This Time Around (Michael Jackson song)

"This Time Around" is a song by American recording artist and song-writer Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

that features the vocals from rapper The Notorious B.I.G.

The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...

The song appears on Jackson's ninth studio album, entitled HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, which was released in 1995 as a two-disc set. The song and lyrics were written by Michael Jackson, while the music was composed by Dallas Austin

Dallas Austin

Dallas Austin is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim...

, Bruce Swedien and Rene Moore. Dallas Austin and Michael Jackson produced the song, while Bruce Swedien

Bruce Swedien

Bruce Swedien is a Grammy Award-winning audio engineer and music producer. He is known for his work with Quincy Jones.Swedien is a five-time Grammy winner and has been nominated 13 times. He recorded, mixed, and assisted in producing the best-sold album in the world, Thriller by Michael Jackson...

and René Moore

Rene Moore

René Moore is an American singer-songwriter and producer, and is more memorable musically for hits he produced with his soul co-singer Angela Winbush as part of René & Angela, including "I'll Be Good," "Save Your Love ," "Your Smile," and "You Don't Have to Cry."-Biography:Moore and singer Angela...

served as co-producers. The song's lyrics details a musician's problems with being famous and dealing with stardom. In December 1995, the track was released as a promotional single

Promotional recording

A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...

in the United States only, containing a radio edit and remixes. "This Time Around" had a good chart performance, having charted solely due to radio airplay throughout the country. The song received generally mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics.

Background and composition

The song and lyrics were written by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

, while the music was composed by Dallas Austin

Dallas Austin

, Bruce Swedien

Bruce Swedien

and Rene Moore

Rene Moore

. "This Time Around" is a song by Jackson that features vocals rapper The Notorious B.I.G.

The Notorious B.I.G.

Austin and Jackson produced the song, while Swedien and Moore co-produced the song. It was recorded by both American musicians in 1994 and 1995 for Jackson's ninth studio album, entitled HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, which was released in 1995 as a two-disc set.

"This Time Around" is credited as being a R&B

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

, hip-hop and funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

song. Written in common time

Time signature

The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....

, and was played in the key

Key (music)

In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...

of D minor

D minor

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....

. The track's tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

is a moderate 108 beats per minute. The track has a basic sequence of Dm11–Dm9 as its chord progression

Chord progression

A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...

. The song's lyrics are about Michael and Biggie's problems with being famous and dealing with stardom, and throughout the song Jackson asserts that he's been "falsely accused". On December 26, 1995, the track was released by Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

as a promotional single in the United States only. The promo was formatted in three different versions, which were as a standalone CD single with just the song, as a 12" single with remixes and as a maxi-single.

Release and reception

"This Time Around" generally received positive reviews from contemporary music critics in their review for the album. James Hunter of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

described the song as being a "dynamite jam...done with Atlanta R&B hotshot Dallas Austin that's ripe for remixes". Jon Pareles of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

believed that Jackson "muttered" lyrics such as "They thought they really had control of me". Although "This Time Around" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the track had a good chart performance on music component charts in the United States. The song charted on music charts based solely on radio airplay throughout the country. It charted within the top forty of the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart in 1995, peaking at number thirty-six. The song peaked at number eighteen on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles music charts 1996. In 1996, the track also peaked at number twenty-three on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

chart.

Track listings and formats

U.S. promo 2x12" (ES 7603/ES 7604)

A1. D.M. Mad Club Mix (10:23)
A2. D.M. Radio Mix (4:05)
B1. Maurice's Club Around Mix (9:00)
B2. Georgie's House N Around Mix (6:04)
C1. The Timeland Dub (7:22)
C2. The Neverland Dub (Aftermath) (7:46)
D1. The Don's Control This Dub (4:30)
D2. UBQ's Opera Vibe Dub (7:00)
D3. D.M.'s Bang Da Drums Mix (6:34)

U.S. promo 12" (EAS 7606)

A1. Dallas Main Extended Mix (7:15)
A2. Maurice's Hip Hop Around Mix (4:25)
A3. Maurice's Hip Hop Around Mix (w/o Rap) (4:25)
B1. Dallas Main Mix (6:40)
B2. Dallas Main Mix (w/o Rap) (6:40)
B3. Album Instrumental (4:12)

U.S. promo 12" (EAS 7607)

A1. Uno Clio 12" Master Mix (9:25)
A2. D.M. AM Mix (7:47)
B1. D.M. Mad Dub (8:00)
B2. Uno Clio Dub Mix (8:06)

Europe promo CD (SAMPCD 3598)

D.M. Radio Mix (4:05)
Dallas Radio Remix (4:31)
Maurice's Club Around Radio Mix (4:00)
Maurice's Hip Hop Around Mix (w/Drop) (4:18)
David Mitson Clean Edit (4:21)

"This Time Around"/"Earth Song" US Promo CD (ESK 7521)

"This Time Around" (Dallas Clean Album Remix) (4:12)
"This Time Around" (David Mitson Clean Edit) (4:21)
"This Time Around" (Dallas Radio Remix) (4:31)
"This Time Around" (Dallas Radio Remix [w/o Rap]) (4:31)
"This Time Around" (Maurice's Hip Hop Around Mix [w/Drop]) (4:18)
"This Time Around" (Maurice's Hip Hop Around Mix [w/o Rap]) (4:25)
"This Time Around" (Maurice's Club Around Radio Mix) (4:00)
"This Time Around" (D.M. Radio Mix) (4:05)
"Earth Song" (Radio Edit) (5:02)
"Earth Song" (Album Version) (6:46)
"Earth Song" (Hani's Radio Experience) (3:33)

Charts

Chart (1995/1996)	Peak position
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... s Dance Music/Club Play Singles	18
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart is the airplay component chart of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It is not the R&B subset of The Hot 100 Airplay, but rather a separate panel of R&B stations in urban markets used for the R&B/Hip-Hop chart...	23
Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	36

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