I was reading an article that proclaimed Usher - The king of r&b. It got me to thinking about that article a while back that labeled Justin Timberlake, the King of Pop?

Okay lets be real for a minute - Usher has been on the scene, since, honestly, "U Make Me Wanna" which dropped in the late 90s. It is now late 00's. I'll be generous and say he has been around for a decade, at most. How on earth does ten years make a king? Were people calling Elvis the King after a decade? Were people calling MJ - The king of pop around the time of the Victory tour? (About ten years from Off The Wall) NO. Same thing with Justin. The King of Pop?!? 2 Albums? Seriously?

I guess I just would like to know..why is the media so intent on crowning these teen idols as pop royalty? Is there something I'm missing about the way the media works? Are the labels paying people off to call them these silly titles?

Anyone, even the biggest losers with shrines to these 2 dorks, must know, they aren't Kings. Not yet anyway. (And never will be if you ask me..but what I think about them is a whole different story.)

Will someone tell me what is going on? This just doesn't make any rational sense.

I'm not usually some kind of MJ conspiracist but I really do think it's the media taking a jab at Michael and not really that they actually believe Justin to be the new king of pop. When Elvis was in his 'crazy' declining faze in the 70's and even 30 years since his death they've never tried to crown anyone else the king of rock'n'roll. Once you get a title like that it doesn't get passed on. You create a new one once someones achieved something big. Justin has not achieved anything in the music industry to deserve any kind of title. And especially not Usher.

Usher's been around longer than that. U Make Me Wanna is not from his first album. Now whether he's a king of anything or not is an entirely different story.

whodknee said:

That is really the bigger issue here.

I think the difference is that it's the media that's calling Justin the New King of Pop & Usher the King of R&B, & not the artists themselves. This whole "King of Pop" thing was started when Michael faxed MTV demanding that's what they call him.

They might also call them that because of their comparisons to Michael. I think if they would've came out looking & sounding like someone else, there wouldn't be a comparison to MJ.

Why stress out over this? Most people w/ half a brain know that neither Usher or Justin are the Kings of anything. Both have their strengths and are talented in someway, but it's mostly hype and because they are "hot" at the moment.

Paris9748430 said:

Oh-my-gosh, when are people gonna understand that Michael never proclaimed himself to be the King of Pop? I'm sure he loves the name, but people who claim he demanded that they call him KOP are mistaken. Elizabeth Taylor is the one who started calling him that first and after she said that it started to take off with fans and the media, but Michael never faxed MTV and demanded that they call him anything . That is such BS.
[Edited 5/11/08 20:24pm]

Cinnamon234 said:

Thank you for highlighting that! it just amazes me that people continue to spin that crap!

I don't think that either Usher or JT are the "kings of pop" but I think by 1990 or 1991, Madonna was referred to as "Queen of Pop" in the media. And that was less than 10 years into her reign at the top of the charts.

Just throwing that out there...

"The King of Pop" doesn't exactly sound like the most flattering compliment to me. It has a hint of an insult to it as well to my ears, whether intentional or not.

I hate Usher. His new songs suck big time.

I learned to like JT trhough his work with Madonna. I think - ironically - JT does the best R'n'B stuff right now.

His songs do have 5 great song in average, which is great! I really think he writes ome of the melodies and words by himself.

Usher is talentless. He's not even sexy in the slightest sense... I don't know why there was such a hype in the US 4 years ago.

Úsher is as soulless as a piece of soap. really i hate to hate but i hope he'll disappear.

He's probably the worst Mj impersonator!!!

Usher was not out since you make me wanna, he was out since 1993 when he did Call Me A Mack for the Poetic Justice soundtrack.

I believe MJ dared Elizabeth Taylor to say what she did at the Soul Train Awards and knew it would catch on, and I believe he was behind the 1991 campaign and don't believe any of that mess fans say about his people going behind his back and demanding he be called the KOP.

right. King Of Pop sounds like a Mj idea. pure kitsch... like the HIStory teaser!!!

At one point the hysteria around Michael Jackson was as big or bigger than that that surrounded Elvis & The Beatles. Not hard to work out why people started calling him the king of pop.

As for Timberlake... I'm pretty sure anybody who's opinion is worth a damn realises the real deal about that guy.

graecophilos said:

come on j.t best r&b right now....??

"Oh for real?"

Cinnamon234 said:

Thank you. eMpTV said that bullshit and then it was repeated over and over again through various media minions like "Best Week Ever" and shit like that until people actually believed it. Its funny how people so easily believe any little lie the media tells them and even when it eventually gets proven to be untrue, people still trust the press fully and completely.

Neither of them are the king of anything. End of discussion.

musicjunky318 said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Yeah but the thing is, that the peak of his career was over when that King Of Pop thing started. in 1989 he was big of course, but not as popular and hip as 5 years before.
I still think it was his idea.
[Edited 5/12/08 15:29pm]
[Edited 5/12/08 15:29pm]

graecophilos said:

Isn't Michael Jackson "Artist Of The Millennium" now?

graecophilos said:

In America. Worldwide he was bigger. His new music was more to non-Americans taste.

Even if it was his idea to be called king of pop it's not a laughable concept like it is with Justin or Usher