Yeezy: I'm bigger than Michael Jackson was

[HIStory]

Michael embraced the King of Pop title, so he definitely did not have any problem with being called a pop star.

 

[analogue]

Well in that case AC/DC, Metallica, Van Halen and Led Zepplin are also pop stars cause they are popular

 

[WhoIsIt89]

I'm a Kanye fan, but I laughed when I saw this thread title. Again though, being a Kanye fan, you have to come to terms with the absurdities that sometimes come from his mouth.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

Michael embraced the King of Pop title, so he definitely did not have any problem with being called a pop star.

John Branca said to MTV Michael wanted them to reffer to him as "The King of Pop, Rock & Soul", that's the complete title which means his music covers more genres than simply pop because he was upset Elvis was called the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Frank Sinatra, the Leader, Bruce Springsteen, the Boss and Michael the Gloved One and I agree with him, it wasn't right. Even Liz Taylor used that title to present hm at the American Music Awards in 1989 if I'm not mistaken.

Anyhow, Michael legitimately deserved his title due to his hard work, innovation and pioneering. Also was very smart to not compare himself with a very important character for the majority of societies but ficticious one like god (there's no proof that tells me otherwise.)

 

[Ashtanga]

 

[TRIFORCEFINDER13]

I was wondering if anyone is able to clear up the air between the relationship between Kanye and Michael.

I know that Kanye did a mix to Billie Jean on Thriller 25. Did these two ever meet in person, work together in a studio, etc? I've been trying to find the answer for years. It's not something Kanye has mentioned.

 

[qbee]

Josh Groban Sings Kanye West Tweets

http://youtu.be/0Axzxe1a78E

 

[HIStory]

John Branca said to MTV Michael wanted them to reffer to him as "The King of Pop, Rock & Soul", that's the complete title which means his music covers more genres than simply pop because he was upset Elvis was called the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Frank Sinatra, the Leader, Bruce Springsteen, the Boss and Michael the Gloved One and I agree with him, it wasn't right. Even Liz Taylor used that title to present hm at the American Music Awards in 1989 if I'm not mistaken.

Then he later dropped the rock and soul part and for most of his career he was referred to as the King of Pop and he perfectly embraced that title. The point was that you got offended by Michael being called a pop star. Well, he was and he embraced the King of Pop title. And actually in the the post you reacted to he was called a "pop/R&B star" but you only picked the pop part. I know some people like to distance their favorite artists from the term pop these days because it became a somewhat derogatory term in the past years because of the weak state of pop music but it wasn't always the case and I sense a little snobbery in that. Pop is a wide umbrella term that includes a lot of type of music that is popular and appeals to big masses. There is rock music that can also be labelled as pop (for example Bon Jovi), there is R&B music that can also be labelled as pop. Pop is a big umbrella term and that label in itself does not say anything about the quality of the music. Prince, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Queen, the Beatles - these are also pop. Some with more R&B leanings, some with more rock leanings but it's pop. Heck, the Oxford Dictionary of Music uses the Rolling Stones as an example of pop music. There is nothing offensive about the term pop in itself - although I know that these days some people would like to degrade the term to simple commercialism. That's obviously wrong because there's lots of pop music that is art as well as commercial. And since Michael covered so many styles it would be wrong to call him an R&B artists. When I think of an R&B artist I think of someone like Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Al Green etc. - artists who work within lot more limited borders than MJ did with a lot more limited appeal. His main influence and his main leaning was R&B but he wasn't strictly R&B, so I think to call him a pop artists - which is a much wider term - is OK.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

^^I see what you mean but nowadays pop is associated to shallow, bubbly and meaningless commercial music which Michael is not whatsoever. I didn't say he didn't include that genre on his music, I said his adult solo work is predominantly R&B or even other genres created by black musicians like soul, hip hop or funk.

 

[HIStory]

^^I see what you mean but nowadays pop is associated to shallow, bubbly and meaningless commercial music which Michael is not whatsoever.

Yes, and I see that's why the term pop became so derogatory for some people. However I'm looking at the wider picture than the current state of music and as someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s I know that pop isn't just the likes of Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus. It can have meaning, it can be artistic, it can be musically interesting, it can have heart and soul and not only hard, cold, calculated, commercial music belongs to it. To me it's not even a genre, more like an umbrella term for a lots of type of popular music. R&B is a genre, rock is a genre, hip-hop is a genre. Pop? Debatable. And what do you do with artists like Michael who cannot be strictly classified as an R&B artist, nor as a rock artist? The umbrella term pop seems more fitting to them from that aspect.

 

[wednesday]

When I look for Michael's records in record stores I never find him under the pop/rock section! They always put the King of Pop in the soul category. Can you imagine that?!

