Prince needs Props and big stage theatrics 2 do a great concert...Michael Jackson could do his concert in a church hall by candle light and still be amazing...

True they are both amazing performers but there is a good reason Michael's music is more popular and more loved and more well known.

U see, as much as Prince is great at what he does and works hard 2 be just that...Michael Jackson is just great..Period.
So effortless and soulful as opposed 2 so contrived and gifted.

Michael Jackson basically was born with what Prince has worked the last 46 years 2 achieve...Soul.

LadyB0yCabDriver said:

Phew! that was a good one..thanx for the laugh!

Shorty said:

also Michael doesn't have crooked teeth like Mr nelson




Prince is a great performer but is also 100% contrived..it's all staged...now Michael...he knows how 2 'show soul'

it's like the difference between the beauty of an artist's painting and the technical genius of a computer animated cartoon.

One U love..the other U merely admire

Prince is better. End of fucking discussion. Besides this was settled already in the 80s, for crying out loud.

Ok I'm gonna try to be objective and calm here. This topic is SOOOO played out, but it's fun to have to restate/reword your opinion every once in a while. Once again, going line by line like I have in all the other Prince vs. So and so or So and so vs. so and so threads

Musicianship-Yes, this is a no brainer, Prince is a vastly superior musician who can solo authoritatively on guitar and keyboards and has his own distinctive style on these plus drums and bass, he is capable of laying all or most of the tracks on his recordings himself, and has earned the respect of many other great players and multi-instrumentalists. Michael usually doesn't play any instruments on his recordings, and the few he has are not particularly impressive. I'm sure Michael can play some simple things on guitar and drums and probably has a basic knowledge of piano too, but until I see him hold down an instrument live, gotta give this category to prince.

Vocals-this is a tough call, but I've gotta go with MJ. MJ has an insanely powerful voice and an incredible non-falsetto upper register range that prince can't touch. Prince has an awesome falsetto and fewer vocal gimmicks/mannerisms, and he may have a better lower register, but MJ is easily one of the best male R&B vocalists of all time. If we were comparing Prince to MJ as a child, the discrepancy would be even wider as MJ's younger voice was positively unbeatable.

Songwriting-Another tough call, but Prince just has so much more product of such a greater variety than MJ. Both have vast stores of unreleased material, but prince has just covered a much wider range of styles and topics. MJ has made some of the greatest dance songs of all time, but prince is maybe the most accomplished songwriter of his generation, donating songs to many other artists and being covered by a acts in nearly all genres. Prince did have a lot of partners/co-writers who weren't always given their full credit, but MJ performed more songs that he had no role in writing and had more credited help in the arranging/producing of his material.

Producing-This isn't really a big deal as I think both of their production styles are too flashy and too 80s, but Prince at least is capable of being more subtle and raw if he wants to and can even escape the "80s" stigma and feel more like the 70s, 60s etc. Mj has always had at least one co-producer and always seems to be more concerned with popularity and chart success and staying hip than prince has (not to say that prince hasn't kept an eye cocked in that direction, but he hasn't compromised his artistry quite as much). Prince beats out MJ in this category, but both have their ups and downs.

Live Performance-if we were to measure this by the quantity and variety of performances of their adult careers, this one would go to prince since he's toured more and can do more things on stage than MJ (like PLAY INSTRUMENTS and let his band JAM rather than just having them play the same routine every time). However, MJ, both in the J5 days and for much of his adult career was a simply SPECTACULAR song and dance man, and was uncanny in his ability to work a crowd. Any prince fan who doesn't acknowledge how vastly superior a dancer MJ was(is?) A. hasn't seen enough footage of MJ's jaw-dropping abilities or B. is in just as much denial as they accuse Mj's fans of being. I think Prince is actually a pretty bad dancer (or rather seems either effeminate, silly or over-choreographed) when he's not doing the splits or other faux-godfather moves. Prince, as a dancer, is just an ersatz James Brown with touches of balletic nonsense. Michael was replicating JB and Jackie Wilson's moves when he was a kid (and not in an "ersatz" way either), and while he didn't necessarily "invent" ALL of his moves, he certainly refined, pioneered and perfected many of them. Hell, Gene kelly and Fred Astaire gave Mj props on his dancing, which is just as relevant as Clapton and Santana giving prince props on his guitar chops. If MJ hadn't focused SOOO much on dancing and choreography that he made it virtually impossible to continuously sing live, he would unequivocally beat prince in this category, despite prince's superior skills as an instrumentalist, but as it is, I think I'll call it a draw.

