"My biggest inspiration and biggest competition is Justin Timberlake. ... We push each other. I look at me and Justin like Prince and Michael Jackson in their day." — Kanye West (RD/Leon/Retna Ltd.)

http://entertainment.msn....hotoidx=22

Wow! He's ego is bigger than his head!

DaVanity said:

.....then he woke up.

fair comparison

hmmm, uh well whatever....

DaVanity said:

you late

Comparatively speaking, he may be right. It's hard to find a counterpart for Prince and MJ in this decade because the leaders keep changing. 3 years ago, Usher would have been the MJ. IIRC, Usher's last album sold many more units than JT's 1st and 2d solo efforts combined.

'Ye is basically speaking to the kids, who have no frame of reference. Heck, 20 years ago, I knew that Stevie, Sly, Jimi, the Beatles, et al. were great, but Prince was my frame of reference, because most of those great artists were a) past their prime, b) broken up, or c) dead. So it was a no-brainer to me that Prince was the Stevie or Sly or Jimi of his era. Same with young fans of West or Timberlake, who are essentially BOTH studio creations who still manage to make interesting music.

This is pretty old

bboy87 said:

I suppose that Kanye fits the expression "ignorance is bliss".
He needs to get real!,give him a guitar or a keyboard he would be useless... well actually with a microphone it is pretty much the same thing.
He will never be a legend to me, he will be remembered as someone who is trying too hard and who has no talent. He is one of the reasons why I stopped listening to the radio.

Umm...neither is either?

DaVanity said:

well prince and michael jackson.. are two people who kanye west WISHED he could create music like.. and he wish he was as cool as michael jackson

I have no idea how the comparisons of Michael and Prince ever started, with the exception of them both being commercial artists during a similar time period, there is nothing to compare. Michael could never have Prince's output and diversity, Michael is an iconic "performer" Prince is more of a "iconic" output mystery than you either love him or you hate him. As far as Justin and Kanye, considering both of them do albums about every 3 years right there that keeps them away from "prince" status because neither could do what he does, and neither can play a friggin instrument. Prince and Michael are just totally different people, no comparisons.

lastdecember said:

Yup.

Bishop31 said:

I agree. Also, I don't think there are any modern counterparts to Prince or MJ, which is why this comparison is so completely ridiculous.

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[Edited 1/9/08 9:00am]

Suzieq76 said:

He plays piano.

I really don't get why this comment of 'Ye's is so offensive. OK, so you pose with a crown of thorns - THAT could be percieved as offensive. But comparing he and basically his only competition to the two rivals of the 80s...why the hell can't he?

Another case of the Org Nitpicking Syndrome where we must find something wrong with everything every artist of "today" says.

To me, because he experiments with his sounds more, Kanye is saying he's Prince and since JT is more of the "pop" star coming from a bubblegum pop band and doing lots of dancing and using his falsetto then he's the MJ.

I have to say, I agree with Kanye. Sure, he doesn't play a million instruments but he's mixing it up and making radio sound different so that's fine by me.

The Org needs to just CHILL OUT when it comes to today's artists!
[Edited 1/9/08 1:14am]

purplesweat said:

well said.

purplesweat said:

Look. I am about the same age as you. But in reading newspaper and magazine articles from the 1980s and learning about modern popular music (its evolution, etc.), the absurdity of West's comments come to light. Michael Jackson and Prince were HUGE in the 1980s in a way that neither West nor Timberlake come close to. Not only in popularity (album, singles, and chart succes around the world; world tours; public recognition and reaction) but also in how Jackson and Prince revolutionized popular music, the way music is presented, sold, etc.

Perhaps this time we should listen to older orgers and respect their opinion.
[Edited 1/9/08 1:44am]

purplesweat said:[quote]Suzieq76 said:[quote]


"He plays piano".

Thanks for the info, I did not know or saw him playing keyboards before.
If he wants to be treated seriously as an artist he should show this talent more often.
To me, he is just a performer with the right connections in the biz, but I can't even enjoy his performances either, he can't dance, it is all bling bling nonsense and he is just too full of himself (check his latest MTV and other music award ceremonies)
What kind of positive message does he send to the new generation?.
I think image is becoming more important than talent these days and it is a real shame.
I am sure he is in awe of Prince and Michael Jackson (and rightly so!) but he just can't be as talented. A unique artist can be copied but it just looks stupid.

I love Music, old or new, and I understand that music tastes or preferences are very personal, so it is just my opinion.

I am sorry if I offended any JT or Kanye West fans.

bellanoche said:

I agree to the extent that there are no artists who possess extraordinary talent who can be acclaimed as geniuses (for different reasons) AND be as commercially successful as they.

I think that artists like Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Beck or Van Hunt could, from an artistic standpoint, be considered heirs to Prince. But none could sell like Prince did in his heyday. Few artists could. You could probably find some "heirs," from an entertainment standpoint, to Michael Jackson, but really, who can truly be the Michael Jackson of his era?

My son who loves Kanye West got hold of this quote earlier and has started raking through my Prince stuff. Those 'big' cd's he calls them.....

Rodya24 said:

How do JT and Kanye not come close to that? They both sell in the bucketloads, even in todays downloading age. Everyone I know has Justin's album and likes at least one of his songs and most people have Kanye's second album and love Stronger, Gold Digger and Good Life.

