the gamble and huff connection (in terms of music)
Quincy Jones

and Barry Gordy in terms of being shrewd crook with the business.

It's no question that Mj's impact will live on forever - I mean just look at the clones he had during his day and now? However 2 amazing albums - no 2 standards - one R&B and one Pop is without question a monumental achievement.

However you have to ask yourself - did he suffer as a result?

The soul music you get from Mj from Destiny to Triumph to Off the Wall to Thriller - is gone by Bad. It simply was, it was no longer a question of an R&B male - he was a full blown pop star from there moving forward and his music was on par with whatever the pop standard was at the time. Did he take risks? Of course - but two albums do not define a career - if that were the case you would be in here defending D'angelo - not goin in on him.

Mind you - they are THEE two most important albums in modern pop and R&B - but Prince created his OWN sound. Mj has his OWN vocal arrangements and style of writing - but he NEVER had his own sound.
He was unpredictable like that.

P on the other hand had his own sound and reinvented his own sound over and over again. Whether that's 5 years or ten solid ones as most critics will tell you - its not to be fucked with.

Thats not purple kool-aid cause I wasn't suggesting his 90s output had the same effect as his 80s output - or that his recent outputs were on par with PR... but they had fantastic moments.

Now what i find interesting is his biggest hits of the 90s diamonds and pearls and the most beautiful girl in the world - I hate, but you may love cause of their success. Feel me? However just cause you dont feel prince you cant write off albums like Emancipation.
That's more than just a Prince fan album and so is lotus Flower actually.

Also if we are using the 2 album marker to define a career and using sales to determine relevance, guess what? P wins again.

Diamonds and Pearls (Plat)
The Symbol Album (Gold)
The Gold Album (Gold)
Emancipation (Platinum)

I could go on and on. Although to me that would be pointless cause sales don't determine good work. It just doesn't. Some of my favorite artists have never gone gold or even half of whatever gold is by todays standards.



However that part of the convo does come down to personal taste.