New Jackson album 'disrespectful': will.i.am

Will.i.am, lead singer for the Black Eyed Peas, is upset that Sony Music will be releasing 10 previously unaired Michael Jackson songs.

The November album is the first part of a 10-project deal that the Jackson estate signed with Sony Music.

"I don't think that should ever come out. That's bad," he said. "He was a perfectionist and he wouldn't have wanted it that way. How you gonna release Michael Jackson when Michael Jackson ain't here to bless it?"

Will.i.am collaborated with Jackson on the re-release of Thriller in 2008 with remixed versions of a few of the songs from that album. He said Jackson would want to be an integral part of any tunes being released in his name.

"He was a friend of mine. I just think that's disrespectful. What's wrong with what he already contributed to the world?"

Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009. Authorities ruled the entertainer's death a homicide, citing "acute propofol intoxication" as the primary cause and other sedatives as a contributing factor.

His doctor, Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and is expected to face a trial next year.  Murray has denied the charges.

Some of the songs in the upcoming release will be ones the performer recorded in the 1980s.

They were discovered after the singer's death in two separate hard drives, one at the Hollywood studios Jackson was using and another at his rented mansion in Los Angeles.

Both drives were turned over to his estate administrators.

Music producer Rodney Jerkins, who co-produced Jackon's 2001 album  Invincible, is working with Jackie Jackson, one of the singer's older brothers, to compile the album.

Jackson's former manager Frank DiLeo said there are more than 100 completed and unreleased songs on the hard drives, including collaborations with Akon and Ne-Yo.