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Who's Better? Prince or Micheal Jackson?

Prince vs. Micheal Jackson, who was better?


  • Total voters
    92
These two are often compared toward each other as the very flashy top musicians of their day.

But which do you think is better?

Micheal was the better dancer and has the more groovy songs (before he became a white women outside Smooth Criminal) and had guys like MC hammer compete with him.

Prince has the most variety, he sang louds songs, soft songs, rapped, and rocked. Was a bit more androgynous than Micheal (until post white women)

So who do you think had the better music overall?

Prince-and-Michael-Jackson-1.jpg
 

cr0w

Old Member
Prince was infinitely more talented in pretty much every conceivable musical category, with the exception of dancing. Prince could look at a musical instrument and within an hour he'd have it mastered. There's no question in my mind.
 
Prince was the more prolific creator, no doubt. I mean, he's got dozens of albums of unreleased material. Dude apparently never stopped creating.

Michael Jackson's highs were pretty incredible though as well, but I would have to vote Prince.

Both of them had some pretty weird personal lives it seemed though, full of quirks or possibly worse. I do admire Prince's incredible creative drive though. Playing all instruments, mixing everything, so much (good) shit flowing out of him that he's just giving songs away.

Funny anecdote about Prince. I went to one of his concerts years ago. Dude showed up well over an hour late (no lead act) and couldn't even be arsed to make courtesy apology. The show was great, but that always stuck in my craw.
 
The only areas I'd give it to Jackson is dance, consistency, and maybe hits. I'd say you could maybe make a stronger greatest hits album with Jackson's work (at the very least, it's really close), but Prince created FAR more music as well.

So I'd have to give it to Prince. The real question is who would have the better catalog if it wasn't for Jackson's allegations and Prince's record label issues. That I guess we'll never know.
 

highrider

Banned
Prince was a more talented musician and writer, but nowhere near MJ’s level as a performer and singer. Prince also put out a lot of mediocre stuff which most prolific artists do.

In terms of influence and popularity I don’t even see them in the same league, MJ all day.

Edit: as an aside I never found Prince a relatable dude. The whole sort of freaky/high heels thing along with the whole symbol thing, it was just like calm down dude. He made MJ comparatively pretty conventional lol
 
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Dark Star

Member
Jackson, IMO, had bigger and better hit songs.

Though, I think Prince was equally, if not more, talented as an overall musician/performer ... stage presence and all.

I always found Prince to be a genre-defying "Jimi Hendrix " ... whereas Jackson was a tad more "unique" by growing into his own character, dancing, beat-boxing, etc.

I personally grew up listening to a lot more Jackson than Prince, so history and bias included, i'd have to vote for Jackson.
 
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manner

Neo Member
I'd say Prince is the better musician. MJ sure can sing and entertain, but Prince is more my type. I like both types of music, but the rock-oriented style of Prince just endures longer in my memory, so I'd go with Prince.
 

O-N-E

Member
I enjoy listening to and watching MJ immensely. I've never been able to get through a Prince song. Overhyped to the nth degree.
 

Whitecrow

Member
Quality over quantity.
I didnt listen to Prince, but the quantity of their work have nothing to do with being better.
 
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so youre taking 2 different musicians with 2 totally different styles and trying to make them fight in a pokemon battle because? they look the same?
 

AaronB

Member
MJ was likely the most influential musician of all time, had the best-selling record of all time, and was similarly at the top in dancing and making music videos.

Prince was a creative prodigy who was so idiosyncratic that his mainstream popularity was far less than it probably could have been. Prince is one of the few people you could make a case for, but I wouldn't put anyone above MJ.
 

Clear

Member
Genius is a word thrown around too easily these days, but Prince's musical virtuosity was truly freakish, beyond that of what's usually considered as a prodigy.
 

cr0w

Old Member
People that say Jackson no competition, have no idea about music.

As you were.

I base my opinion on overall musical talent, not number of hits or how popular they were. In terms of raw talent, Prince wipes the floor with MJ. Now, personally I find MJ's music more fun to listen to, as Prince tended to go off in strange ways and do things that confuse the shit out of me (Batman soundtrack), but that doesn't mean I think MJ was more talented musically than Prince was. It's apples and oranges, though.
 

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
One banged hot chicks, the other molested kids. Prince was a better musician and had better songs, just less pop appeal.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
this is question too tough to answer. kinda like "Who is better David Bowie or Marc Bolan?"

both giants who once walked the earth
 

bitbydeath

Member
I never got into Prince I understand he’s a good musician and song writer but his singing is atrocious... IMO
 
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highrider

Banned
Prince is an objectively better musician

I actually said that, not the subject of the thread. And what is a better musician? Stevie Ray is a a great guitarist but I like the blues about as much as the IRS. I can recognize Prince as a musical talent but that doesn’t mean I like his music.
 
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Prince was very popular world wide until the end.

Though him sabotaging himself by fighting against online hurt some of his popularity a little bit.
 

Scopa

The Tribe Has Spoken
I could name probably one Prince song. There are millions like that in the world. There’s your answer.
 
You serious, Clarke?
Yes, ask anyone in Poland who is MJ and everyone knows it.
Ask for Prince and people will be wondering if you talk about some Saudi Arabia thing.
I could name probably one Prince song. There are millions like that in the world. There’s your answer.

Fair points, MJ was more famous, but is that the sole unit of measurement?

When I think of "who is better" when it comes to artists/musicians, I don't think fame should be the primary factor.

Just my opinion, though
 

Scopa

The Tribe Has Spoken
Fair points, MJ was more famous, but is that the sole unit of measurement?

When I think of "who is better" when it comes to artists/musicians, I don't think fame should be the primary factor.

Just my opinion, though
Listen to Quincy Jones talk about MJ’s involvement in the music making process and you’ll see. The guy was a once in a lifetime musical genius.

I’m not knocking Prince. He was obviously very talented, but MJ was on another level all of his own. Much like Elvis. There is a reason they are both called “The King”.
 

highrider

Banned
Fair points, MJ was more famous, but is that the sole unit of measurement?

When I think of "who is better" when it comes to artists/musicians, I don't think fame should be the primary factor.

Just my opinion, though

To me it’s more about who makes better music, and you have to kind of consider popularity in that although it’s still largely a matter of personal taste. When I was stationed in Germany in 1989 I was in a city that was relatively small called Wurzburg, it was located almost equal distance between Frankfurt and Nuremberg and during MJ’s Bad tour he did a show in Wurzburg for both the bigger cities. It was general admission and bus loads of people came in, pretty much shut down the city. It was as if the whole world was congregating in this small city. I’ve seen Prince and MJ perform live at the peak of their careers, I’ve never seen anything like MJ live. Pretty much ruined live music for me.
 
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