 

[OnirMJ]

Kimmel Kid Re-Kreation - Kanye West Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_O6QrdsP38


@JimmyKimmel @KanyeWest Feud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It05EvqFD6s


Funny..

 

[KOPV]

I'll give Kanye this, he thinks out of the box like all great artist do.. The issue is while thinking out of the box somewhere down the road he thought it was a bright idea spray paint the inside of that box, put it over his head.. Now he can't see day from night, reality from fiction - and that paint killed too many brain cells..

 

[LindavG]

[youtube]7_O6QrdsP38[/youtube]
[youtube]It05EvqFD6s[/youtube]


Funny..

I was gonna post that

Kanye is such a joke. I don't believe for a second that he is just trolling. He really is this delusional. He thinks he's this tragic artistic genius who gets picked on because others don't realise just how brilliant he really is, when in reality his lyrics are so simplistic that a 12-year-old could write them and his rapping is nothing special. He's all hype and most of that hype is created by Kanye himself. He thinks he's the new Tupac? LOL.

What has Kanye done that is so revolutionary? Am I missing something?

 

[AtlasAir]

I was wondering if anyone is able to clear up the air between the relationship between Kanye and Michael.

I know that Kanye did a mix to Billie Jean on Thriller 25. Did these two ever meet in person, work together in a studio, etc? I've been trying to find the answer for years. It's not something Kanye has mentioned.

In Bad 25, he said the met once and he said he "liked his voice", and then he pretty much made an album with mostly him singing with autotune (the 808's and Heartbreak album).
I'd imagine outside of that and having him remix one of this songs, not much interaction.

 

[L.T.D]

You know when tabloids take something someone has said out of context, or publish a title for an article which isn't exactly what the person is quoted as saying and we as MJ fans hate that sort of thing and hate when people buy into it?

That's exactly what you're all doing. He didn't say he was bigger than Michael Jackson, he was basically saying he had gotten to the point where he could not become any bigger and that MJ was at that same point.

What he means by that, is that he possibly could not get any bigger than he already is....and Michael being as big as he was (bigger than Kanye obviously, and I'm sure if directly asked he would admit that) could not have got any bigger than he was.

Nowhere in the article did he say he was bigger than MJ, I could maybe see how people would see he was maybe saying he was AS big as MJ........but that's not what the title says and I don't think he was saying that anyway.

I'm willing to bet my house that a lot of people that posted in this thread only read the title and made a judgement based just on the title of the thread without reading it. This is the kind of stuff us MJ fans hate, misleading titles which draw people in to buy or read articles, the kind of headlines you see on the front of a tabloid newspaper only to read inside and find out it's a bit of a different story or not true at all.

It is honestly stuff like this which has lead me to stay away from these forums for a while, it's one rule for us and another for everyone else. Does this kind of stuff only apply when it's Michael who is the victim? Stand back for a second and look at the title of this thread and then read the article, it reminds me exactly of a magazine cover which mis-quotes a celebrity and then you read the article inside to find out they haven't exactly said that.

 

[marebear]

I read the article and maybe I misunderstood when he says that he has reached a glass ceiling that not even Michael reached when he was here.

"In fact, the hip-hop star and new dad (to daughter North, 3 months, with Kim Kardashian) considers himself to be something of a revolutionary. Though he conceded that "there would be no Kanye West if it wasn't for Michael Jackson," he also said he'd reached a point that even the King of Pop hadn't seen in his lifetime.

"I've got to a point that Michael Jackson did not break down. I have reached the glass ceiling, as a creative person, as a celebrity ... and I've been at it for 10 years," he told Lowe. "I look around and I say, 'Wait a minute. There's no one around here that looks like me. And if they are, they're quiet as [expletive].' So that means, wait a second -- now we're seriously like, in a civil rights movement."

My issue is that I believe that Michael broke the glass ceiling. A lot of us actually do read the article and then say how we feel.

 

[qbee]

Here is the whole interview. Instead of just relying on an article that may take words out of context.
4:34
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2Kanye West. Zane Lowe. Part 1.

by BBC Radio 1

889,711 views
Zane Lowe chats to Kanye West in the 1st of a 4 part interview - WATCH PART 2 HERE:
13:06
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</button>
3Kanye West. Zane Lowe. Part 2.

by BBC Radio 1

338,463 views
Zane Lowe chats to Kanye West in the 2nd of a special 4 part interview. Contains the strongest possible language&#8230;
17:04
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</button>
4Kanye West. Zane Lowe. Part 3.

by BBC Radio 1

329,758 views
Zane Lowe chats to Kanye West in the 3rd of a special 4 part interview. Contains the strongest possible language&#8230;
18:25
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5WATCHED
Kanye West. Zane Lowe. Part 4.

by BBC Radio 1

153,692 views
Zane Lowe chats to Kanye West in the last of a special 4 part interview. Contains the strongest possible language.

