Today “The Toy” has been announced as another bonus track from the upcoming “Thriller 40” album. It will be the sixteenth track and shown as “The Toy (Demo).”

This song was originally written for the 1982 Richard Pryor film of the same title, but was not intended to necessarily be on the “Thriller” album. It was recorded initially in 1981, and multiple times during the rest of Michael’s career. He referenced its existance in the 1984 “The Girl Is Mine” lawsuit, acknowledging that he had indeed written and recorded a song with this title.

It first became “I Am Your Joy” in the early 1990s and ultimately evolved into the 2008 recording of “Best of Joy,” which was released posthumously as a remix by Neff-U on the 2010 album “Michael.” It’s noted as being the last song Michael recorded during his lifetime.

This will be the first time the original incarnation from forty years ago will be heard by the public.

This song was inspired by the Richard Pryor film of the same title. After not making the cut for the Thriller album, Michael continued to work on the song and it ultimately evolved into "Best of Joy”. The original incarnation is now being released. https://t.co/X9oMHEZPen pic.twitter.com/VhIZgDJgNL

— Michael Jackson (@michaeljackson) September 22, 2022