Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Battle Begins, who will be King?

OR...
This is our concern dude,

Well the votes appear to be in and there is an obvious winner...or is there? The numbers show MJ to be the clear-cut favorite, but that has always been the case. Does being the most popular and selling more make him the better artist? It comes down to the interpretation of King and Pop Music.
The debate begins.
Here is a collection of a few insights provided by LTME readers (thanks to all who visited and voted, not like this is for anything other than my own personal satisfaction, so thanks for making me feel more satisfied).
MJ. The average person can name more MJ songs than Prince songs. Pop = Popular. I think at his peak, MJ's global appeal far exceeded Prince's. -AD

there is no question... MJ - JW

Both are Queens! - WQ (my favorite response)

MJ no question. When Prince comes out on stage (which he still does) people freak out. But when MJ comes out on stage... - reader Phil T

I voted. McCain/Biden. - Schant

and the discussion that will lead to my retort...

This is a serious question, and I regret that I will not be able tofully commit myself to answering it, but to give a quick opinion onthe matter I would have to say that Michael Jackson is the real Kingof Pop. My primary reason for this is that there is a great deal ofPrince's music that does not constitute "pop." That is, if you take"pop" for its literal meaning, which is "popular," as in popularculture, or more generally, what is popular at the moment, I wouldhave to say that a lot of Prince's work does not fall into thiscategory. His work was much more experimental than Jackson's, whichin my opinion, ultimately makes the quality of his work better, or atleast more influential or inspiring, but I do not think that thispermits him to hold the title King of Pop. Michael Jackson is theKing of Pop solely for the fact that at the time of its release, andto this day, his music has always been universally popular. This is my opinion. I look forward to reading your semi-drunken ramblings about this subject.
Also, I spent more time and energy in drafting this email than I haveon all the emails I have written to my parents combined since I havebeen in Iraq. Take care.
- reader Pickle

Thanks again for taking part in this historic exercise. Stop back for my take soon.

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