Odds & Ends: Kanye West, Michael Jackson and Burt Bacharach

Plugging A Leak

It sure didn’t take very long for the legal muscle at Sony Music to issue takedown warnings to sites hosting a leaked, unreleased Michael Jackson song.

About 90 seconds of the song appeared on the ‘Net during the weekend featuring Jackson singing a verse of “Another Day” – a collaboration between the King of Pop and Lenny Kravitz.

Fan site MJStar was the first to post the clip that eventually circulated the globe via YouTube. According to E Online!, lawyers for Sony Music and Jackson’s estate have been issuing cease-and-desist orders as fast as they can send them.

The identity of the leaker is still a mystery, although you can rule out Kravitz. The artist issued a video statement confirming the collaboration but denying any complicity in leaking the track.

“I’d like to see this thing get straightened out as soon as possible, because I’d like for you, the fans – the people who love Michael – to be able to hear the track in its entirety, the way it was meant to be, the way Michael and I had intended it to be,” Kravitz said.

Click here to read the complete E! Online article.

Burt Bacharach Recovering From Surgery

Recent back surgery has forced Burt Bacharach to postpone several concerts.

The 81-year-old composer underwent surgery New Year’s Eve and is reported to be resting comfortably at a New York hospital.

According to his publicist, the surgery forced Bacharach to postpone shows in Australia, New Zealand and Palm Beach. At this time the plan is to reschedule the gigs for later this year or early next year.

Kanye Getting Better

Today is a good day for anyone thinking the world has become a duller place since Kanye West took a self-imposed sabbatical from proclaiming his greatness.

It’s been kind of dull since West retreated from the backlash he created in September at the MTV Video Music Awards when he grabbed the mic out of Taylor Swift’s hands while she was attempting to begin her acceptance speech for winning the Best Female Video award, and told the audience that Beyoncé’s video was better.

But it’s a new year and that means a new Kanye West blog posting about his favorite subject – Kanye West.

“I will bring you the best I have to offer with the same dedication that Kobe has on the court,” wrote West. “It’s funny how so many rappers get worse as their careers stretch out but true poets get better.”

West goes on to say he’s following in the footsteps of Maya Angelou, Gil Scott-Heron and Nina Simone. However, the artist mangled the spelling of a couple of names, calling Angelou “Mary” and referring to Gil Scott-Heron as “Gill Scott Herron,” thus proving the self-proclaimed world’s greatest entertainer is in need of the world’s greatest spell checker.

“Their work improved with time,” West wrote. “They documented what was happening in culture. That is our responsibility as the modern day artists and poets, to accurately represent what is happening now, so when the powers that be try to rewrite history you can always look at our works and find truth and sincerity in a world of processed information.”

West also had a few words for those who “masquerade as truth tellers and objective fact givers” – otherwise known as the media, claiming those in the news game are only trying to brainwash the public. In other words, it’s pure vintage West.

But don’t take our word for it. Click here for West’s latest moment of genius.