Truth Hurts: Lizzo Calls Janet Jackson the ‘Queen of Pop,’ Madonna Stans Erupt in Anger

All the rumors are true: Janet Jackson is the Queen of Pop, boo! Well, that is, according to Lizzo. (And arguably much of the rest of the world.)

On Sunday, Lizzo revealed her list of all-time greats as it relates to Pop and R&B music. Per NME, after initially sending out a tweet where she referred to Usher as the “King of R&B,” the “Juice” singer posted a follow-up naming the best of the best in other genres:

https://twitter.com/lizzo/status/1432057261334011905

“King of Pop- Michael Jackson, Queen of Pop- Janet Jackson, Prince of pop- Bieber, Princess of Pop- Britney Spears, The Pop princess- Rihanna, Queen of music- Beyoncé,” she tweeted.

Now, while most would probably agree with this list, some Madonna fans were livid that their queen didn’t make the cut and hopped on social media to express their disappointment in the “Juice” singer:

“I love u lizzo but.... madonna is the queen of pop and... bieber the prince? omg pls lizzo??????????????????.” wrote one user.

“@Lizzo stop smoking crazy!!!! If this is an inspirational tweet? OK... but facts are facts, Madonna is Queen of POP... So disrespectful to Madonna,” penned another.

https://twitter.com/rejvani/status/1432111582297788421

“Oh honey……..Michaels is the King and Madonna the queen. End of story,” one user wrote.

Now look, if you ask me, the person who deserves the title of Queen of Pop should be Janet Jackson. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Madonna’s influence. BUT—because musical and social impact can vary depending on who you ask (let’s not act like this preference of Madonna over Janet doesn’t show a very clear cultural difference), I’m going to stick with Miss Jackson, if ya nasty.

I will say, however, Lizzo’s post does have me thinking about other genres that don’t always get discussed when it comes to music. For instance, we know the Queen of Soul is Aretha Franklin, but who’s the Queen of R&B? Mary J. Blige? Brandy? Mariah Carey?

What about the King and Queen of Neo-Soul? Do D’Angelo and Erykah Badu still reign supreme? Or do the crowns belong to Musiq Soulchild and Jill Scott? And don’t even get me started on the King and Queen of the Quiet Storm (real ones know): are we rolling out the royal carpet for Maxwell and Sade respectively or Brian McKnight and Anita Baker? Most importantly, where TF do Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross fit in?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.