Mindflux said:

yea, cause Prince has never used them

nayroo2002 said:

Michael's song Dirty diana has kick ass guitar

Billy Jean has amazing bass

Remember the time is one of the best drum beats ever

Michael can sing in any key








is that it? I joined the wrong fan site

Prince is a great performer but is also 100% contrived..it's all staged...now Michael...he knows how 2 'show soul'

Have you heard the end of She's Out of My Life, MJ starts crying. If thats not real emotion, what is? Plus there is real emotion and anger in songs like Billie Jean and Dirty Diana. Both of which are about how women/groupies tried to fuck up both him and his brothers

I love this posts.

1. Prince plays way better music than Michael Jackson So why is it that most people can name at least 6 MJ song's but only 1 Prince song?

2. Prince is always changing as a musician, Michael Jackson just hires the hottest producers at the time and then prays that he gets a hit. Bull! MJ has retained the flavour he's known 4 but his voice, moves, singing style and concepts constantly change. On the other hand Prince changes every time we see him but it just seems so contrived and staged...so thought out and unnatural...like when he went from Im a Rock star in Purple rain 2 Im now a Hippy in ATWIAD 2 now I think I'll be a slick Playboy in parade 2 now I'll be a Political activist in SOTT 2 what haven't I done Oh I know! I'll be a spiritual leader in Lovesexy...after that the constant changing just went crazy

3. Prince does not care about making music that gets on the airwaves (the man is a rebel). Michael Jackson wants and needs the public support. Prince cares but not like Mike. Again..nonsense. Prince has tried desperately 2 have hits...ie Rave Un2 Joy fantastic and the awful James brown copy-cat musicology

4. Prince is way better talented than Michael. He's more practised than MJ ie he's obviously practised his instruments alot...but 4 God Given talent...MJ wins hands down and monwalk across the stage beats detroit crawl ANY DAY

JellyBean said:

I love this posts.

1. Prince plays way better music than Michael Jackson

2. Prince is always changing as a musician, Michael Jackson just hires the hottest producers at the time and then prays that he gets a hit.

3. Prince does not care about making music that gets on the airwaves (the man is a rebel). Michael Jackson wants and needs the public support. Prince cares but not like Mike.

4. Prince is way better talented than Michael.

LadyB0yCabDriver said:

You are hilarious, but also you talk total shite.

Prince does things Michael Jackson could only dream of. MJ was a fantastic talent, but he ALWAYS had a massive hype machine and a highly talented producer to back him up. MJ pisses over Prince when it comes to dancing and thats about it. His voice is perhaps purer, but he can't sing 'in every key' like you said. MJ's instrumental talent is completely unfounded and would not be in Prince's league anyway. Prince has attempted commercial records that have flopped, but he has also released out there stuff like NEWS and the rainbow children. MJ only releases records he thinks will sell by the million. He'll not take a chance on a record, he hasn't the guts. the funniest thing by far was that Prince's instrumental ability was down to practice, and that MJ's talents were god given. Listen to me son, stay off the drugs ok?

and to that end what is he now? Now he's a washed up pervert. End of story. Scary Michael Jackson fanatics aside know this

Mindflux said:

Strange..but true

LadyB0yCabDriver said:

You're not suppose to admit it. What happened to looking innocent.

...I'd even say Invincible was better than Musicology. Why was Musicology tour a big hit? It was cos Prince was playing all his hits and semi-conned people by saying that was the last time he was gonna play them, if he solely played material from TRC...

and also most of you prince fams dont know michaels career well enough to judge whos the better dancer, singer, writer, producer etc. as yous dont know what stuff michael produced, what songs he wrote and composed, youve never seen michael performing from the 60's 70's 80's or 90's. never even listened to jackson 5 and the jacksons albums. the only people who can truely judge are those who studied both careers. and most people who have usually end up picking michael

LadyB0yCabDriver and SEXYMOFO, i htink i love you. telling the truth and exactly the way it is. the only thing prince is better at is playing instruments, the rest michael wins hands down.

hellomoto said:

WRONG WRONG!!!! Most longtime Prince fams know more about michael than his current worshiping fan base. Their might be a few young fams who don't and say stuff "like he only does the moonwalk" but as a Michael Fam, Prince musically eclipsed him....it's the damn truth.
[Edited 9/6/05 9:08am]

I'd say they're about equal when it comes to songwriting. Sure Michael has done a lot of cheesy save the world shit but then again Prince's lyrics especially on his early albums were almost solely based on sex sex and more sex.

sermwanderer said: