Social media has been awash with debate as to whether Drake can rub shoulders with Michael Jackson after the Canadian rapper and singer recently broke a Billboard record the King of Pop set with his 1982 Thriller album.
In September, nine tracks from the 34-year-old’s Certified Lover Boy album took up spots in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Independent reported. And in the wake of the history-making feat, Billboard posed a question on social media asking if “Drake in 2021 [is] as big as Michael Jackson or The Beatles at their peaks?”
Responding to the debate and comparisons in a recent interview on TooFab, the Billie Jean singer’s son, Prince Jackson, said he doesn’t think any musician can match up to his father’s long list of musical accomplishments.
RELATED STORIES
“I mean, everybody has their own definition of great, and all respect to Drake [and] everything that he does,” Prince said. “What my father and my family accomplished, in the time that they did it, is very unlikely never to be matched again.”
Drake has, on a number of occasions, spoken about his admiration for Michael Jackson. The 34-year-old’s Don’t Matter to Me track features a sample from the deceased singer. The Way 2 Sexy rapper also revealed Jackson inspired his viral dance move.
“When I first made that song I was only talking about the moonwalk. But Toosie made a dance to that s—, I didn’t know it was gonna be a dance song like that,” he told OVO.
In another interview on MTV, the rapper also spoke about the King of Pop’s global influence, saying that was when he “realized the power of an entertainer.”
“I remember having Moonwalker on cassette and I remember how religiously I used to watch it. Because I used to feel like, as a kid, this was the most amazing place to escape to. It was that world he created,” Drake recalled. “I just feel like he was the first artist that I ever experienced that made you get lost in Michael Jackson, his music, his imagery, the choices that he made for cover art. Now that I’m older, I can look back and be like, wow, he was one of the most consistent entertainers of all time.”
