Yuji Naka confirms the use of music by Michael Jackson in Sonic 3

[HomebrewingNeko]

The rumors that Sonic 3 had music done by Michael Jackson are true, according to Yuji Naka, Sonic's creator. He posted on Twitter saying "Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though SEGA Official uses Michael Jackson's music.", relating to the Sonic Origins usage of new tracks for the stages Carnival Night, Ice Cap, and Launch Base, according to a video done by GameXplain. The idea that Michael Jackson had done the music was long in the making, being that Jackson already had ties with Sega beforehand. In 2009, Brad Buxer, the composer of Jackson's songs, said in a french fan-magazine, Black & White, that yes, Jackson had worked on the music for the game.

B&W: Can you clarify the rumor that Michael had in 1993 composed the music for Sonic 3 video game, for which you havel been credited?

Buxer: I've never played the game so I do not know what tracks on which Michael and I have worked the developers have kept, but we did compose music for the game. Michael called me at the time for help on this project, and that's what I did.
And if he is not credited for composing the music, it's because he was not happy with the result sound coming out of the console. At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music...

B&W: One of the surprising things in this soundtrack is that you can hear the chords from Stranger in Moscow, which is supposed to have been composed later...

Buxer: Yes, Michael and I had composed those chords for the game, and it has been used as base for Stranger in Moscow. [...]

Sadly, the original article seems to be lost to time, although multiple transcripts seem to be available online. This is now definitive proof that Jackson had worked on Sonic 3, and was left uncredited.

GameXplain video:
​

 

[PacBunny]

Who cares? Sonic doesn't need Michael Jackson to have great music.

 

[Bladexdsl]

the new ice cap music sounds retarded. think i'll stick to emualtion

 

[king_of_tennis]

I always thought I heard a resemblance to MJ's Stranger in Moscow when playing Sonic 3...

 

[ChibiMofo]

One thing Michael Jackson wasn't doing when he wasn't paying off one of his 24 child molestation victims was compose music. He "wrote" songs (the lyrics), but he played ZERO instruments and did not know how to notate music. He may have worked with an unnamed actual composer (as he did with guys like Quincy Jones) humming what he wanted, but he didn't write any music for a Sonic game himself. That's a no.

 

[Segger]

This is kinda one of those things that's more interesting left ambiguous, now that we know it's just kind of a whatever fact.

 

[_47iscool]

I like the original music tracks in the prototype which if I am correct, at least some of it was also in the collection on PC.
Nice to see it return in origins. I never liked those tracks in the retail release, especially the Carnival Night zone music which in my opinion "sounds retarded".

Chemical Plant.
Mystic Cave.
Flying Battery.

Now those above were great. I prefer the latter half of Sonic 3's music.
I do like the original Ice Cap Hard Times.

 

[BigOnYa]

Makes me wanna play it even less now...

 

[tech3475]

Makes me wanna play it even less now...

If you don’t like the MJ association, then just play either a rom hack which uses/allows the non-MJ tracks (’Sonic 3 Complete’ IIRC) or Sonic Origins.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Confirms? People could clearly tell it was MJ's music, but sure it's always good that someone from Sega can verify it.

I love the music and the game without it just isn't the same at all.

 

[Vine-gar]

One thing Michael Jackson wasn't doing when he wasn't paying off one of his 24 child molestation victims was compose music. He "wrote" songs (the lyrics), but he played ZERO instruments and did not know how to notate music. He may have worked with an unnamed actual composer (as he did with guys like Quincy Jones) humming what he wanted, but he didn't write any music for a Sonic game himself. That's a no.

Hey, that source is bogus.
https://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/03/showbiz/michael-jackson-files
I can't weigh in with certainty if he did or didn't molest anyone but I am sure that your source is false. I found this out very quickly upon trying to search for the FBI file cited in your link.

There's no link to Yuji Naka's twitter so here's the tweets this thread was about. Can't read Japanese but it's in English.
Edit: Whoops. I was blocking the embedded tweets in the OP.

Does Sonic Origins Sonic 3 have a different song?

Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though SEGA Official uses Michael Jackson's music.

SEGA Official uses Michael Jackson's music. means this.

I feel like I'm being misunderstood a lot, probably because I don't speak English and I'm using a translation tool. Sorry.

Then later in September of that year:

I've met Michael Jackson, so I'm lucky to have met the King of Soul and the King of Pop in James Brown and Michael Jackson.

 

[raging_chaos]

Yea, he's kinda taken that back. The reality is MJ pawned it off to Brad Buxer and he's the one that worked on it.

With 'Stranger in Moscow'... [Michael Jackson] calls me at 10:30 in the morning. I go knock on his door and I had under my arm a cassette player — I'd been doing all the SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog cues because the way Michael works is, he'll tell SEGA he'll do it and then he says "Brad, you do it." Right? So I think we did one cue together with Michael. One. And the rest I had to do myself.

So I had the cassette on me – I had 41 cues done – and I said "I'm sure you want to hear this Sonic the Hedgehog" and he said, "No, just play something." And I played the verse for 'Stranger in Moscow' and then I came up with the chorus on the spot and he loved it. So in an hour and a half 'Stranger in Moscow' was written.