He may be biased but Jay-Z has compared his wife, Beyoncé, to the late Michael Jackson and people have opinions. 

The rapper was speaking to Alicia Keys in a Twitter Space as she launched her new eight album, KEYS, when he made the bold comparison, as per NME.

“Bey’s gonna be mad at (me) for saying this but Michael Jackson never had a Coachella,” he said to the singer. He went on to call Beyoncé “an evolution” of Jackson “because she watched him at nine.”

He continued: “The kids are the same. Find me a concert that’s as culturally relevant and thrilling as Coachella. Beyoncé is gonna be one of the best singers we ever heard because she is such a student.”

Jigga’s well within his rights to make this comparison – both are the eminent pop superstars of their era – but why so much emphasis on Coachella? That just comes off as odd.

Unsurprisingly fans rallied behind both camps as the argument exploded on social media. “Beyoncé was pregnant & singing upside down at FWT, pregnant & throwin up when she did glastonbury, sick when she sang her face off at oprah’s show. Michael jackson sprained his ankle & did an entire performance sit-in down & lipsyncin for his life. the bar is SO low for men,” wrote one Twitter user.

“He (Michael Jackson) was pulling Coachella’s reaction at any given concert without social media and entertainment platforms,” countered another.

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Beyoncé has actually been compared to Jackson before. “I think she’s the greatest entertainer that our generation has seen,” Charlamagne Tha God said in 2015. “I mean, the previous generation had Michael Jackson. But for our generation I think it’s Beyonce. And I even put—You can’t compare anybody to anybody. Michael Jackson is a god. He’s legendary. He’s on a totally different level.”

It also mirrors a similar situation from September when Billboard compared Drake and Michael Jackson after Certified Lover Boy overtook Thriller for most top ten hits on the same album.

For more on this topic, follow the Pop Observer.

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