Mandingo said:

Mandingo said:

nextedition said:

Mandingo said:

Thank you,

Good to see at least two people on the thread actually got what I was trying to say and didn't get caught up in the Disney comment. Jeesh..no wonder Trump's President. People hear the shiny words and chase them....hey peolple...WALL, CHINA.....OBAMAAAA's birth certificate....go fetch!

But they didnt start of the same. Mj was already a full recording artist for years when prince made his first album. Has nothing to do with the micky mouse club comment, but to whole point of your threat.

His new love for disco played right into it. The Off The Wall documentary showed that people knew he was coming with something and hanging out at Studio 54 etc. He knew the audience he was going to shoot for.

No. That was Adam and Eve.

Mandingo said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Mandingo said:

Ok.

I know MJ strted performing and recording as a young boy way before Prince and had superstardom when Prince was unknown

But..

My point is that despite all his success in the Jackson 5, Off The Wall mean't Michael had to really come to the world as a 'new' artist. He couldn't 'rest on his laurels'.

His look, sound, dancing, even his features were all NEW. He had to line up as an adult and try to have a successful solo album just the same as Prince did in 1978's FOR YOU...

Ok ok, Michael had the up of being in the game longer but in terms of just imagining them as 2 African American guys born in 1958 trying to have success as a solo artist in the late 1970's ...I feel they both had an equal shot. OTW could have flopped. FOR YOU could have rocketed Prince to superstardom with MJ just becoming a has been who appears on greatest hits from the 70's compilations as little Michael from the Jacksons.

Those albums were defining for them both and they both had as much to lose as to gain.

To simplify, look at it like the new Justice League movie. The characters in that are beloved and established. Supes, WW, The Flash..even Fish boy. But you can see that they flopped when they didn't bring their A game.

Even a seasoned respected artist like MJ could have lost his title to Prince in the late 70's.

They started their careers as we remember them today in the late 70's and each had a shot..an equal shot. Just like when Rocky beat Apollo Creed

MJ was fine by the time OTW came out. He just had a hit album with his brothers in Destiny with one of the top singles in 1978. Mike didn't have to worry about Prince taking his title in the late 70s. It wasn't an equal shot. Mike already had an audience. Teddy Pendergrass and Rick James had bigger names than Prince in the late 70s. MJ was probably more worried about them as the 70s closed. 1979 MJ: Off the Wall #1 R&B - #3 pop Prince: #3 R&B - #22 pop Teddy Pendergrass: Teddy #1 R&B - #1 pop Rick James: Bustin Out L Seven #2 R&B - #16 pop and Fire It Up #5 R&B - #34 pop (Rick had 2 releases in 79)

Teddy peaked at #5 pop according to Wikipedia but the point stands either way.

As far as a solo career, but by sheer experience in the industry from such an early age, MJ still had yeeearrs on Prince

Mandingo said:

Ok.

I know MJ strted performing and recording as a young boy way before Prince and had superstardom when Prince was unknown

But..

My point is that despite all his success in the Jackson 5, Off The Wall mean't Michael had to really come to the world as a 'new' artist. He couldn't 'rest on his laurels'.

His look, sound, dancing, even his features were all NEW. He had to line up as an adult and try to have a successful solo album just the same as Prince did in 1978's FOR YOU...

Ok ok, Michael had the up of being in the game longer but in terms of just imagining them as 2 African American guys born in 1958 trying to have success as a solo artist in the late 1970's ...I feel they both had an equal shot. OTW could have flopped. FOR YOU could have rocketed Prince to superstardom with MJ just becoming a has been who appears on greatest hits from the 70's compilations as little Michael from the Jacksons.

Those albums were defining for them both and they both had as much to lose as to gain.

To simplify, look at it like the new Justice League movie. The characters in that are beloved and established. Supes, WW, The Flash..even Fish boy. But you can see that they flopped when they didn't bring their A game.

Even a seasoned respected artist like MJ could have lost his title to Prince in the late 70's.

They started their careers as we remember them today in the late 70's and each had a shot..an equal shot. Just like when Rocky beat Apollo Creed

Now that you have explained yourself better, it makes much more sense. Agree with your whole argument sexy boy.

purple05 said:

Mandingo said:

Ok.

I know MJ strted performing and recording as a young boy way before Prince and had superstardom when Prince was unknown

But..

My point is that despite all his success in the Jackson 5, Off The Wall mean't Michael had to really come to the world as a 'new' artist. He couldn't 'rest on his laurels'.