And of course Prince and MJ had a chance to "revolutionise" music back then because it hadn't BEEN revolutionised then. Nowadays with technology moving at lightning speed it's hard to keep up but I appreciate JT and Kanye at least TRYING to make their own individual sounds (Kanye moreso on that one, JT's album wouldn't be much without Timbaland's beats).

I don't see why it's so hard to grasp that maybe there are artists today who are just as good as artists back then.

Suzieeg76 said:

He plays the (I think) keyboards at the end of the Diamonds From Sierra Leone video and regularly plays the piano at his live shows. He also has a live band.



You dont need to dance to make good music or make a song work. I ignore the self absorbed comments he sometimes makes (most of them are nowhere near as horrific as public reaction would have you believe) because I'm just here for the music. And if you really LISTEN to Kanye's work, you'll find an entirely different man from the self centered image we see on stage. I'm pretty sure it's a self motivational thing for him and a lot of critics have picked up on that too. It's just that the public loves to think the worst of celebrities these days and even the talented ones get tied in with the shitty ones.

Check out his Gold Digger performance at the Grammys and the MTV Awards, one is just a straight up performance with some nice effects the other one (Grammys) is a bit more creative and fun. And see if you can find a performance of Touch The Sky with a full orchestra.



A WAY better one that most celebrities these days. You won't find a song completely about Jesus anywhere else on the charts (Jesus Walks). Granted, Graduation, his latest album, is a little bit more superficial in lyrics compared to his other work but that's probably just because he's enjoying his newfound celebrity. Kanye actually seems to have a conscience and wants to send out a message and you can hear a lot of that on Late Registration. Check out the song All Falls Down too - it talks about racism.

You don't see Kanye (or JT much for that matter) boozing it up every weekend with heaps of women around them. Kanye's getting married soon, JT gets lots of pantsman rumours even though all his relationships have lasted 3-5 years. I dunno, they seem like fine role models to me.

Kanye has more insightful lyrics than JT but there's still a lot worse kids could be looking up to than these two.

AND you could argue that Prince in his day wasn't the best role model for teens either with his oversexed image and lyrics.



I agree here and this could be true with JT (a lot of critics have noted he seems to want to be more of a musician but is stuck with the teen pin up image) but with Kanye? Not in my opinion. If it was about image for him, he'd be a gangsta rapper, working with Akon.



Why not? Why can't he be that talented? He's not really "copying" either of them as such, Chris Brown is "copying"!! And I'm sure Prince had his inspirations. I've been listening to a lot of Mark Bolan lately and it's obvious Prince has watched quite a few of his videos in the past.

I think you should try to be a bit more open minded. You don't have to like either Kanye or JT but you could try to listen to their albums with an open mind. You might be surprised.
[Edited 1/9/08 20:15pm]

purplesweat said:[quote]

Rodya24 said:

I think there are a number of artists who are as talented as "artists back then." But not West and Timberlake, in particular Timberlake.

How nice that everyone you know has his album.

And what do you mean that music had not been revolutionized before Michael Jackson and Prince? The Beatles revolutionized it and so did other men and women in the '50s and '60s.
[Edited 1/9/08 20:16pm]

Rodya24 said:[quote]

purplesweat said:

What's that supposed to mean? No need to get bitchy because I stand up for something I like.

And in terms of "revolutionising" the original poster said in terms of selling, distribution of music etc not necessarily the music itself.

In terms of music itself, JT (or Timbo) pretty much commercialised the electro-pop sound. And Kanye is the king of samples

One of y'all's comments remind me of the lyrics from a spoof featuring Kanye and Lil' Wayne (not really them):

"I had a girl
Who was fat and had a Jheri-Curl
She was jealous because I ran to almost every girl
She said she'd do anything for the Kan Man
But I was just tricking her like a con man
Her friends ask "why you with his ass?
Only time he sticks up for you is with your stash"
I'm sorry but they not lying
And I don't want you, I just want the diamonds!
Listen when I'm rhyming
I make Africa try to find 'em
And nah, I don't practice safe sex
'Cause me and Pharell Williams practice gay sex
I'm with Weezy Wee
I got a weezy wee
R. Kelly taught me how to pissy pee
In my videos, I'm on PCP
And my head is the shape of a TV screen..." (C)Broken Equipment



But yeah this is OLD.
[Edited 1/9/08 20:24pm]

Timmy84 said:

leave the man alone..he said this b4 Graduation dropped. b4 his mom died

Rodya24 said:

Well trust me I am very much involved with music and I think I am an open minded person, but I just don't like it, I don't follow with the trends or reputation with music. With a song, I just listen to it and if I like it, I will think it is good, it is just my opinion or appreciation.

I won't buy any of Kanye West or Justin Timberlake'albums I prefer others to do that for me. I actually listened to their albums and it did not give me goosepumps or made me feel like dancing. You could not give a worse example as Gold Digger actually. I am not too keen on sampling music but if it is done with respect and creativity, it is interesting.
When I first heard Gold Digger, it actually made me feel sad. I dig this one better and not because it is old (it was released in 1954, I was not even born) but because I juste love it:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related

Enjoy!