A Galway-born music producer has become the first Irish artist to secure a co-publishing credit with the late Michael Jackson.
Chris Haze will release the single ‘Feels So Right’ internationally on all major streaming platforms tomorrow, Friday, August 1 as one of only a handful of independent artists worldwide who have secured access to Jackson’s catalogue.
Ballinfoile-born Chris Hayes, is a 35-year-old with extensive experience and contacts in the US music industry. After nine months of negotiation with Sony Records and the Michael Jackson Estate, he secured permission to sample from Jackson’s top-10 hit ‘You Rock My World’, labelled an instant Disco classic by critics on its original release in 2001.
Haze now holds a share of the publishing rights on the record, alongside Michael Jackson, and the song’s original producers Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, LaShawn Daniels, and Nora Payne. Haze says his achievement is more than a sample clearance. “It’s a once-in-a-generation breakthrough, not just for an independent artist, but for the entire Irish music industry,” he says.
Speaking with the Advertiser, Haze describes ‘Feels So Right’ as a fusion of RnB with Hip Hop and the iconic Jackson sound. He is currently working on a music video to accompany the release, expected to include echoes of Jackson’s original gangster-themed video, which included Chris Tucker, Michael Madsen and Marlon Brando.
Involved in music festivals in the US, Haze has not played his hometown since supporting British dance music icon, Example, when he played Monroe’s last year, and he says a hometown return is on the cards.
Not one to stick to just music, Hayes is also behind distribution of a new range of Chilean wines called Squid Inc, which will be released in Ireland this summer.
‘Feels So Right’ from Chris Haze is available on all major streaming platforms now.
