ROLLING STONE dubbed Harry Styles the “new King of Pop” – unseating Michael Jackson, who once bestowed the title on himself. Now not only Michael Jackson’s fans, but also his nephew Taj Jackson expressed anger at the alleged “title abuse”.
The former One Direction singer appeared on the cover of the new issue from British colleagues ROLLING STONE UK; like the ROLLING STONE magazines in other countries, the German ROLLING STONE honored the 28-year-old with a digital cover. The German ROLLING STONE ran the headline: “The man everyone wants”.
“Harry Styles: How the new King of Pop set the music world on fire,” reads the colleagues’ UK cover, along with a photo of him in a white fur coat and holding a birthday cake with lit candles holds.
The discussions regarding the “King of Pop” are coming to a head
Several thousand fans opened a discussion regarding the topic and triggered a shitstorm on Twitter. Michael Jackson’s nephew, Taj, retweeted, visibly upset: “There is no new King of Pop. The title @RollingStone isn’t yours and you didn’t earn it, my uncle did. Decades of dedication and sacrifice. The title IS taken. No disrespect to @Harry_Styles, he’s super talented. Give it its own unique title.”
There is no new King of Pop. You don’t own the title @RollingStoneand you didn’t earn it, my uncle did. Decades of dedication and sacrifice. The title has been retired. No disrespect to @Harry_Styleshe’s mega talented. Give him his own unique title. https://t.co/td6SSSVkfX
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) August 22, 2022
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown also spoke up, writing under another retweet from the nephew: “Words cannot express how much I love @tajjackson3! Let them know, friend!”. When a user commented on her post claiming that the title is not retired, she confidently replied, “The title IS retired. They would never try to call anyone else the ‘King of Rock & Roll,'” she said, referring to Elvis Presley.
Then they need to find a name for who Harry is in the industry. Like I said, I love the dude but there is ONE #KingOfPop and that is MJ.
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) August 23, 2022
Another Twitter user wrote: “This track belongs to the black man who’s been busting his ass since the age of five, who was a veteran by the age of 15, who broke racial barriers and revolutionized the music industry. Michael Jackson is THE King of Pop of EVERY generation. With this statement, she earned thousands of likes and probably spoke from the point of view of many fans.
Furthermore, it was discussed to what extent the handover of the title was ethically justifiable, since the magazine was trying to replace a black man with a white man. One user commented: “A WHITE MAN? THE KING OF POP? They love to disregard black artists who have had to work a million times harder to achieve their goals.” Another added: “You would never do that with Elvis and crown anyone as the new King of Rock & Roll, especially a black artist. But with Michael Jackson, they do that all the time to mediocre white artists while doing some crap like calling him ‘the self-proclaimed King of Pop’.
Black rapper Chika writes, “One requirement to be even remotely called the ‘new king of pop’ is to be black. Because the current King of Pop is black, which means that you ‘compete’ with him. If you don’t have to cross racial lines, you can’t compete.” Rapper Chuck Inglish also said that naming Harry Styles that was a “damn aggressive move.”
So who is the “King of Pop”?
And as if comments on this extreme scale weren’t enough, writer Tenille Clarke continued to proclaim on Twitter that Jackson is “a legacy” and that ROLLING STONE misused the title back in 2003 when she cast Justin Timberlake as the “new King of.” called pop.
The definition of an ICON is when the globally-renowned “King of Pop” still has the power to enter conversations and drive online debates on his cultural relevance 51 + 30 years following his first and second magazine covers of the same publication. Now THAT is a legacy. ???? https://t.co/veqZHGvNju pic.twitter.com/6Vx7gIi2Q5
— To Ten. (@tenilleclarke1) August 22, 2022
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