The recently announced forthcoming collection of new Michael Jackson material, Xscape, will reportedly feature lyrics about child sexual abuse. Earlier this month it was announced a new album featuring eight previously unheard tracks from Jackson’s archive would be released this May.
As NME reports, the posthumous release from the King of Pop features a song titled Do You Know Where Your Children Are?. It is one of the eight previously unreleased songs featured on Xscape, recorded before the troubled singer’s death in 2009 and unearthed by Epic Records CEO LA Reid.
The newly uncovered song tells the story of a 12-year-old girl who runs away from home and an abusive step-father and turns to prostitution, reportedly featuring the lyrics, “She wrote that she is tired of step-daddy using her / Saying that he’ll buy her things, while sexually abusing her“.
The track also has Jackson repeatedly singing “Save me from this living hell“, which some fans have speculated was a reaction to child molestation charges levelled against himself, first in the early 90s and again in 2005, with both incidents subject to a high degree of media scrutiny and coverage. Last year, dancer and former Jackson defender Wade Robson claimed he was molested by the singer.
Jackson died aged 50 in LA from an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol, given to him by his personal doctor while he was preparing for the This Is It series of London concerts. Xscape features production from big names including Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, and John McClain.
Watch: Michael Jackson – Xscape Album Teaser
