Michael Jackson had a string of hits and released the biggest selling album ever; however, does that make him great or a genius? I did respect Michael as an artist, and I did like several of his songs, which are timeless, but I don’t think he warrants the accolades that the public is giving posthumously. If you want to give accolades, then give him the accolade for Thriller. Also, you can give him the accolade for serving as the catalyst that opened the doors for African Americans on MTV. Does that make him a genius? I just think the public does what it does best; it jumps on bandwagons. Also, I think that most people lack musical depth and knowledge and really don’t want to be challenged musically. People tend to settle for the status quo, generally. Michael’s music was status quo. It didn’t challenge you. If you want to place “Man in the Mirror” as reaching outside of that, then sure. I will also give you “Black or White.” Let’s thrown in “Heal the World.” But, what else do you have? I agree that Michael’s music made you dance and feel good, but he had a string of producers that did just that..they produced. Without them, I truly doubt if he would have had the hits that he did. And speaking of musical depth, I have read several blogs about Prince being less gifted than Michael. Like Michael, I like Prince, I’m not a fanatical fan of Prince nor Michael. I am a fan of music, so I did my own research. It is a fact that Prince has produced far more music in the last three years than Michael has produced in an entire decade. Michael released one album in this entire decade. One full album during the 90s and a compilation in the mid 90s. Where is the genius in that? Prince has created an album at least every year since he entered the business in 1978. There were a few times when he released two or three albums in one year. Prince creates music that challenges the mind, the spirit, and the soul; not to just jump on the latest musical fad that a lot of “artist” tend to do, Michael included. Jumping on musical fads doesn’t sound like artistry or genius to me. Prince changed his name to challenge the music industry and to force it to take a deeper look into the way the business operates and how it treats its artists. That speaks volumes to me as a music lover. I am not advocating on behalf of Prince, but when you think of the title the king of pop, which has become synonymous with Michael Jackson, I think Prince should be called the King of Music. He has created more albums than virtually any other artist in their entire careers. Madonna has even created more records than Michael in his solo career and has had just as many hits as Michael, but I definitely wouldn’t call her a genius. Janet has released more records than Michael. All respect paid to Michael Jackson for his ginormous contribution to popular music; however, just because someone sells more records doesn’t make them great or genius! It means that they had a great marketing team. If that’s the case, George Bush won the presidency twice….what does that tell you?