 

[Lark]

The reason in my opinion he will never get to where MJ did is because he has no humility. It's what Michael had that he just doesn't, and it brought his work to a whole other level. Not just the way people perceived him, but the work itself.

Like he's making cherry pie without the filling and doesn't understand why nobody wants it.

Lark

 

[8701girl]

Kanye keep dreaming buddy lol

 

[Yazman]

Milli Vanilli said they were bigger than The Beatles and where are they now?

 

[KOPV]

What Michael did cannot be done again.. even IF that someone came around more talented than him (Which wont happen) no one can reach the success Michael did.

Michaels success was made from the perfect storm of Timing + HUGE talent + Musical and video standards + accessability to music..

- He broke racial barriers that cannot be broken to that axtent again
- He broke sale records which in this download age cannot be reached again
- He was the first artist to have TRUE world success which today is not rare due to social media
- He started the 'boom' of endorsements by public figures (there were people before him but not to that level)
- MTV was created before Michael but together they created the 'MTV Age'


I could make the list so long, but you get where I am going, basically the world is set up where everyone can be pretty damn famous, but no one can be a TRUE stand out like Michael was. That's over! Social media and progression of the worlds culture has changed that..

Michael did to the music industry kind of what youtube did to media sharing.. It changed it forever, and even if 100 websites like youtube exhist and might even have somethings youtube doesn't have.. Youtube will cannot be duplicated, it was the first of its kind that changed it all..


Plus, what made Michael the BEST, is not the fact that he was a great singer etc.. He is the only person to ever be arguably the best at so many things..

Some people may not think Michael is the best singer.. Well ok, that's there opinion but he arguably was the best singer.
Some people may think he's not the best dancer.. He arguably was the best dancer.
Some people may not care for the music he created. Well sales show that arguably he made the best music.
etc..

Here I go again, ill stop haha

 

[L.T.D]

What he means is everybody has their own glass ceiling, he has reached his and can't get any bigger. Michael reached his and could not get any bigger than he was, which was bigger than Kanye which I'm sure he knows. I read the article and that's what I gathered, the title of this thread I believe is misleading.

 

[OnirMJ]

What has Kanye done that is so revolutionary?

Apparently leather jogging pants.

 

[SheilaMJFan4Ever]

Kanye knocked up a Kardashian. That ALONE kills any credibility he may think he has, lol... *smdh*

 

[8701girl]

^lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[KOPV]

Well, you can hate me for saying this, call me cocky if you want lol but I am MUCH bigger than Michael Jackson EVER was..

I have a good 70 lbs on him.. :yes:

 

[Zakk]

delusional, pure and simple. no one artist will ever be as successful as Michael Jackson was, and still is even after his passing. he broke every record known in the music industry, including *cough* biggest selling album of all time, thriller with over 100MILLION sales to date *cough* you can't just say that about yourself, he has to use autotune cos' he doesn't even have a vibrato. michael's voice got him to where he was.. he stunned the world with his dances, he didn't need any of today's technologies to sell more than a million records, people bought his lp's because they loved his music. i don't even think Kanye has sold more than 10million for one of his albums? well, another artist who is too big for there boots. Michael's music is all i need. thank you, and goodbye. lol, oh and tell me when you wake up from your dream kanye? haha.... :crazy :yawn:

 

[TheChosenOne]

We do have to be careful not to jump on things based on how the media has framed an interview/issue, but in this particular case Kanye was a bit inarticulate and what he said could have been interpreted as a slam or a compliment.

And aside from what he said about Michael, the rest of the interview made for difficult viewing.But we don't know what Kanye has to deal with on a daily basis. Maybe he is reacting to the slights, insults, etc that he suffers.

 

[HIStoric]

What he means is everybody has their own glass ceiling, he has reached his and can't get any bigger. Michael reached his and could not get any bigger than he was, which was bigger than Kanye which I'm sure he knows. I read the article and that's what I gathered, the title of this thread I believe is misleading.

That's how I interpreted it too. Kanye may be cocky at times, but I don't think he'd be cocky enough to say he's bigger than Michael Jackson.

We do have to be careful not to jump on things based on how the media has framed an interview/issue, but in this particular case Kanye was a bit inarticulate and what he said could have been misinterpreted.

And aside from what he said about Michael, the rest of the interview made for difficult viewing.But we don't now what Kanye has to deal with on a daily basis. Maybe he is reacting to the slights, insults, etc that he suffers.

Exactly. I thought Michael Jackson fans, fans of someone who was often misinterpreted by the media and made out to be someone who he was not, would actually take this into consideration.

