Two years of work — and it never lands. ■

Produced by ⌜Rodney Jerkins, worked from summer 1999 at Sony Music Studios, New York, on into 2001 — engineer Brian Vibberts places them on it that first summer. Credits and production detail below. ■

HE VAULTS IT ON PURPOSE — FOR “THE NEXT PROJECT.” ▤

⌜Jerkins asked directly why he was leaving it off the album. Jackson: “Nah… I don't want it on this project. I want it on the next project.” It's the single clearest documented instance of Jackson consciously vaulting a song for a specific future use — not cutting it for time or quality. He never made the next project. ■

INTERCEPT ┤ N-02 — JERKINS, ON WANTING IT OUT

> “Michael really wanted this song to be released. He felt compelled to let the fans hear it. What does it do for a song that Michael really loved…?”

REPORTED SPEECH, NOT VERBATIM · as told in later interviews · press ▤

The hook, the guide vocal, and a phone line to Jackson. ■

Fred Jerkins III wrote the hook and sang the original demo before ⌜LaShawn Daniels recorded the final guide version. Jackson tracked his own background vocals via EDnet, a specialized technology for capturing high-quality audio over telephone lines.

A 1931 gangster film, sampled into the intro. ■

A spoken cinematic intro sampling a line from the 1931 film Little Caesar was layered in during the two-year session, along with sounds and samples added continuously as the track evolved.

It surfaces — 13 years on, as a title track. ■

It entered wider public awareness by late 2002; officially released May 9, 2014, as the title track of the posthumous Xscape, remixed by ⌜Jerkins. The album making room for the material Jackson held back is a Phase IV beat.