“He felt it was too generic at the time”: Producer Rodney Jerkins on why Michael Jackson turned down the Neptunes songs that eventually went to Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake Michael Jackson.

It’s long been rumoured that the songs that were written and produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo - AKA The Neptunes - for Justin Timberlake’s 2002 debut album, Justified, were originally intended for Michael Jackson.

Now, in a new interview with The Almanac of Rap, producer Rodney Jerkins - who worked on Jackson’s 2001 album, Invincible - has been offering his take on why The King of Pop turned those Neptunes tunes down.