MJ only released 2 albums in the 90s. Did those albums out perform Janet's in Europe?

RodeoSchro said:

Janet started to surpass Michael after Rhythm Nation. She really BLEW UP during the Rhythm Nation era. When she did "janet.", she EXPLODED. All of this was prior to Design of a Decade.

You must remember that MJ had started to decline in popularity around the time when Dangerous came out. That was about the time when the first round of allegations of child molestation came about. It was also around that time when he turned completely WHITE. Not to mention the Black or White video where people were in an uproar over the panther segment.

MJ's popularity didn't start to increase (again) until after the Oprah interview.

daPrettyman said:

Dangerous with 23 million, HIStory with 15 million and BOTDF with 3 million sold (outside the US)! All 3 albums UK #1 plus 4 UK #1 singles plus 8 UK top 5 singles? Several european #1 singles and albums? I would say, yes!

And for the US I would say it was neck on neck! Both Dangerous and Janet. got certifications for 7 million copies shipped! And both Velvet Rope and HIStory got certifications for 3 million copies shipped (with HIStory it's actually eventually 7 mio, but 1 box set counts twice)!

But yes, her singles in the US probably were more successful than his in the 90ies!
[Edited 10/3/07 15:23pm]

No, Janet NEVER reached Mike's popularity - to this day, even in the US. He was always more FAMOUS, more the genius, more intriguing. .

I just had a look though on Janet's discography on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w...iscography
Her singles did extraordinerayly well in Japan though! I didn't know that! She racked up 21 #1 singles (with the last one being "Enjoy") and 6 #2 singles!

Yes, like Mariah, Janet is popular in Japan. We Asians love shit music. Just kidding.

And to be perfectly honest, the ONLY other American entertainer to cause the type of hysteria in the US as Michael was Elvis.

Ah, I see... that's why Michael didn't do that well there! LOL

I wonder though how his japanese singles stats are... they are not really listed on wikipedia!

mrsnet said:

Well, I can't comment on the popularity, as I'm not american! I can only go for numbers, but good to hear!

Rodya24 said:

Ah, I see... that's why Michael didn't do that well there! LOL

I wonder though how his japanese singles stats are... they are not really listed on wikipedia!
[Edited 10/3/07 16:05pm]

Janet was definitely an Icon for black girls, she came across down to earth and she wasn't some svelt, skinny girl like Whitney. She had meat on her bones something that black girls could relate to.

Initially, people did see her has "Michael's little sister", she danced like him and she looked like him. But by the time of her second album I would say in the black community, at least, she was probably more popular than Michael, simply because her music was more urban and she came across as more down to earth, whereas by that time it seem that Michael had completely lost the plot; people thought Michael was losing the plot way before the child abuse allegations.

daPrettyman said:

This applies (if it does at all) ONLY when you look at their popularity in the US. Michael Jackson exploded as a global icon with the Bad and Dangerous tours. While Thriller made him a superstar amongst superstars in the US, the latter two tours were huge worldwide. Of course, in album sales as well, he surpassed Janet Jackson, like PatrickS77 has noted in his above post. I wish people would be less US-centric when comparing these two artists....

Rodya24 said:

Michael became a global Icon/Superstar with Off The Wall. His peak even worldwide was Thriller, not Bad or Dangerous. More current fans should stop looking at Thriller as an America thing, it wasn't. The impact of that album was global, from Europe to Africa to Asia you felt it. Infact apart from one or two places in the world Thriller practically outsold Bad and Dangerous in almost every country it was released.

whatsgoingon said:

As I said in another thread, in '98 when Michael came to Detroit just for a business trip 6,000 (mostly Black) people met him at the airport. That NEVER would have happened with Janet. Even with his less than stellar "You Rock My World' video, he won over Janet's ALL for You at the BET awards (They were both up for video of the year). So no, she's never been a match for her brother.

mrsnet said:

I still believe at one time she was more popular than Michael in the black community. I am not saying overall she is Bigger than him, he is in general more of an Icon, because he has achieved bigger things. But I do remember that there was a time at black clubs and parties you were more likely to hear Janet's latest hit than anything from Bad or Dangerous, so in that way she was more popular than him.

whatsgoingon said:

Yes. But his world tours helped him to become a global star. Album sales are not the only factor that determines one's popularity and name recognition.

whatsgoingon said:

Yes. But his world tours helped him to become a global star. Album sales are not the only factor that determines one's popularity and name recognition.

