As Michael Jackson famously noted, no one wants to be defeated. But having your record tied kind of sucks, too: With Katy Perry‘s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” ascending to the top position on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, her Teenage Dream becomes the second album to see five of its singles do so (“California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” and “E.T.” also hit No. 1). The first? Michael Jackson’s Bad. (Count ‘em: “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana.”)
Does this make Teenage Dream a bona fide pop classic? Or does its reign over a culture that is marked by distraction make this not a big deal in the scheme of things? Time will tell, but for now we’re left with mixed emotions: Happiness for Katy’s achievement, despondence for the King of Pop having to share a throne. Below, a gif wall of combating emotions from both artists sums up our internal conflict.




























Rich Juzwiak is a writer and video editor whose work has appeared in the Village Voice, Jezebel, and on This American Life. He runs the pop culture blog Four Four.










