Do you really want to go down this road, Miguel? As NME points out, a reporter from The Sunday Times asked the Wildheart singer about his relationship with fellow R&B innovator Frank Ocean, a relationship Miguel described as “cordial” at best. Then Miguel lit the fuse: “I wouldn’t say we were friends. To be completely honest — and no disrespect to anyone — I genuinely believe that I make better music, all the way around.” He went on: “It’s interesting, but we’ll see who’s in it for the long haul. It’s like a marathon, you know?”

Now, I don’t think it’s crazy to say Miguel makes better music than Frank Ocean — I actually wrote an essay for this very website espousing the opinion that Kaleidoscope Dream is a more satisfying listen than Channel Orange. But for Miguel to assert his superiority like that, unprovoked, is madness. It makes him look insecure, undermining the utterly confident persona he projects on record and on stage. It’s understandable that Miguel would be frustrated that Ocean is viewed as an infallible mystic genius while he has to settle for being known as a dazzling entertainer and a savvy aggregator of trends. Miguel is a musical genius, full stop, and he deserves all the recognition he can get. These comments, though, are pretty dumb, especially because there’s very little chance Ocean will take the bait and give Miguel the attention-grabbing press war he’s obviously angling for. All Ocean has to do is keep his mouth shut and he comes out of this looking more unflappable than ever, whereas Miguel just looks pathetic.

UPDATE: Miguel has just shared a conciliatory new statement via Twitter:

no need to compare apples to oranges 🌊🌊🌊 pic.twitter.com/5c86sEfpc3

— Miguel (@Miguel) July 7, 2015