imagine where you're going to go.'”
> AMBROSIUS, on what the moment meant for Floetry: “[MJ told me] 'You know, if this is your beginning… imagine where you're going to go.'” (Floetry went on to go platinum, multiple Grammy nominations.)

REPORTED SPEECH, NOT VERBATIM · "Can We Talk RNB" Ep. 13 · R&B Money Podcast · press ▤

RADIO ONLY. THE STORE COPY IS "PLANNED FOR JANUARY." ▤

The second U.S. single — but as a promo: radio gets it, fans cannot buy it. The trades report a commercial release "planned for January." January comes; nothing ships. The airplay climbs anyway. The full anatomy of the decision lives in Phase III, nodes 04 + 10. Butterflies was the second stop on a five-stop rollout mapped out before the album shipped — the full plan is EXH-A, docked below.

ORDER	TRACK	PLAN
1	"You Rock My World"	Lead single — released
2	"Butterflies"	Second single — released to radio only, commercial release cancelled
3	"Unbreakable"	Planned short film (never produced)
4	"Threatened"	Planned short film (never produced)
5	"Break of Dawn"	Planned single (never released)

per Rodney Jerkins, corroborated across three separate Jerkins interviews (Renewing Minds Podcast, Halftime Chat, Vlad) — same narrator, multiple retellings; treated as a single well-corroborated intercept, not documented, since it describes an internal plan with no paper record cited. Jackson reportedly “had it mapped out” and showed the plan to Jerkins in writing — closer to documented than a purely verbal account, though the document itself hasn't surfaced publicly. The plan collapsed after "You Rock My World," per Jerkins, coinciding with the escalating Sony conflict.

Source tag: PRESS/INTERCEPT · Rodney Jerkins account ▤

The Eve remix exists — and never ships either. ■

A "Master Mix" with an Eve verse is cut and pressed to promo 12-inch — a ready-made commercial single, sitting on a shelf. It circulates among DJs and collectors; the public never gets a copy. Filed in ▤the vault.