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At their absolute peak who was cooler between Michael Jackson and Prince?

B

bionic77

Member
I am going to pick MJ by a hair. Thriller was and remains one of them most amazing things I have ever seen. And that is no slight to Prince, who I think had the better overall career and who remained relevant and a very bad man to the day he died. I much prefer Prince's music as well. But in terms of who was cooler, I don't think any musician has ever been as cool as MJ was in the early to mid 80s. Before Thriller music videos were all pretty much horrible and then out of nowhere comes out the greatest music video of all time (to this day). This was supplemented by the fact that the music was legitimately great, MJ was an all time live performer, and he brought a style that we had never seen before. Add it up and MJ comes out on top.

The Stranger Things things trailer got me on a MJ kick which eventually led me to this debate.

No other musicians are accepted in this conversation as no one else came close to these two guys in the 80s (IMHO).
 
P

PSqueak

Banned
How are we measuring coolness? Because i think MJ needs to get some points for having a much wider global appeal.
 
J

JCHandsom

Member
It's real close, but I'd have to go with Prince, as I believe coolness/uncoolness works backwards. MJ's later life impacts my perception of 80's MJ, but Prince has been consistently cool.
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
Cooler? Prince, and it's not close. I love MJ's stuff but "cool" is not a word I would use to describe him. In fact I don't think I could name 5 artists cooler than Prince.

Better artist? MJ, by far.
 
D

D6AMIA6N

Member
Prince, MJ was always more family friendly. Prince and his music were more sexual, adult oriented, and just overall awesomer.
 
F

ForkNetwork

Banned
Hardest question of the year.

Bad era Michael was incredible in terms of looking like an absolute badass, but Prince had some incredible outfits and his attitude was always a joy to watch.
 
K

Kid Kamikaze10

Member
Prince was definitely cooler. Not only was he generally cooler, but he had around him a ton of other cool people. Sheila E, Wendy and Lisa, Andre Cymone, and his own Frankenstein's Monster, Morris Day and the Time.

Thriller Era MJ is awesome, but maybe it's because I'm seeing both in retrospect, but Prince is more personal to me in terms of admiration
 
B

bionic77

Member
Master_Of_Illusion said:
Prince.

The dude played guitar and pretended it was his dick. Automatic win.
Click to expand...
I am talking about peak coolness, not overall coolness, which Prince obviously wins and I am not sure anyone can challenge him there.

I don't think Prince (or anyone else for the matter) was as cool as MJ was during Thriller.
 
V

V_Arnold

Member
Point me towards some stuff, GAF.

I am 31 years old and have never heard of one single Prince song, like...ever.

I remember my childhood and watching MTV, I remember plenty of MJ songs, but not a single Prince song, ever. His attitude ever since has turned me off so strongly, I did not even bother looking for his work anywhere.

Where does one start?
 
M

Malreyn

Member
The absolute "peak" of MJ's career was when he started getting weird with him smashing up the car in that Black or White video and the awkward Lisa Marie kiss.

Its easy to say Prince was cooler at his "peak" but he could never match MJ in terms of peak of popularity internationally
 
H

Hydrus

Member
Prince was and is the definition of cool. The dude could look at a woman across the room and get her pregnant.
 
H

Hydrus

Member
V_Arnold said:
Point me towards some stuff, GAF.

I am 31 years old and have never heard of one single Prince song, like...ever.

I remember my childhood and watching MTV, I remember plenty of MJ songs, but not a single Prince song, ever. His attitude ever since has turned me off so strongly, I did not even bother looking for his work anywhere.

Where does one start?
Click to expand...

You've never heard of Purple Rain or When Doves cry?
 
S

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
DeaconKnowledge said:
Cooler? Prince, and it's not close. I love MJ's stuff but "cool" is not a word I would use to describe him. In fact I don't think I could name 5 artists cooler than Prince.

Better artist? MJ, by far.
Click to expand...

soundscream said:
Prince and its not even close.

If we're talikng talent thats a closer argument.
Click to expand...

This is how I feel. MJ was on another level, even from someone as extraordinarily talented as Prince. However, MJ was not "cool". He was a weirdo. Prince is notorious for being one of the coolest motherfuckers in the game.
 
S

soundscream

Member
bionic77 said:
I am talking about peak coolness, not overall coolness, which Prince obviously wins and I am not sure anyone can challenge him there.

I don't think Prince (or anyone else for the matter) was as cool as MJ was during Thriller.
Click to expand...

I never saw MJ as cool. Like in the BAD music video he always came off like a poser. But as a musician he was always great.

Prince on the other hand always ozzed cool. It was probably because he was overtly sexual. Especially compared to MJ.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Prince was always cooler than Michael.

Like it wasn't (and still isn't) really a question.

Michael was more popular because he was "safer."

Michael didn't fuck.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
MJ was an international sensation. He was another level than Prince. But cool is not a word I would use for Michael.
 
Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
V_Arnold said:
Point me towards some stuff, GAF.

I am 31 years old and have never heard of one single Prince song, like...ever.

I remember my childhood and watching MTV, I remember plenty of MJ songs, but not a single Prince song, ever. His attitude ever since has turned me off so strongly, I did not even bother looking for his work anywhere.

Where does one start?
Click to expand...

You know plenty of Prince songs, you probably just don't realize it's him.

This is the best song of the decade of the 80's, if you really have to pick one:

When Doves Cry
 
G

gutter_trash

Banned
Malreyn said:
The absolute "peak" of MJ's career was when he started getting weird with him smashing up the car in that Black or White video and the awkward Lisa Marie kiss.

Its easy to say Prince was cooler at his "peak" but he could never match MJ in terms of peak of popularity internationally
Click to expand...
Nope Thriller was peak.

Black n White was the start of the decline

If I had a graph, i could draw it for you
 
B

bionic77

Member
Switch Back 9 said:
This is how I feel. MJ was on another level, even from someone as extraordinarily talented as Prince. However, MJ was not "cool". He was a weirdo. Prince is notorious for being one of the coolest motherfuckers in the game.
Click to expand...
This is the words of a young.

MJ was definitely not seen as a weirdo when Thriller came out. Everyone I knew wanted to be able to dance like MJ and we all tried to pull off the moon walk. Everyone I knew watched Thriller a billion times (it must have been like 30% of MTVs entire content from like 83-86). I don't even know how to describe how famous and popular he was during that time.

I am not talking about how this ended. In the end no one is going to argue that MJ won, but at his peak I don't think anyone could touch him.
 
S

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Cool =/= popular, I presume?

Because nobody - NO.BODY - has ever had or will ever have the star power on display when MJ performed at the Super Bowl. Period. Can't link right this moment - but the crowd ERUPTED in chaos when he just *moved* after a few minutes of standing still.

That's peak popularity.

But if cool is just the idea of. As in, the attractiveness in their style, it's much closer. I seem to be in the minority, but I think I'd still go with MJ.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Prince was definitely cooler and more diversely talented and MJ was a better singer and dancer. MJs looks were always a bit cringey (BAD being his fashion low ebb) but he could pull it off.

He dressed like Voldo sometimes. Or vice Versa arguably.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Michael Jackson was never cool. He was always an awkward weirdo who made good music but cool never described him. Prince was a weirdo as well, but he carried an air of complete self confidence and mystique that made him cool as fuck.

And no, even during thriller he was an awkward weirdo. I remember people laughing at the Jackson 5 kid trying to look like a badass.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Michael Jackson.

I think Prince is cooler today, but Prince was always behind MJ in his popular appeal. Maybe Cool != Popular though. FWIW, I didn't know anybody who thought that Prince was cool until much, much later in life.
 
D

DriftingSpirit

Member
V_Arnold said:
Point me towards some stuff, GAF.

I am 31 years old and have never heard of one single Prince song, like...ever.

I remember my childhood and watching MTV, I remember plenty of MJ songs, but not a single Prince song, ever. His attitude ever since has turned me off so strongly, I did not even bother looking for his work anywhere.

Where does one start?
Click to expand...
Rasberry Beret
Darling Nikki
I Would Die For You
Diamonds and Pearls
 
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