It was released as the lead single off Michael Jackson's ninth album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.

"Scream" is an aggressive, retaliatory song directed at the tabloid media and their coverage of the child sexual abuse accusations made against Michael Jackson in 1993.

Recording for "Scream" took place at the Hit Factory in New York City in October 1994 and at Flyte Tyme Studios in Edina, Minnesota in December 1994.

In 1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box.

When Jackson bought a pet chimpanzee called Bubbles, it was reported as evidence of increasing detachment from reality.

In the video, there are images of shrines to his friend Elizabeth Taylor, newspapers with bizarre headlines, Jackson dancing with the bones of Merrick, and an animated nose with a scalpel chasing it across the screen.

The Daily Mirror held a "Spot the Jacko" contest, offering readers a trip to Disney World if they could correctly predict where the entertainer would appear next.

These tabloids also falsely alleged that Jackson had traveled to Europe to have cosmetic surgery that would make him unrecognizable on his return.

[14] Geraldo Rivera set up a mock trial, with a jury made up of audience members, even though Jackson had not been charged with a crime.

[21] Jackson was credited for playing instruments such as keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, drums and percussion on the single and album.

[30] Though they potentially faced legal action, the Los Angeles radio station programmer noted that, "some things are more important...

[31][32] Deepika Reddy of The Daily Collegian wrote, "The lyrics to the album's debut single and video 'Scream' are for the first time in Jackson's convoluted career, painfully direct.

[35] Another editor, James Hamilton deemed it a "typically yelped and for once genuine pain filled jitterer duetted with sister Janet.

"[36] James Hunter of Rolling Stone said that, "the excellent current single 'Scream' or the first-rate R&B ballad 'You Are Not Alone' – manage to link the incidents of Jackson's infamous recent past to universal concepts like injustice or isolation.

When he bases his music in the bluntness of hip-hop, Jackson sketches funky scenarios denouncing greed, blanket unreliability and false accusation.

"[28] He went on to say of "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", "[these] two adventurous Jam and Lewis thumpers work completely: Jackson's slippery voice is caught in mammoth funk-rock constructions.

[29] The 4:47 minute music video for "Scream" was filmed in May 1995 and was directed by Mark Romanek with choreography by Travis Payne, LaVelle Smith Jr, Tina Landon, Sacha Lucashenko, and Sean Cheesman, and the production being designed by Tom Foden.

"[44] Production of the music video's 13-piece set was restricted to a one-month period and was produced by Foden and art directors Richard Berg, Jeff Hall, and Martin Mervel.

[44] Foden described the assignment as a "military operation" explaining, "The idea was to give each of the art directors three sets: a complicated one, a not-so-complicated one, and one of the smaller, easier vignettes.

Jim Farber of the New York Daily News described her as "Sporting a thick thatch of wig hair, and eyes darkened by coal-black makeup... sullen and arty... Janet, however, never looked tougher, or more in control.

"[47] The video has influences of Japanese sci-fi anime; in the background screens, several clips can be seen of the television series Zillion (1987) and Babel II (OVA, 1992), and the films Vampire Hunter D (1985) and Akira (1988).

[47][48] The version of the video included on Michael Jackson's Vision is uncut and contains the "Stop fucking with me" lyric, which was censored in HIStory on Film, Volume II.

Then, it shows Michael and Janet in a room where they are using a remote control to switch between pictures of Andy Warhol, art paintings, statues, etc.

Then, Janet sports a skimpy bikini in some scenes while at the core of the craft, grabs at her breasts, gives the camera a middle finger, and simulates male urination.

The video premiered in the summer of 1995, on MTV and BET and the next evening on ABC's Primetime Live during Diane Sawyer's interview with Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley.

"[42] James Hunter of Rolling Stone called it a contemporary video, "in which Michael and his sister Janet jump around like '90s fashion kids trapped in a spaceship stolen from a Barbarella film set.

[53] As the future-shock intro to "Scream" hit the screen, and plumes of white fog sprouted up amid a space-age set made up of white honeycombs, Janet kicked through a mirror and emerged to screams from fans and celebs alike, as Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and Pink hooted their excitement.

"[55] She worked with several world-renowned choreographers, including Dave Scott, Cris Judd, Brian Friedman, Wade Robson, Tyce Diorio, Travis Payne, Jeri Slaughter, Laurie Ann Gibson, Mia Michaels and Tina Landon, with her personal creative director, Gil Duldulao, coordinating the performance.

[55] Gil Kaufman of MTV commented "[w]earing a black-and-white, skintight leather dress with matching pants, Janet busted some of her and Michael's signature moves, flawlessly re-creating her late brother's steps as they were projected on the screen behind her.

"[54] Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly commented, "she worked that stage harder than an underpaid assistant doin' overtime, and as tributes go, this was as energetic as it was heartfelt.