Rodya24 said:

He was already a global star. I am sure 99.999% of those who went to his concerts knew him and his music, or at least some of his music, well before they went to his concerts, so in that way he was already a global star. The worldwide tours just consolidated it.

mrsnet said:

I still believe at one time she was more popular than Michael in the black community. I am not saying overall she is Bigger than him, he is in general more of an Icon, because he has achieved bigger things. But I do remember that there was a time at black clubs and parties you were more likely to hear Janet's latest hit than anything from Bad or Dangerous, so in that way she was more popular than him.

alphastreet said:

Hella YEAH she was HELLA big among the urban crowd, In every black family, there was a Janet fan... My older sister (who is 3 year younger than Janet) loved her... My other sister was more a Whitney fanatic. For millions of black girls, she was an example, she was a very successful and very young black artist (don't forget that it was still new to see black artists selling 5,6 or 7 million albums), she was like our Madonna... She was trully an Icon for the young generation.

I don't think we loved her the way we love Beyonce. Janet's appeal has to do with her tomboy style. Black girls in inner cities could easily relate to her because of her tomboy style. She wasn't classy like Whitney.

I think, It also explains the success of TLC.

Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles never came close.

To be honest I've never been a fan of Janet Jackson (she is a really poor singer ), but during the RN1814, she was the shit !!!!!
I think people have always questioned her singing skills, but to be honest nobody cared. Because we loved the way she danced.

Concerning her popularity between MJ or JJ, I trully believe that during the Rythm NAtion era, she was definitely more popular than MJ among young african americans, simply because her music was so... BLACK, FUNKY... She gave us what we wanted, up tempo and funky tracks with strong basslines.

She also could appeal to both male and female audiences. Black men really respected her for her dancing skills, black girls adolized her for her success.
[Edited 10/3/07 13:21pm]

alphastreet said:

Hella YEAH she was HELLA big among the urban crowd, In every black family, there was a Janet fan... My older sister (who is 3 year younger than Janet) loved her... My other sister was more a Whitney fanatic. For millions of black girls, she was an example, she was a very successful and very young black artist (don't forget that it was still new to see black artists selling 5,6 or 7 million albums), she was like our Madonna... She was trully an Icon for the young generation.

I don't think we loved her the way we love Beyonce. Janet's appeal has to do with her tomboy style. Black girls in inner cities could easily relate to her because of her tomboy style. She wasn't classy like Whitney.

I think, It also explains the success of TLC.

Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles never came close.

To be honest I've never been a fan of Janet Jackson (she is a really poor singer ), but during the RN1814, she was the shit !!!!!
I think people have always questioned her singing skills, but to be honest nobody cared. Because we loved the way she danced.

Concerning her popularity between MJ or JJ, I trully believe that during the Rythm NAtion era, she was definitely more popular than MJ among young african americans, simply because her music was so... BLACK, FUNKY... She gave us what we wanted, up tempo and funky tracks with strong basslines.

She also could appeal to both male and female audiences. Black men really respected her for her dancing skills, black girls adolized her for her success.
[Edited 10/3/07 13:21pm]

So you think during that time if the two of them were appearing at an urban setting of some sort (separate, of course), that Janet would have attracted the larger crowd?? No way. Michael could go nowhere without mass hysteria. Janet never really had that problem. As far as popularity, MJ has always been in a class by himself.

mrsnet said:

I agree with krayzie. By the late 1980s, Michael Jackson's fan base was becoming more white and his music from the "Bad" wasn't something I rarely saw my peers buy and listen to nor hear on the radio. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson's music was considered a near-obligatory buy with artists like New Edition, Guy, Keith Sweat and Bobby Brown on the soul music front.

He didn't say anything about a hypothetical crowd erputing if MJ appeared at one place and JJ at another place.

That makes sense. The sound created by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, I would imagine, appealed more to the urban audience than songs like "Smooth Criminal" and "Heal The World." LOL.

That makes sense. The sound created by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, I would imagine, appealed more to the urban audience than songs like "Smooth Criminal" and "Heal The World." LOL.

mrsnet: I agree with you that while Michael Jackson always has been and will be a bigger icon than Janet Jackson, I think during the Control and Rhythm Nation era, her music appealed more to the urban audience in the US.