musician? nah, Prince takes that easily. amazing guitar player and multi instrumentalist. self taught too iirc. played almost every instrument for his first few albums.
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At their absolute peak who was cooler between Michael Jackson and Prince?
- Thread starter bionic77
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musician? nah, Prince takes that easily. amazing guitar player and multi instrumentalist. self taught too iirc. played almost every instrument for his first few albums.
If we are talking about the women he had Prince wins (against probably everyone if I had to guess).
If we are talking about who had the better music then Prince also wins.
Prince was also the better musician (though MJ was pretty fucking talented as well, but he was not playing instruments and he did not create as much as Prince did).
MJ was definitely more popular and I would continue to argue at his peak he was more cool. Not to take anything away from Prince but without Thriller I am not sure MTV would have existed and been as important to young people (until it died sometime in the last decade and became a place to watch shitty movies). During the Thriller era MJ was just off the charts famous. He appealed to everyone and that is probably the last time that happened. Pretty much everyone fucking loved Billy Jean, Thriller, the moonwalk, etc. As great as Prince was he was never able to achieve that level of popularity. And I would argue that you could never be half as popular as Jackson was without also being the coolest person on the planet.
I mean Billy Fucking Jean.
I rest my case.
Kid Kamikaze10
Member
Coolness can be debated. Influence in genres can be debated.
Better musician? No freakin debate.
Michael Jackson never made an entire album by himself. Every instrument. Nevermind good albums.
Like, there is no debate there.
Better musician? No freakin debate.
Michael Jackson never made an entire album by himself. Every instrument. Nevermind good albums.
Like, there is no debate there.
Got damn Ninja. You know which Jordan I am talking about!
I would never disrespect Montell like that. My momma raised me better than that.
He actually lived up to the MJ initial standard set up by Michael Jackson and Magic Johnson.
Unfortunately Jordan ruining it for all MJ's afterwards because he was such a little bitch.
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
I agree, Prince was the better musician.
Michael Jackson was "cooler" though.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Prince was always cooler.
Eh? Prince can dance too.
Pick one of Prince's live performances out of hat, you'll always see a man on another level.
Eh? Prince can dance too.
Pick one of Prince's live performances out of hat, you'll always see a man on another level.
yeah Prince's stage presence is nearly unrivaled. dude had that swagger.
I won't say a bad word about Prince but MJ concerts in his prime were also something to behold.
The difference is Prince somehow maintained that level for 30+ years whereas MJ just fell off a cliff.
I will fully admit that I give Prince extra points for playing instruments
the dude struttin' all over the stage playing his guitar whenever. I linked that youtube video but the one where he's soloing and then cuing the band to drop out while he continues to solo without backup and then counting the band back in all the while strutting around the stage and interacting with the audience with hilarious facial expressions.
Prince is who I think of when I hear the word "swagger"
EdwardTeach
Member
The dude was a genius. He was one of the better guitar players in the world and he was such a force that that was just a side note about him.
I wept for our future when that one poster said he never heard a Prince song.
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
I hate these but Prince.
Prince was the embodiment of cool because of his idgaf attitude in music, fashion and opinions. He was creatively more talented and was behind a lot of fierce and memorable groups that also pulled or was inspired by his aesthetic. Prince's cool today is described as "Gay" because a lot of straight men are so insecure about their sexuality that if another straight man does it, he's automatically gay.
So definitely going with prince on this.
Prince was the embodiment of cool because of his idgaf attitude in music, fashion and opinions. He was creatively more talented and was behind a lot of fierce and memorable groups that also pulled or was inspired by his aesthetic. Prince's cool today is described as "Gay" because a lot of straight men are so insecure about their sexuality that if another straight man does it, he's automatically gay.
So definitely going with prince on this.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
I was going to say something similar, but you nailed it.
Not once in Prince's long career did he ever play it safe. After Purple Rain, he could have put out a string of bullshit filler albums to capitalize, but instead he changed his style and went in a completely different direction. He wasn't defined by his hits.
To put it another way, here's a quote from the man himself -
https://www.gq.com/story/prince-stories
GQ said:
That to me is cooler than anything.
I know a lot of people loved him but man I never understood Bowie. Just didn't click with me ¯\_(ツ
_/¯
SillyEskimo
Member
Prince was Prince, but MJ was the King.
A false King
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
No one was cooler.
Dude made purple is signature color. MJ made a track called Bad where he says your butt is mine. The choice is clear.
Also, lets not forget the infamous kiss
https://youtu.be/qvqecWlK1sU
MJ wasn't a dork by any means during his peak, he just wasn't as cool as Peak Prince.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
MJ was more bombastic, Hollywood personified. He would have a thousands of dollars of scenery and fireworks, but down to the individual level, Prince could pull it off with less.
Its not possible to be more cooler than Thriller MJ.
It's weird to me seeing people say MJ was the better musician, did he even write?
prince wrote, ghostwrote, multi instrumentalist, sung danced, carried pop superstars on his back... prince is probably the most talented pop artist ever.
mj was probably better at picking/thinking up gimmicks though
prince wrote, ghostwrote, multi instrumentalist, sung danced, carried pop superstars on his back... prince is probably the most talented pop artist ever.
mj was probably better at picking/thinking up gimmicks though
mambadragon
Banned
MJ a better musician than Prince? You people have lost your minds.
Thriller is arguably the greatest pop song/album of all time, but nothing about it is cool. The Beat It video reminds me of the Greasers vs the Socs.
It's like saying Hotline Bling is cool.
Thriller is arguably the greatest pop song/album of all time, but nothing about it is cool. The Beat It video reminds me of the Greasers vs the Socs.
It's like saying Hotline Bling is cool.
VistraNorrez
Member
I'd argue Thriller-era MJ was when he started losing his coolness.
The Girl is Mine is not cool. It's corny. Say, Say, Say is even worse.
Billie Jean is cool. Beat It is not cool. Wanna be Starting Something, cool. PYT, cool. Thriller, not cool.
Not that the uncool songs aren't great, I love Thriller especially, but being great doesn't equal cool.
MJ started to really go down the rabbit hole of holding onto his youth at this time and I think he was looking at the world through a childlike point of view. His concept of cool was so adolescent.
Bad 100% cemented that. And it's not that he didn't make great work after that. He produced many classics for years to come. He just wasn't really cool anymore. Which is fine. He will always be one of the most electrifying artists of all time.
I'd also like to say the title "King of Pop" has to be one of the least cool titles of all time.
The Girl is Mine is not cool. It's corny. Say, Say, Say is even worse.
Billie Jean is cool. Beat It is not cool. Wanna be Starting Something, cool. PYT, cool. Thriller, not cool.
Not that the uncool songs aren't great, I love Thriller especially, but being great doesn't equal cool.
MJ started to really go down the rabbit hole of holding onto his youth at this time and I think he was looking at the world through a childlike point of view. His concept of cool was so adolescent.
Bad 100% cemented that. And it's not that he didn't make great work after that. He produced many classics for years to come. He just wasn't really cool anymore. Which is fine. He will always be one of the most electrifying artists of all time.
I'd also like to say the title "King of Pop" has to be one of the least cool titles of all time.
VistraNorrez
Member
I just listened to The Girl Is Mine and Say, Say, Say back to back and have to flip on which is worse. The Girl is Mine is far worse. It's not a good song and it is aggressively uncool. Say, Say, Say is still corny but not it's kind of fun.
Gully State
Member
Prince is cooler overall but no one was cooler than MJ at his absolute peak.
He made Thriller...
He made Thriller...
Cow Mengde
Banned
Prince doesn't like Weird Al. Therefore Michael Jackson is cooler.
Yeah it's tough.
On the one hand its motherfucking Prince.
But on the other hand Thriller.
You can't go wrong either way!
adamsappel
Member
Prince. No question, no contest.
mambadragon
Banned
Ok I'm going to lob a grenade... Prince is a hero of the culture, and Michael Jackson has little/no part in it.
This might be the hill I choose to die on...
I'm flabbergasted people think anyone other than Prince can measure up to the coolness of those like Jimi, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Jagger/Richards, George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic, Bob Dylan, and Bowie (maybe Prince's only contemporary in cool). Prince's coolness blows away anyone who came after these musicians.
Look at this guy... 5'4" and wearing high heels. He'll bed your partner and you'll happily brag about it.
Greatest drum machine programmer of all time. He showed us his guitar mastery in many moments (but frankly never flaunted it above many other talents). Vocal range was impeccable. Lyrics could be either beautiful or filthy or the perfect combination where you wouldn't recognize and just think it was a pop song (i.e. Little Red Corvette)
Prince was the greatest.
This might be the hill I choose to die on...
I'm flabbergasted people think anyone other than Prince can measure up to the coolness of those like Jimi, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Jagger/Richards, George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic, Bob Dylan, and Bowie (maybe Prince's only contemporary in cool). Prince's coolness blows away anyone who came after these musicians.
Look at this guy... 5'4" and wearing high heels. He'll bed your partner and you'll happily brag about it.
Greatest drum machine programmer of all time. He showed us his guitar mastery in many moments (but frankly never flaunted it above many other talents). Vocal range was impeccable. Lyrics could be either beautiful or filthy or the perfect combination where you wouldn't recognize and just think it was a pop song (i.e. Little Red Corvette)
Prince was the greatest.
False.
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