The internet has been debating whether or not Drake has reached the same icon status of Michael Jackson, prompting the late King of Pop’s song, Prince Jackson, to weigh in.
In a recent interview with TooFab, Prince was asked about Drake, who beat a Billboard record that Michael previously held. Nine tracks from Drake’s record Certified Lover Boy reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a feat achieved by Thriller in 1982.
“I mean everybody has their own definition of great, and all respect to Drake everything that he does,” Prince said. “But what my father and my family accomplished, in the time that they did it, is very unlikely … never to be matched again.”
Over the course of his career, Drake has cited Michael as one of his major inspirations. He featured a sample of Michael’s vocals from an unreleased session with Paul Anka on his 2018 track, “Don’t Matter to Me.”
The rapper also revealed that his viral dance move from the same track was also inspired by the King of Pop.
“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.
Earlier in his career, Drake spoke at length to MTV about the impact that Michael had on not only him, but the world. He said that it was the first time that 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 gushed. “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.”