Akon Disagrees With Will.i.am Over Michael Jackson's Posthumous Release

'These records would have come out whether he was alive or dead,' 'Kon says.
By James Dinh


Michael Jackson and Akon
Photo: Getty Images

As with many other posthumous releases, the forthcoming Michael Jackson album, Michael, is already creating controversy. After will.i.am told Entertainment Weekly that he thought it was "disrespectful" to release the collection of previously unheard material from the King of Pop, fellow collaborator Akon struck back.

'Kon, whose "Hold My Hand" collaboration with Jackson dropped on Monday as the LP's first single, insists that releasing new music is actually a way of honoring the icon.

"I think that's probably will's opinion," Akon told TMZ of the Black Eyed Peas frontman's statement. "Me personally, I think that's keeping his legacy alive, if you ask me. I don't see anything disrespectful about it. He got his people taking care of it. We all did records that we actually worked on together on the album. These records would have come out whether he was alive or dead, so I think this actually to helps keep his legacy alive. I honestly disagree with that."

The hip-hop star explained that he hopes "Hold My Hand" will reach "another level" and be properly distributed as he and the Jackson team had originally planned.

Last week, will.i.am slammed the project, suggesting that there's no honor in the upcoming release, due in stores December 14. "Whoever put it out and is profiting off of it, I want to see how cold they are," he told EW. "To say that what [Michael] contributed during his life wasn't enough. He just wasn't any ordinary artist. He was a hands-on person. To me it's disrespectful. There's no honoring."

Not only did Akon call his sessions with MJ "amazing," but he also gushed that it was nothing short of a dream come true saying, "He was a very incredible person, very creative. That was really a dream come true on my end. I enjoyed every moment of it."

Do you agree with Akon or will.i.am on the new Michael Jackson album? Share your thoughts below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652379/20101116/akon.jhtml

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Robert Plant And Alison Krauss Win Grammy Album Of The Year

Raising Sand, from Led Zeppelin vet and bluegrass superstar, wins five Grammys on Sunday night.
By James Montgomery with MTV News staff


Alison Krauss and Robert Plant accept the award for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards on Sunday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

"I'm bewildered," Robert Plant said onstage as he accepted the Grammy Album of the Year award with Alison Krauss on Sunday night. "In the old days we would have called this selling out, but it's a good way to spend a Sunday."

He was probably one of the few who were surprised, because Raising Sand, which won five trophies at Sunday night's show, is in many ways the perfect Grammy album. It features two respected veterans, a critically lauded producer, some sandpaper-and-velvet vocals and a baker's dozen of time-tested standards.

You're probably familiar with Robert Plant from his Led Zeppelin days, and you might be aware of producer T-Bone Burnett's work on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack (it won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002). And if you don't know who Alison Krauss is, she possesses a haunting set of pipes and is one of the meanest fiddle players in the world. Oh, and she's won 21 Grammys, more than any other female artist and the seventh-most in history.

Really, she's the key to Sand's success, and not just because of her voice (or her fiddle playing). She and Plant first met in 2004, at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to legendary bluesman Leadbelly, and the former Zeppelin man was amazed by her knowledge of American Roots music — so much so that they began kicking around the idea of recording an album together. Three years later, Sand was released.

And while Plant possesses the more famous voice, the album's finest moments radiate from Krauss. Whether she's getting bluesy on Little Milton's "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" or entwining with Plant's husky voice on songs like "Please Read the Letter" and Roly Salley's winsome "Killing the Blues," she more than carries her end of the bargain.

And perhaps that's also due to producer Burnett, who handpicked the 13 songs the duo cover on Sand. His arrangements are sparse — giving the two voices ample room to breathe — yet dense, warm and crackling at the same time. It's a testament to his work that he's often given just as much billing as Plant and Krauss on the project ... and it's certainly justified.

To date, Sand has sold more than 1 million copies, heaped tons of acclaim and actually earned a Grammy last year — "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" took home the award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.

One expert was surprised not by the album's success, but by the fact that it's actually quite a good album.

"At first, the album seemed like a vanity project. ... Two names, clearly a one-off record, didn't have to be any good, you know?" New York Times music critic Jon Caramanica said. "Led Zeppelin fans would buy it because of Robert Plant, Alison Krauss would get a check. But it actually turned out to be a really thoughtful, really good record. So when you combine all that with the fact that the Grammys love to lionize one of their own, I could really see it taking home some awards."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604582/20090209/plant_robert.jhtml

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