His look, sound, dancing, even his features were all NEW. He had to line up as an adult and try to have a successful solo album just the same as Prince did in 1978's FOR YOU...

Ok ok, Michael had the up of being in the game longer but in terms of just imagining them as 2 African American guys born in 1958 trying to have success as a solo artist in the late 1970's ...I feel they both had an equal shot. OTW could have flopped. FOR YOU could have rocketed Prince to superstardom with MJ just becoming a has been who appears on greatest hits from the 70's compilations as little Michael from the Jacksons.

Those albums were defining for them both and they both had as much to lose as to gain.

To simplify, look at it like the new Justice League movie. The characters in that are beloved and established. Supes, WW, The Flash..even Fish boy. But you can see that they flopped when they didn't bring their A game.

Even a seasoned respected artist like MJ could have lost his title to Prince in the late 70's.

They started their careers as we remember them today in the late 70's and each had a shot..an equal shot. Just like when Rocky beat Apollo Creed

Ok I understand you much better but I still disagree. Those 12 years preceding OTW was just as important and later the foundation for his solo career. You can erase those even though OTW was a defining moment for MJs future career. The quite below sums it up perfectly: "For all its record-setting accomplishments, the thing which never ceases to amaze me is that Michael Jackson pulled off what is perhaps the rarest trick in any field: After more than a decade of being an absolutely huge superstar, top of his field, sure-thing Hall of Famer, etc., he somehow found an extra gear and suddenly transcended mere superstardom, redefining the very notion of how big someone in his field could be. Try imagining J.K. Rowling suddenly coming out with a series of books that were so much better and more popular than the Harry Potter books that they rendered them a mere footnote to her career and you'll get the idea of what Michael Jackson accomplished with "Thriller."" https://www.billboard.com...-the-world

Indeed, great point.

214 said:

Mandingo said:

Although MJ was in the Jackson 5 and did have a few solos like BEN, really when we think about it, he and Prince both debuted as young African American male rnb artists around the same time. Off the wall could have failed. There were no guarantees. My point is that Prince and MJ both had the same amount to prove at the same time and saying MJ started before Prince is simplistic. A child's career is very very different to their coming of age adult music. You wouldnt judge Britney or Christina on their Disney days would you? Prince was in Grand Central and Champagne as a kid. He recorded with Willie as well.He wasn't new to the game either. Both MJ and Prince as the artists we REALLY critique them on; started in the late 70''s. As equals. MJ did not have any right to success and Prince had as much to win or lose. [Edited 12/11/17 0:57am]

Even though I'm a bigger Prince fan. MJ was actually on the Radio and TV as kid way before P was on Radio and TV? Think about MJ was on the Ed Sullivan Show and on national Radio way back with I Want You Back 1969 and I'll Be There 1970. Prince first national radio hit was Soft and Wet 1978 and I Wanna Be Your Lover 1979.

purple05 said:

214 said:

Indeed, great point.

Thnx! I know OP meant well and I get what he's saying when he means that they both had lots to loose and gain but MJs trajectory and mindset at that point had lots to do with how he wanted his career to go into the future. This is a manifestation he wrote about his career. They showed it in the ITW documentary. He allegedly wrote this before OTW was released, 1979: ""MJ will be my new name. No more Michael Jackson. I want a whole new character, a whole new look. I should be a tottally [sic] different person. People should never think of me as the kid who sang "ABC," [or] "I Want You Back." I should be a new, incredible actor/singer/dancer that will shock the world. I will do no interviews. I will be magic. I will be a perfectionist, a researcher, a trainer, a masterer [sic]. I will be better than every great actor roped into one.""

It worked. I loved ABC and MJ as a kid, and didn't realize till I was a teenager it was the same artist.

alphastreet said:

MJ started his career with the Jackson5, so he already had a head start. Prince knew what he was up against, and he earned his keep!

Yes, big head start. For us kind of old folks The Ed Sullivan Show was long time ago. However, Prince made up a lot of Ground.

Yeah, obviously Prince was way better than Michael Jackson, but MJ had a good decade on him until his debut. If you mean acclaim wise, then yes I suppose they did, they were both goofy dorks until the 80s.

spacedolphin said:

Yeah, obviously Prince was way better than Michael Jackson, but MJ had a good decade on him until his debut. If you mean acclaim wise, then yes I suppose they did, they were both goofy dorks until the 80s.

.

They were both incredible artists and performers, so I don't really consider one to be better than the other. They were both incredibly talented and legends!