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Lizzo sparks Internet riot after saying Janet Jackson is Queen of Pop NOT Madonna!

One tweet read, 'People are entitled to their opinions, but there is only one Queen of Pop and that's Madonna'

Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, songwriter, and flutist Lizzo began tweeting her opinions on who the rightful royalty of American music is. She called Usher the “king of R&B”. While many disagreed, people in the replies seemed unable to decide if the crown was meant for R Kelly or Chris Brown -- the real trouble began when Lizzo tweeted about who she thought were king and queen of pop music. 

“King of Pop- Michael Jackson,” Lizzo declared. “Queen of Pop- Janet Jackson. Prince of pop- Bieber. Princess of Pop- Britney Spears. The Pop princess- Rihanna. Queen of music- Beyonce.”

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While she added more opinions, “Queen of soul- Aretha. Queen of R&B- Mariah. Queen of hip hop soul- Mary J. Queen of rock & roll- Tina Turner” -- and even added the disclaimer that “Obviously there’s a new school coming… but these are the greats . This is the standard,” fans seemed to have an issue with the “Queen of pop” category more than anything else. And subsequently, the category began trending. 

One Twitter user made a thread on “Why Madonna is the Queen of Pop and NOT Janet Jackson,” listing data about album sales and concerts and more. When one person tweeted, “I’m not letting no white person tell me that Madonna and Gaga are queens of anything when their black counterparts go harder than them in every aspect. I don’t care,” another person responded with, “Gaga sure. But Madonna is unmistakenly the queen of pop. Lol. Like there’s no debating the impact she has on the genre.”

One tweet read, “People are entitled to their opinions,  but there is only one Queen of Pop and that's Madonna. And this is a FACT!” Another one read, “Madonna is the queen of pop whether you like her music or not. She's the best selling female artist of all time + the highest grossing solo touring act of all time with the most #1 hits WW, aka the Queen of Pop.” One Twitter user said, “Queen of pop is Madonna. Janet is an Icon, a legend. But her current songs sounds as exactly the same as the 80s. Madonna has consistently pushed boundaries. Can sell out stadiums in multiple countries.”

While Janet Jackson’s iconic status can hardly be refuted, popularly, the “Queen of Pop” title has always been attributed to Madonna. In a 2008 Guardian feature, music journalist Alan McGee noted, “A dancer from Detroit, coming to New York City with $35 in her pocket, no contacts, and dropped by a taxi driver in Times Square after a request to be 'where the action is’ to go on and dictate popular culture for the next 30 years? Madonna and Michael Jackson invented the Queen and King of Pop, and took the ideas of rock'n'roll myth-making into the pop world.”

A 1998 CNN feature about the legacy and impact of MTV on popular culture and music noted that “MTV could stand for ‘Madonna Television’ after all the years her videos have topped the playlists.” The piece also noted, “And like a march through time, MTV has brought us Madonna and more Madonna and even more Madonna.”