And it was the will of God that our wine be poured Into two different bottles
( there has even been some spillage into other Artists )

Contrary to Prince he respects his fans, always is willing to sign autographs for them and letting them take photos with him and talk to them

Sorry, but uh.. who gives a shit? Honestly. I don't care about Prince's autograph. I don't care if I get my picture made with him. What does that have to do with being a fan?

I don't see how it's hard to be a Prince fan. I have been one for years, and I've never just thought..'Man, this is all way too tough.' Prince's music is an escape from the garbage my life has to offer me, so.. seeing being a Prince fan as 'work' is just ridiculous to me.

Prince doesn't owe me a damn thing. I choose to spend my money on his music, his club, his merchandise. He didn't force me to. While his music is my favorite indulgence, I think there is a line that gets crossed way too often. Prince does not work for me, he does things for himself. He offers it up for us to decide if we wanna spend our hard earned money on it or not. If you do and don't like what you get in return, that's really your problem. You may not like the musical or personal directions he goes in.. and that's okay. But, to feel cheated because of it? That's scary to me.

I am a serious music lover. My life revolves around music of all types. And, sure, I buy albums and feel like i just wasted 16 dollars. But, aside from trying to pawn it off, there's really nothing I can do. Let your voice be heard, sure. But, it's always my choice.

This wasn't directed at YOU personally, Serious. Or anyone, for that matter.

. And he has a brilliant voice (far superior to Prince's) [This message was edited Fri Nov 28 2:54:57 PST 2003 by Serious]

[i]Prince does not work for me, he does things for himself. .

Hi Chilton,

It's interesting that, like you, others seem to think he's always copying Prince.
Prince wasn't the first either who changed his name, fought over record labels or looks like (musically or other) another artist for instance.

It's funny though that Sananda always gets compared to Prince.

Sananda changed his name for different reasons, made it also official.

Heck every artist has influences, Sananda sees Prince as he says as one of his musical elders and teachers as he has more influences.
Besides that he is an artist in his own right and he can produce, arrange and play too. 'Cause only few people can do it all, they are copy-cats?

You can't deny Prince his biggest influence either, at least I see a lot of Jimi Hendrix in him always have.

Love
Lily
[This message was edited Sun Nov 30 13:46:24 PST 2003 by LilyPhilips]

LilyPhilips said:

See and there in lies the problem. Prince does not play guitar like Jimi Hendrix he plays Prince with a huge Santana influence. He did take from some of his stage presence definetly, but then he took from James Brown and Little Richard and even Liberace but he still managed to blend all of that into the unique being that we call Prince. Sanata has never really done that and for him to be putting himself in the same league with Prince as an artist of influence and social change is really an insight into his very big and out of control ego. I do agree with your points that everyone borrows from everyone to a degree but I like people like your David Bowie's and your Jimi Hendrix's and your Prince's who manage to take from the past and blaze a trail into the future. I think that really rocks and makes me respect them so much. I mean God knows that Lenny Kravitz borrows maybe a little too heavily from the past and you can see a big Prince influence in him but he still manages to be Lenny and that is really cool. I don't it just seems to me that Sanata tries way too hard and I can tell your a fan but I have to ask you honestly can't you see him chasing Prince just a little. If not cool I can dig it you like who you like.

Yeh Sananda is nuts, right ppl? Please. He's so on another level that he has blown your minds, it seems.

"In contact telepathically" and "both the same entity" mean they are one in spirit, basically. Do not take it too literally folks! They are both true artists of the same type he's saying here (but the "wine was poured into 2 different bottles", with "overspill", or influence, to other artists).

Yes, Sananda is full of himself, he always is (who couldn't be if they truly know themselves?). It's cool if you're not feeling it (to paraphrase him in a previous interview), but he will never compromise to anyone else's idea they have of him but his own. His hell with Sony has just reinforced that for him.

The "government is on our case" he's trying to explain that both he and P are both influential artists cut from the same cloth, so to speak, that have the power to "shake shit up" as he's stated in a previous interview, moreso if/when they combine forces.

He has talked about the 60s and 70s artists in the past and how they had the power to really make people think and give their "power back" and make important social changes, which I think he is referring to here with his hypothetical "government is on our case" if he and Prince were to ever combine comment (which they have actually talked about in the past but never really done). He knows both he and P have pushed the boundaries and advanced the consciousness of those who have listened and he's trying to get it across that they are a potent force whenever they are near.

Whenever voices are there telling the people to think for themselves, the governments of the world crush them because they are a threat to their own stability and control. If you don't believe he's anywhere near worthy and is full of himself, fine. But he sure thinks he is one of these influential artists. He thinks P and others have been too.

Now let's wrap up...

He has been thru hell with Sony. He has won his freedom. He owns all his damn work and the bulk of what he sells goes straight into his pocket. No middlemen taking 85% of his earnings like the record company "plantation" artists. He still produces brilliant music (IMO), amazing writings and he is happier now than he's been in a long time, career-wise. Who is crazy here?

If the way he speaks to describe himself is enough for you to proclaim he is crazy, fine Look at where he is in life now and the results really speak for themselves...

