When Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae told Pitchfork this week that Janet Jackson is the real King of Pop, “no shade to Michael,” the internet reacted exactly how it always does to a line like that. It picked sides.
But is this a valid take by Amaarae? Does the title belong to Janet?
Janet Jackson’s career is, by almost any objective measure, extraordinary. She released her first album at 16. By the time she was 20, Control had announced her as a fully independent creative force who had broken from her family’s shadow. She had built an entirely new identity and sound on her own terms. What followed was one of the most consistent runs in pop history: Rhythm Nation 1814, janet., The Velvet Rope, All for You, each album a distinct creative statement, each one influential enough to have shaped the artists who came after her.
Amaarae’s zeroed in on The Velvet Rope, Janet’s 1997 album and arguably her most ambitious work. It was released at the height of her commercial power, it was a deeply personal record that addressed depression, sexuality, race and self-worth at a time when pop stars simply did not do that. It was vulnerable, experimental and ahead of its moment. Beyoncé and Frank Ocean are among the artists who’ve called it a reference point. Amaarae said it was so vulnerable, sexy, aggressive and experimental that if she’d been old enough, she would’ve had it on repeat.
The underrated argument has merit not because Michael Jackson’s legacy is overrated, it is not, but because Janet’s legacy has been quietly pushed down in ways his has not. The 2004 Super Bowl incident wiped out her mainstream radio presence overnight, while Justin Timberlake faced no real career fallout. She lost about a decade of visibility right when she was at her peak. The industry moved on. Her music didn’t change, but how people talked about it did.
What Amaarae is really doing, whether she framed it this way or not, is participating in a long overdue reassessment. A new generation of artists, many of them women, many of them from the African diaspora, have been revisiting Janet’s work and finding in it something the mainstream conversation never fully gave her credit for: range, risk, and a willingness to be fully herself on record at a time when that cost something.
“King of Pop” is just a title, and titles go to whoever culture decides deserves them. Michael earned his. But Amaarae’s comment isn’t really about dethroning him. It’s about asking why, 30 years later, Janet Jackson is still the second most celebrated person in her own story.
