Last night i was on a group of 15 friends and we played a board game where you have to name things in certain categories.

One of the categories was about "80s popstars" and we have to name more songs you can of these popstars: Micheal Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper and Janet Jackson.

 

Michael Jackson won with the most quoted songs from most people, then Madonna, than Cyndi Lauper and then Whitney. No one among the fifteen people named a single Janet Jackson track, actually most said like "who?". 

 

What's the reason of it? why despite the commercial success she didn't past the test of time like the others and seems nearest to Paula Abdul career path than his brother career's path?. 

 

Discuss. 

The new R&B girlies keep mentioning her as an inspiration, so I guess not

From Cyndi I can only name Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time and True Colors. I'm surprised your friends couldn't name more than 3 Janet songs  

 

I guess it depends on where your friends are from/how old they are, etc.

Is Katy Perry the new Paula Abdul?

Janet is, in fact, eerily omnipresent in music and pop culture as a whole. Her impact and influence on the modern popular music landscape are astonishingly vast.

 

Uncultured rodents being unable to name numerous songs of hers says more about them than it does about her.

 

She's a little bit like Blues music, in this context; most people (particularly past a certain age/generation) can't name many famous Blues musicians, but those Blues artists are still the most important musicians of the 20th century, and we unknowingly encounter their domineering influence throughout all modern music, every single day. That the greater majority of people are unable to attach specific faces to said influence is moreso a statement about both societal and global anti-blackness, but that's an entire dissertation that I can't be bothered to type up on a Sunday (mind you, OP doesn't seem intellectually equipped to receive and digest the aforementioned in the first place).

 

And speaking of race—the purple elephant in these conversations that non-black people are so comedically determined to ignore—Janet will always be relevant (and deified) within black communities and spaces.

 

TL;DR: Janet is an indisputable legend. Disrespect towards her reflects a wider cultural issue, which OP has exposed himself as being a part of.

Edited July 22, 20242 yr by LikeATattoo

Is David Archuleta's hole a pink starburst?

No because this thread is made every week you guys can't shut the **** up about her

18 minutes ago, vale9001 said:

than Cyndi Lauper and then Whitney

No way did your friends more Cyndi Lauper songs than Whitney Houston 

No, she's not.

But I also think there was a massive cultural shift starting with Gen Z becoming teenagers, and I think because of what happened with Janet's career in 2002, her star isn't as strong with the younger generation. Janet--much like Michael, Madonna, Bruce, Prince, Mariah, and pretty much all major acts of the day--is a multi-generational figure who appealed to boomers, Gen X, and millennials during entirely different eras. She'll never be forgotten.

It's very odd how some of y'all like to act like Janet isn't a literal icon. 
 

Never see threads like these made about her Caucasian counterparts

Well you didn't forget her when making this thread did you? 

Not as long as I live. 

 

Disrespectfull af, if it were me and my friends we would probably only mention Janet and Madonna songs, i refuse to believe anyone can mention more than 1 song from Cindy Lauper lmao

Edited July 21, 20242 yr by frankgutz

5 minutes ago, ICLDXU4HS said:

Not as long as I live. 

 

End her

Guess it depends on the age ranges. If they are over 25 and don't know Janet Jackson, then that's shocking. 
 

Gen Z makes sense tho. My younger family members and employees don't even know Madonna songs. So I guess it depends where you live and the age ranges

1 minute ago, itshyolee said:

It's very odd how some of y'all like to act like Janet isn't a literal icon. 
 

Never see threads like these made about her Caucasian counterparts

Actually try white female 2000s artists like Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff & Jessica Simpson (or even Paula Abdul) that have numerous listeners here that praise their music and calls classics yet according to their Spotify streams which a lot of ATRL users love to use, they have 0-1 100M songs but you don't see constant threads being made asking if they're forgotten or not, meanwhile Janet, an 80s artist, has multiple 100M streamed songs but yet she's still forgotten somehow despite having that. In fact there was recent thread a few months ago about Doja Cat singing Hilary's Come Clean song to an audience who was asked to sing along to it, yet no one knew what the song was and in came multiple users dragging the audience for not knowing. If it was a thread on that about Janet, you can bet a number of certain users would come in doing the opposite and proudly declaring their ignorance.

 

 

Don't y'all get bored of making this same thread over and over again? 

 

She's selling out arenas all over America and is gonna be doing arenas in Europe too… doesn't seem to be forgotten at all!

Not surprised the OP is this person. Always making dumb idiotic takes and ****. 

That made up ass story nnnn

The topic is tired as hell, but yes her legacy isn't as strong as her peers Madonna, Whitney, Mariah and Céline.

The Super Bowl incident and aftermath are the main contributor to this + the fact she focused on the US afterwards instead of building out her legacy in other markets.

 

I still wouldn't say she's completely forgotten. Millennials and older generations know about her.

 

Her influence is still very strongly present though among several female artists. Look at Britney, Tinashe, Ciara, Chloë, ...

 

Also, she still is very much remembered and respected within the black community.

Edited July 21, 20242 yr by blown away

29 minutes ago, LikeATattoo said:

 

And speaking of race—because it's inevitably the purple elephant in these conversations, whether non-black people care to admit it or not—Janet will always be relevant (and deified) within black communities and spaces.

 

I mean im not black, im latin living in Mexico and she was HUUUGE here pre Superbowl, she's a complete legend with the likes of Madonna, Mariah, Celine & Kylie, is idiotic to think she isnt known, loved or as big, important and legendary as those 4, i dont trust OP, unless he and his friends are 20 yrs old that live and know only tiktok singers

7 minutes ago, Moth 2 The Flame said:

Actually try white female 2000s artists like Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff & Jessica Simpson (or even Paula Abdul) that have numerous listeners here that praise their music and calls classics yet according to their Spotify streams which a lot of ATRL users love to use

lmao not them, even Mandy Moore has X4 time more monthly listeners and she's mostly known as an actress now lol

A forum centered on corporate pop music made by women always targeting one of the biggest and most influential to do it is hilarious to me. 

 

 

50 minutes ago, LikeATattoo said:

And speaking of race—because it's inevitably the purple elephant in these conversations, whether non-black people care to admit it or not—Janet will always be relevant (and deified) within black communities and spaces.

I agree with the rest of your post but it depends on the black community as well.  In my experience, she is (sadly) not relevant in Black British and Caribbean communities.

 

I couldn't name a single Janet song until I joined ATRL and to this day I have never heard a single Janet song be played at a family gathering, birthday, wedding, event, etc unlike other 80s/90s acts like Sade, Whitney, Mariah, Celine and even Shania. 
 

She's very underrated and her legacy deserves better. 

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Gen Z makes sense tho. My younger family members and employees don't even know Madonna songs. So I guess it depends where you live and the age ranges

My online bestie (who is gen-z like me) sent her song "Velvet Rope" in the groupchat as a song recommendation back in April (of this year) so... I guess it's just about taste/exposure.

I personally don't think I've heard any of her songs (I was never rly exposed much to r&b to begin w/ iirc) but If I were interested I could just look up her music and listen (I haven't been curious about her sound yet)

 

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OT: In Europe, maybe unfortunately? But in America, she's remembered and still discussed to this day.

This makes sense given my bestie that I mentioned prior is American, whereas I (being from Europe) literally hadn't heard of Janet Jackson prior to her sending that song.

Edited July 21, 20242 yr by Illyboy