A lot of her music is just that... but I can't fault her for the era that she came up in....... lets not forget that Janet came up in an era where it was all about the music, and was taking under the wing by one of the greatest producing duos of all time....
Without question Janet's discography>>> Bey's..... well, imo
I see what you're saying, but that's the thing. If she's so great, then she should be transcending the genre.
Remember when MJ really became MJ: Motown was fading, disco died, pop music was completely in a distraught state. Dude completely flipped everything on it's head rather than make the same music everyone was complaining about.
If you're going to be the best at something 2nd tier, why not take your talents and make something new and better altogether if you can? But the better question may be, can you?
That's where I think Beyonce is being overrated by her fans and cats that fail to understand the context that prior generational artists like MJ came up in. Great performer, she's the best at what she does. But does her music really break anything?
As a comparison, we've had cats on a lesser scale like Kendrick flirt with pushing the envelope with pure lyricism in the face of more melodic hip-hop in recent years, although he still can't quite make an culture-wide changing impact in the genre. But that's what I'd expect from an artist being propped up the way Beyonce has and has been talked about.
I think it should be noted though, and why I favor Janet over Beyonce: Janet did push the envelope when it came to a female artist. Everyone knows about her dancing being very technical, but imagine an r&b singer with her voice being accepted at the time? She pushed the envelope and influenced a lot of women in the genre and other genres like indie rock to take on her style into their music, breaking many barriers in the process. I don't think that should be taken lightly either.
Now I'm not saying Beyonce should switch up, but man, I can't help to feel like she's been doing the same songs ever since she went solo. I enjoy them, but they are what they are.