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Mohamed Al-Fayed Business Meeting / "All Eyez on Me"
/ Date of “All Eyez on Me” single release date
Mohamed Al-Fayed Business Meeting:
Michael Jackson... was last night discussing signing a record deal with Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.
The singer, in a bitter dispute with Sony... is said to have been flown by helicopter to Al Fayed's Surrey home with actress Daryl Hannah and magician David Blaine.
Sources close to Al Fayed said that Jackson was interested in signing a new deal with his daughter Jasmin, who runs a record company.
The source added: "We are hoping Michael's next record will be with Jasmin and possibly recorded in London."
Jasmin, 21, has taken over Allied Stars, the company run by Dodi before he died with Princess Diana in Paris.
Before the dinner, [article cut off]
MSNBC (June 19, 2002) (mirror archive)
...Jackson is reportedly also close to signing a new recording contract with Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, the controversial, publicity-hungry father of Dodi Al Fayed, who died in a car crash with Princess Diana. Several reports, including one in the London Express, say that Jackson flew by helicopter with Darryl Hannah and magician David Blaine to meet with Al Fayed. Jackson's rep couldn't be reached for comment.
“All Eyez on Me”:
Monica, singer, “MTV News” (May 7, 2002) (archived)
For another track, "All Eyez on Me," Monica merely wanted to sample Michael Jackson's 1983 hit "P.Y.T." but ended up getting the man himself. Jackson hand-delivered the recording and wailed away on her probable first single.
"He was extremely helpful," she said. "I know his relationship with Rodney helped, but as an artist I was really honored he took that much of an interest in it. He really could have FedExed the stuff and been through with it. Then his ad-libs at the end, he was fine with that. It was a lot of stuff that made me feel confident in it. The same way that 'P.Y.T.' was, I was hoping 'All Eyez on Me' would be — more relaxing and you could have a good time. It's not based on anything emotional or anything sad. It's a feel-good song for the summer."
“MTV News” (July 2, 2002) (archived)
The single "All Eyez on Me" is one of the album's most lighthearted tracks — a party jam produced by Rodney Jerkins that samples Michael Jackson's 1983 hit "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)."
Monica is a longtime Jackson fan, so she was delighted when the… King of Pop handed over the original masters of the song with his blessing.
Rodney Jenkins, producer, Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”
Monica wanted to use the sample from P.Y.T. I thought that because of my relationship with Michael I could call him and ask him for the original reels. I told the idea and he said, “Sure”, and sent the reels out to me. We used vocals from the song that didn’t make the ‘Thriller’ album. He had more vocals and ad-libs that were never heard and we used the ones that were not heard.
Chris Cadman, author, “Michael Jackson the Maestro”
New vocals (‘ get it on, get it on’), recorded by Michael circa 2000, included on the track featured on the Japanese version of Monica’s album, which was cancelled in the States/ Europe.
