p 167 chapter 12 HIT: Summer 1990

p 167 chapter 12 HIT: Summer 1990: nude tour

The next piece fell into place by accident. Unbeknownst to Prince,
Game Boyz dancer Tony Mosley occascionally practiced raps he had written
during sound checks. One afternoon, midway through the tour, Prince overheard
him and experienced an epiphany: Mosley had a tough, streetwise image, a
powerful baritone voice, and witty rhymes. Quickly, a delighted Mosley
was integrated into the live act not merely as one member of hte dance troupe, but as a rapper who sometimes took center stage.

And when the European swing concluded, Prince called him into Paisley Park Studios to add raps to several songs, including a remix of the song "New Power Generation" from Graffiti Bridge. Rapidly, this inexperienced your rapper emerged as a key member of the New Power Generation.

From the very beginning, though, Prince saw talents in Tony Mosley
that no one else could detect. "I thought he was a Dr. Dre wannabe," said
Rosie Gaines in a typical appraisel.


Throughout Mosley's tenure, reactions to his contributions - from fans, critics, and Prince's associates -would
be almost monolithically nagative, and with good reason: Mosley's delivery
was sloppy and dull, his image contrived and generic. His sudden prominence in
Prince's music had little to do with Mosley himself - it was instead a historical accident explained only by Prince's haste to exploit the commercial appeal of rap. Because Prince had never understood rap, and in fact disliked
rappers, like Chuck D and Ice-T, to whom Mosley's stylings bore a superficial
resemblance.

But Mosley had the boss' ear, and he knew it. Several band members
recall hat Mosley exclaimed one day to his colleagues regarding Prince
(who was not present):
"I'm gonna shove black down that nigga's throat if it kills me."
This declaration was a rallying cry to bring Prince back to his roots
in African-American music.

-Possessed:


[Edited 6/16/09 6:50am]
[Edited 6/18/09 9:38am]

Well this is sure to endear Tony to all the neutrals out there.

Seriously though, although this is an interesting insight (I'm guessing it's from the Alex Hahn book Possessed:The Rise and Fall?) it will only serve to bring out all the Tony M (negative) critics, it's getting as tired as the whole Larry Graham influence thing.

Personally I never had anything against Tony on record (sometimes his quiet spoken baritone interludes are pleasing to the ear - Willing and Able for example?) but I never liked his delivery on stage, that throaty shouting sounded so harsh, and he seemed to rap at 10 x the speed of the studio version too, I guess the live versions were performed a bit faster?)

Poor Tony

KeithyT said:

Well this is sure to endear Tony to all the neutrals out there.

Seriously though, although this is an interesting insight (I'm guessing it's from the Alex Hahn book Possessed:The Rise and Fall?) it will only serve to bring out all the Tony M (negative) critics, it's getting as tired as the whole Larry Graham influence thing.

BUT you couldn't be that tire, because you sure did jump on it to respond

Personally I never had anything against Tony on record (sometimes his quiet spoken baritone interludes are pleasing to the ear - Willing and Able for example?) but I never liked his delivery on stage, that throaty shouting sounded so harsh, and he seemed to rap at 10 x the speed of the studio version too, I guess the live versions were performed a bit faster?)

Poor Tony

KeithyT said:

Well this is sure to endear Tony to all the neutrals out there.

Seriously though, although this is an interesting insight (I'm guessing it's from the Alex Hahn book Possessed:The Rise and Fall?) it will only serve to bring out all the Tony M (negative) critics, it's getting as tired as the whole Larry Graham influence thing.

Personally I never had anything against Tony on record (sometimes his quiet spoken baritone interludes are pleasing to the ear - Willing and Able for example?) but I never liked his delivery on stage, that throaty shouting sounded so harsh, and he seemed to rap at 10 x the speed of the studio version too, I guess the live versions were performed a bit faster?)

Poor Tony

L4OATheOriginal said:

KeithyT said:

Well this is sure to endear Tony to all the neutrals out there.

Seriously though, although this is an interesting insight (I'm guessing it's from the Alex Hahn book Possessed:The Rise and Fall?) it will only serve to bring out all the Tony M (negative) critics, it's getting as tired as the whole Larry Graham influence thing.

Personally I never had anything against Tony on record (sometimes his quiet spoken baritone interludes are pleasing to the ear - Willing and Able for example?) but I never liked his delivery on stage, that throaty shouting sounded so harsh, and he seemed to rap at 10 x the speed of the studio version too, I guess the live versions were performed a bit faster?)

Poor Tony

yeah on the diamonds and pearls tour it's liked he screamed out the lyrics but on the act 1 tour, he seemed 2 get a better handle of the vocals...

can't say anything bad about tony m otherwise typo queen will b upset ..SHE LOVES HER SOME TONY M

[Edited 6/27/09 13:12pm]

Uhhh...wasn't that T.C. Ellis on New Power Generation Part II?

Hatman said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

crokey20 said:

L4OATheOriginal said:

His rapping was terrible and artificial, was he related to Timbaland, as his name is Mosley. Mosley is not really a black sounding name. M'bongoshongolehele Bomashikaniqiuaniqua is

Huggiebear said:

KeithyT said:

...i like tony..
...mzsexybaby

Anotherwontdare said:

...he WILL ALWAYS keep us waiting!!!..
..mzsexybaby

OldFriends4Sale said:

Irresistible Bitch was Prince rapping in 1982.
[Edited 6/28/09 21:44pm]

Huggiebear said:

Huh?...wha?..I thought this thread was about Tony M and his horrible delivery...

SavonOsco said:

Whats Tony M doing now?