Kanye knocked up a Kardashian. That ALONE kills any credibility he may think he has, lol... *smdh*

So having a child with someone you love is reason enough to kill any credibility you may have ? Riiiight.

delusional, pure and simple. no one artist will ever be as successful as Michael Jackson was, and still is even after his passing.

Mmmm Yes and no. Michael Jackson was astronomically successful (and certainly for good reason), but there are artists who are possibly more successful, and only two: The Beatles and Elvis. That's going solely by Total Album Sales though and once you reach pretty much unparalleled sales levels such as these 3 (well, 6) artists have, then it's hard to calculate total number of sales. But in general, I've seen The Beatles have a reported higher number of albums sold than MJ (and fair enough, they were around for much longer than he is). Doesn't mean this extraordinary achievement by MJ is worth any less though (not a single bit).

he broke every record known in the music industry, including *cough* biggest selling album of all time, thriller with over 100MILLION sales to date

Don't be delusional. Michael Jackson, as amazingly talented as he is (quite the understatement), certainly did not break every record known in the music industry, and to say so is just so unbelievably close-minded and well... stupid. Does Michael have the best selling album of the 1990s ? What about the best selling album of the 2000s ? Does he have the most grammys ? He may have broken a shit load of records (Best selling album, best selling remix album, most expensive music video the list goes on and on and on) and while those are definitely something in themselves, even if it is meant to be a hyperbole, it's just stupid to say he broke every record known in the music industry.

Besides, to break every record in the industry would mean MJ would have to technically release an album of every genre every year, and sell the more than everyone too

*cough* you can't just say that about yourself, he has to use autotune cos' he doesn't even have a vibrato. michael's voice got him to where he was..

Just like Michael's voice got him to where he was, Kanye's rapping and producing skills have got him to where he is. Normally, I despise artists who use auto-tune, and as such I would actually agree with you. However, I think for this particular case, it is important to know the context of why he used auto-tune. Here's an except from an interesting thread about his use of autotune in the album:

In 2007 right after the release Graduation, Kanye's mother Donda passed away. Kanye was at the top of the world in every way, but when he lost his mom he lost it. You can see in his interviews there is a huge difference from before his mother passed and after it and I think anyone can understand that. Kanye was close to his mom as the song "Hey Mama" proves and he also split up with his fiance soon after which led him to recorder 808s & Heartbreak in two weeks. A lot of people hate this album because rather then rapping, Kanye sung with the help of autotune to make him sound almost robotic and emotionless as if someone had ripped his heart out. This is one of my favorite Kanye albums though, it has a dark, emotionless and sad feel to it. You really get the feeling of a guy who just had his world flipped upside down. It helped to launch the careers of Kid Cudi and Drake among others. [Source]

Honestly, in that context, his use of autotune makes sense. It's in cases like these where it is used for an artistic reason that I don't mind it.

he stunned the world with his dances, he didn't need any of today's technologies to sell more than a million records, people bought his lp's because they loved his music. i don't even think Kanye has sold more than 10million for one of his albums? well, another artist who is too big for there boots. Michael's music is all i need. thank you, and goodbye. lol, oh and tell me when you wake up from your dream kanye? haha.... :crazy :yawn:

Uhh, people buy Kanye's music because they love his rapping and producing skills too? Just like MJ bought him in for Thriller 25 because he loved his talents. Kanye hasn't sold more than 10,000,000 records on one of his albums, no, but he has achieved commercial success in other areas. Every single one of his records have gone platinum and he's sold millions upon millions of singles. In the United States alone, he has sold 21,000,000 albums and 66,000,000 digital songs [Source]. He most certainly isn't as successful as MJ, but he is however incredibly successful in his own right and has been one of the biggest names in music over the past decade or so for a reason.

For the record, I'm not trying to discredit Michael's achievements and that has never been my intention. I love Michael and he is one of the greatest artists the world will ever know - some of him achievements are absolutely astounding (understatement) and may never be broken again. But it's actually really annoying when Michael Jackson fans go on about how the media misinterpret him and yet continue to misinterpret what other artists have said. Kanye may be cocky, but he isn't stupid to say he's bigger than MJ. As other posters have pointed out, he's saying that MJ reached his glass ceiling, and Kanye is now saying that he is around KANYE'S glass ceiling too. If you guys demand that the media stop misinterpreting Michael, then you guys can apply the same concept to other artists too. Out of every fan base on this earth, YOU guys should be the most knowledgeable about how the media will twist words in order to get more views, and generate money.

Not only that but many of his fans go on about spreading 'L.O.V.E.', yet they themselves don't spread it at all (saying he is automatically discredited because he decided to have a child with some one he loved ? You sure are spreading Michael's message of love. Good job). Some of you* are actually such hypocrites at times it's shocking.

*(I'm not referring to anyone here in particular, I'm saying in general).