I was remembering how white Prince used to be back in the early 90's, I mean he was very white... Scary... I found several pictures from that era, and compared them with older pictures and, he clearly looks whiter...

I don't know if it has been already discussed before, but Prince used to put some white powder or something on his face in the early 90's...



Prince looked even whiter than his white musicians...

Maybe he was influenced by MJ, I don't know

I think that those are just bad pics.

2Jay said:

He took A LOT of bad pictures then. This was a common look for him through the mid 1990s.

viewaskew said:

I get ur point, viewaskew....I remember noticing at the time, n' in pics from that era, thinking 2 myself 'What's up with that?'
It's not bad pics...It's deliberate... bad make-up, at best, but still...

Not a good look

Could'nt he afford a makeup artist with an airbrush.I hate pancake. He doesnt try in the least 2 hide the fact
[Edited 5/17/08 18:25pm]

Black and White is the Light tonite....

I can see where this is going.

ToraToraDreams said:

2IZ1 said:

^^^..but in some way i can agree with this..^^^

I don't know the facts about his using powder and the like, but as far as I know photography is all about light/lightning. I'm as white as a sheet but on some professional photos shot with good lightning my skin is caramel/butterscotch.

Camera angles, but Prince did g through some white phases

1. The Parade era, with the short hair and crop top, he looks very pale on the albim covers (His huge lips make him look like a Maori or an islander, ie me), but a photo of him on the mountains sleeve in the yellow jacket, makes him look much blacker.

2. That Graffiti Bridge to Gold era, when he looked real pale, but he wore his hair straight, or femmy Adonis curls. and may have been using concealer or blush. The single for eye hate u makes him look his whitest.

But its probably several reasons

1. His parents are naturally light skinned people for African Americans, both have the features but not the jet black colour of say Jerome Benton, they may have some white blood in them.

2, Early black and white photos of Prince with their sepia tone and shadow light, made him look blacker than he was, and he had the huge afro mixed with the big lips made him look very black.

3. Plastic surgery and his press releases about him being mixed race and the rest also add to the myth.

4. The Michael Jackson skin bleaching fiasco being applied to other famous black entertainers like Prince and Diana Ross. Yet its know Jackson had vitiligo (The glove maybe masked a hand that had the characteristic blotches on it, and why do you think he wears all the make up.

5. Prince wearing pale face make up or foundation.

Prince has always had brown rather than white skin, and its just now you can see how black he is again.

As he said in Under the Cherry Moon, Tricky is black and i am butterscotch

the 80s and 90s were years where makeup for darker skinned people was just not available,

you just had to make do
all my female family members who wore lots of makeup during that time had the same effect in photos - it has nothing else to do with anything but poor selection in make up

i wouldnt really like to judge on this.

Clearly Prince was born ligher in pigmentation than the mentioned MJ.

But seems more comfortable with what nature and his genes has handed down to him.

I dont really know about these earlier pics - one theory i put forward is this:
When Prince first came out as a recording artist - presumably he was on a tight budget still - & didnt have the funds for trips to / homes in exotic locations (where there's more sun) & again - not being an expert - but isnt his home town a rather northerly place with harsh winters (& there fore less sun or the weather being so cold you would rather stay in) - coupled with the unhealthy livestyle of late night gigs (& relentless, obsessive home recording sessions)

So i would guess these may have effected his look regarding skin shade in some of those earlier pics.
+ he may have been made up by a white / non black makeup artist for the pics who applied that makeup?

Looking back before Purple Rain and 1999 era - some of his earlier pics he's looking prety tanned still.

IMO - don't judge him on this - he knows what race he is - & props for promoting a multiracial band (s) & talented people of all races and shades.

Big up Prince and your badSelf!!



PA ~ funky4u

I think it was done on purpose, it was a 'look' he was going for, not quite sure what 'look' but....

I don't think he was trying to be more 'white' - even though he used whiter makeup , I think he was just being creative, inventing a new 'character'. I never liked that look though, or those strange curls, he was so thin too, it was all a bit freaky even for Prince!!

tane1976 said:

That's interesting, I always wondered why he looked so much more black earlier on. I think you're right. I don't think he ever had plastic surgery do you? The only thing that ever crosses my mind is that his nose looked much slimmer compared to those earlier photos, but that could just be a trick of the eye, cos of the afro etc...like you say.

It would be nice to see him be a man, admit to his age & put away the makeup for good. Put the focus on the music & the music alone.

It's just the side effect of lighting and photography. Prince is light skinned,
so the variation on how 'black' he looks can vary dramatically from shot to
shot depending on the lighting etc.

However, in 'real life', he hasn't changed. I've seen him in person on every tour
from the early eighties onwards and his skin tone has always been the same.

Oh, I didn't even know he was black.

I'm blackandwhiteblind.

Flo6 said:

I agree but his hands and ears sometimes didnt match his face and neck color /excuse me but i am a make up fanatic.

Whiteness.

Check this 1 out!

The white appearance is caused by the reflection from the camera's flash.
[Edited 5/18/08 8:02am]

Box said:

You're Back....LAWD!

KidaDynamite said:

emilia1 said:

What?

KidaDynamite said:

this forum is getting insane!!
and yet...i always return to it.

G0d said:

Good way to be...

emilia1 said:

That was my way of showing enthusiasum....

See?

KidaDynamite said:

lol lovely
ok i have to get ready. picking
up my brother from the airport.
hes staying wiht me for a week...
a week. in my house, he's a teenager

emilia1 said:

A teenage brother, huh? I'll pray for you...