Music

Michael Jackson's daughter says he was a big fan of Kanye West

by Richard Howard

Last week, Kanye West scored his 40th Top 40 hit with his guest spot on Schoolboy Q’s “That Part.” Some eagle-eyed observers noticed that this means West now has more Top 40 hits than the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. As Stereogum points out, there are artists with more – in fact, Kanye isn’t even the first rapper to surpass MJ. Still, the fact that we’re talking about the dude that grabbed the mic from a 19-year-old Taylor Swift and has repeatedly compared himself to Jesus means there’s a healthy portion of people that aren’t overjoyed about his latest accomplishment. One young fan in that group tweeted her displeasure (however inelegantly):

Inaccuracy aside (Elvis holds that title with a ridiculous 80 Top 40 hits), the reaction of being mad at Kanye (rather than the listening public) if she thinks the situation is a travesty is, well, sorta dumb. Still, no one could have expected who would come to Kanye’s defence: MJ’s daughter, Paris Jackson. In addition to advising the fan not to be a Salty Sally and urging her celebrate others’ accomplishments, she revealed that Michael played Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak for her “all the time.”

So can we just talk about the fact that, despite what must have been an insanely unusual childhood, Michael Jackson’s daughter seems to be infinitely more well adjusted and logical than many of her contemporaries? Oh, and Corey Young, here’s a tidbit you might enjoy: Kanye is only 10th on the list of artists with the most Top 40 tunes. Want to know who demolishes MJ’s number and sits at runner-up with a count of 69? That’d be the pride of New Orleans, Lil Wayne. Try not to have an embolism with that one.