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Recent talk about Madonna and her Super Bowl performance have mentioned how the Queen of Pop is back. I agree she deserves the title. It got me to thinking about other leaders in music. These are the common ones.
Michael Jackson - King of Pop
Madonna - Queen of Pop
Elvis Presley - King of Rock n' Roll
Now who are the other members of different genres?
Queen of Rock n' Roll?
King and Queen of Alternative Rock?
King and Queen of Rap, Hip/Hop?
King and Queen of Country?
Etc....
Ok, I'll bite because it's so obvious. Freddy Mercury is the Queen of Rock.
Michael Jackson - Queen of Pop
Queen of Rock n' Roll? Janis Joplin
King and Queen of Alternative Rock?Nirvana
King and Queen of Rap, Hip/Hop? Who cares?
King and Queen of Country? Walon Jennings
I think it's a two way tie between Chris Brown and Kanye West for queen of Rap/Hiphop....assuming acting like a bitch for attention is ample qualification.
It all ends and begins with KISS. Who gives a flying fvck about anyone else?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Treibenschnell
this is a joke right? some of the kids of that era scare me......
I dunno. Kids of the late 70's to early 80's aren't nearly as scary as some of the kids today. The whole hip/hop thing is way scarier than a few dudes in makeup and platform boots.Quote:
Originally Posted by VFR750
See? Everyone loves KISS!
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/kiss.jpg
The aforementioned kings and queens fulfill certain criteria:
All were highly respected by their peers. Royalty has to bring their music to people outside their niche. All of them were household names. All of them had long careers. All of them made it into popular culture, movies, and water-cooler conversations. All of them have had songs that get stuck in lay-people's (read: fair-weather fans) heads. In those terms, let's explore the options.
Queen of Rock n' Roll? I second Freddy Mercury. Maybe Elton John. Truthfully, it is probably Stevie Nicks.
King and Queen of Alternative Rock? Alt Rock is too young. Dave Grohl might be the prince. He has been involved in enough projects to earn an honorable mention at least. Princess? Gwen Stefani may be a princess candidate. She has moved outside of the genre, though.
King and Queen of Rap, Hip/Hop? Not sure. Most of the best (timeless) albums are from groups, not individual virtuosos. Nobody seems to hang around long in this group. Eminem/Marshall Mathers made it into movies (music and acting), had a strong music career, and attracted unconventional fans, but I wouldn't go as far as calling him King.
King and Queen of Country? Jennings, Cash, or Willie Nelson for king. Queen? It pains me to admit that Dolly Parton is the strongest candidate. I was never able to force myself to appreciate her voice, her personality, or her "looks".
Um.... how about Folk: King could possibly be Bob Dylan or Neil Young. That being said, King of Folk is a stretch of the imagination any way you cut it.
King of Jazz: Satchmo. I doubt I need to elaborate, but Armstrong had one of the longest and most mainstream careers in jazz, making him a household name. It doesn't hurt his case that he is responsible for a lot of musical progression and revolution. His instrumentation is instantly recognizable, just as his voice. I bet "It's a wonderful world" made it into more movies than most other songs. There are honorable mentions (Cab Calloway comes to mind), but I feel like there is no stronger candidate than Louis Armstrong.
King of Blues: Let the debate begin. There are many strong candidates. I will begin by saying that B.B. King could be in the running.
I was told the Queen of Country is Loretta Lynn. I didn't expect that but evidently it is a title bestowed on her from what I've heard.
I'm guessing Queen of R&B could be the late Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey. Not a fan of that style of music though.
Queen of R&B has to be Aretha Franklin. End of discussion.
Meh. Dave Grohl parlayed his involvement in Nirvana into commercial success with the Foo Fighters, but he's never really done anything ground breaking.Quote:
Originally Posted by boisking
My vote for the king of alternative rock? Trent Reznor. No contest. NIN brought industrial music into the mainstream in the late '80s, and Reznor has continued to push boundaries and warp genres ever since.
Honorable mention goes to Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction. He helped bring alt rock into the mainstream and founded Lollapalooza, which revived (and commercialized, but that's another story) the multi-headliner concert/festival idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by altiain
I disagree...Grohl was a no-name drummer with Nirvana. He turned into a great front man with is own sound. (No whiney Curbain lyrics in his/their stuff.)
I'll agree on that one... but Dolly's fake boobs and Patsy Cline's dead corpse might have a thing or two to say about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by black roadster
Really? You nominate those two overrated pitchfinders?Quote:
Originally Posted by black roadster
Aretha. Franklin.
Dolly used to be hot... but I digress. She and Loretta probably share the crown as far as songwriting ability and overall talent.Quote:
Originally Posted by boisking
http://static.rateyourmusic.com/lk/f...06/1151281.jpg
Murky waters, for sure... but I think you'd have to go back to Woody Guthrie.Quote:
Originally Posted by boisking
Queen of Jazz: Etta James
King of Blues: John Lee Hooker
King of Country: Willie Nelson and his tour bus
King of Alt/Grunge: Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Amen!Quote:
Originally Posted by trickyrix
How could you even mention a king of rap and not think of Tupac? Going by boisking's criteria Tupac wins that category hands down. Granted he was only rapping for 5 years before he died, but he's still one of the most selling musicians in the world. Hell, the rereleases and remixes that come out still outsell a lot of the new "rappers."
And hip-hop is a totally different animal than rap. Then again, current rap is a completely different beast from mid-90s' rap (when it was good).
Second (and the Dave G comment as well).Quote:
Originally Posted by altiain
Tupac? Pffft... Grandmaster Flash is the King Grandaddy of the genre.
Aretha! Yeah. What was I thinking?