Typo edit-o-rama
[This message was edited Thu Nov 27 19:59:02 PST 2003 by cynicalbastard]

See and there in lies the problem. Prince does not play guitar like Jimi Hendrix he plays Prince with a huge Santana influence. He did take from some of his stage presence definetly, but then he took from James Brown and Little Richard and even Liberace but he still managed to blend all of that into the unique being that we call Prince.

Sanata has never really done that and for him to be putting himself in the same league with Prince as an artist of influence and social change is really an insight into his very big and out of control ego.

I do agree with your points that everyone borrows from everyone to a degree but I like people like your David Bowie's and your Jimi Hendrix's and your Prince's who manage to take from the past and blaze a trail into the future. I think that really rocks and makes me respect them so much. I mean God knows that Lenny Kravitz borrows maybe a little too heavily from the past and you can see a big Prince influence in him but he still manages to be Lenny and that is really cool. I don't it just seems to me that Sanata tries way too hard and I can tell your a fan but I have to ask you honestly can't you see him chasing Prince just a little. If not cool I can dig it you like who you like.

Well Lily you know him much better than I and yes I misspelled his name. I believe he has a great voice but he needs a producer and he needs deeper understanding of the instruments he plays. It is not a matter of me feeling he is arrogant I couldn't care less about that. I think he is crazy to think he has the same influence as Prince. Nope sorry never has and never will. When I first got into music I tried to be Prince real bad!! but as I studied I became more comfortable with the instruments I played and played well and the ones I am okay on etc. so that now when I write now I write from a different place. There are so many talented people in the world Sananda is one I just feel he needs to find his identity. Prince is a very big musical personality to everyone but if you are black (especially now a days) he is damn near a God!! He is like a Duke Ellington who begat a Quincy Jones (albiet with some time in between) etc. Sananda is just like that he is a person who was influenced by Prince greatly and I believe he is a follower of Prince. Now I think that is not acceptable for the level of talent he possess. I feel that he can go deeper in another direction personally and that does not mean you have to play every instrument or what have you. It just means you me and Sananda needs to be you!!! I don't think you could make a plausible argument that he has influenced as many musicians as Prince. I don't even think that would be realistic however he is what he is and if this is the fullest extenstion of his potential then okay. But he could be more and I am not talking about sales as much as I am talking about impact!
Peace and I love this argument by the way cause this is something I have wanted to say for years. Hey how did you become his webmisstress?(I can't spell for shit incase you haven't figured that out).

chiltonmusic said:

Well I've been a fan of Prince for 19 years and a fan of Sananda/TTD (as he was called for many years) for 16 years I own a huge collection of their music and have listened to it for countless hours. I have seen Prince live in concert about 50 times and TTD/Sananda about 20 times over the years and I am looking forward to more shows of them happening somewhere I can go to . So I am quite familiar with both artists' work. They are both unique artists, when I listen to them or see them live I don't hear many similarities in their music or style. Both of them have been influenced by other artists (artists like James Brown have influenced both of them e.g.), but I don't hear much of a Prince influence in Sananda's music. I think Prince was more of an inspiration for Sananda about being able to take control over his work, do it all by himself and not be afraid to be himself, about not caring about the number of sales too much , but the quality of the music. You are right that Sananda has not influenced as many other artists as Prince has, but that does not make his music any less beautiful or creative. I definitely don't think he needs a producer (there have been quite some times in the 90s though when I really thought Prince needed a producer ), I think he is a great producer. Prince is a better guitar player than Sananda, but Sananda is a far better singer than Prince (and that's not just my opinion, but the opinion of every Prince fan as well I've ever talked to about it in person and who knows both artists). But like Lily said it ain't a contest. It's about wonderful music written and performed by very talented artists. There have been times when I enjoyed Prince's music more than TTD's, but in the last years I am more impressed by Sananda's music than by Prince's. I think he is a superb songwriter and producer and his music comes directly from his heart , his lyrics are pure poetry performed with pure emotion. And about potential, of course I hope that Sananda will write even more beautiful and innovative music than he has been doing, but if he continues to write songs that are on the level of his latest record for the rest of his life I am a very, very happy and satisfied fan

chiltonmusic said:

Hi Chilton! (My daughter and I saw one of your shows last year and we had a ball! I even got my own pair of plaid pants like yours! ...and I had pictures taken of myself in them...but that's another story...a good story...)
...anyways, I think Sananda was just trying to irk the reporter on that one. Yes, he may need a new producer, but I do think he's established himself as an artist. Not neccesarily an "A" artist, but a pretty good "B" artist. I think it's okay to go through the name change bit, (although if I'm going to go through the trouble of changing my name and making everybody learn how to spell it and pronounce it properly n' stuff, I'm gonna come out with a big 'BANG!') because, as in the TV/Film industry, it's easy to be typecast. As far as him 'getting a life', I think he's tryin' to. He just got married and he's moving on with his life, whatever that may be. And as for the label fight...sheesh...what *self respecting* artist isn't fighting some major corporation these days?

my

mochalox said:

this guy's STILL full of himself 15 years later. didn't he learn any humility the first time around?