Hope this one is easier to read:

Okay, I decided to take another stab at it. I was not referring to the tone of Janet’s voice when I said Jam & Lewis gave her more of an R&B sound, I was referring to the sound of her music, the beats. I will acknowledge that when Madonna’s single “Holiday” came out some people thought it was a black artist because the sound of the music was heavily influenced by R&B. Many would argue that R&B was the blueprint for Madonna’s music and that all she did was take R&B and make it lighter or diluted. She introduced that sound to the Pop world and made it more acceptable, thus paving the way for artist like Janet who blew up a little later. When Madonna’s videos like “Borderline” and “Lucky Star” came out she started this whole look and pop craze. She had female pre-teens and teens (white and black) walking around with big bows in their hair and wearing lace gloves. I was a teen in the 80’s so I clearly remember (I graduated from high school in ’89) but if you are not as familiar with those videos you should check them out to try to get a feel for the times. She also had a less well known video out about the same time for “Burning Up.” Many other Madonna wanna-be singers started popping up but most didn’t make it big or last long. I would not put Janet in that category because she had her own unique style.

I’ll concede that you’ve done a good job of convincing me that Janet can equally be considered a Pop artist and I know she racked up Pop hits as did Madonna, but Madonna kicked it off and was the most popular. Her videos were being seen by the masses before Janet received any significant exposure (Janet’s first two albums tanked). I use to scan all kinds of radio stations because I’ve always been the type of person who was interested in different genres of music. While Madonna may have gotten more Pop airplay overall, Janet got way more airplay on R&B radio stations than Madonna did and some black people (unlike me, but like the majority of my friends growing up) only listened to R&B stations. We heard Janet on the R&B stations all the time and considered her R&B.

But radio wasn’t Madonna’s only avenue because she kept her name in the spotlight for so long with so many antics like the use of religion in a way that offended some people (like Gaga is doing now), toying around with lesbianism (like Katy Perry, Gaga and others later did), or constantly exposing her mid-drift at a time when other artists in general were not doing so yet (like all of the Pop divas are doing now). And who could ever forget that MTV performance of “Like A Virgin” when she was rolling all over the stage in a lace dress. That was an iconic moment in Pop history, whether it deserves to be or not. I believe if you ask any white person who grew up in the 80’s (whether they listened to Pop, Rock, Country or even R&B/Soul music) who the QOP is, an overwhelming majority would say Madonna. Now with black people it may be a different story, some like me, would say Madonna while others would say Janet. We all know that black people are the minority in this world. Most of the white people > most of the black people, making Madonna more widely considered the QOP.

I don’t know exactly what year people started referring to her as such but I know before she was given the title, she was laying the groundwork, by redefining pop sound and culture. ALL OF THE ABOVE, including my other comments, is why she got the title FIRST and kept it. That’s it for me (I think).