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Prince : Mainstream? Underground? "Borderline"? I was wondering how U as fans, define Princey's status in the Music Industry? Do U consider him "mainstream" (or Hollywood as they say?), rather underground artist? or just borderline, flirting with the two sides? Or has he changed throughout his career?
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Good question, Frenchguy.. I have been wondering about the same thing,
Hello... I'm Come funkateer 'Danceelectric'
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his 80's image and music: mainstream
i was born with the wrong sign, in the wrong house, with the wrong ascendancy | |
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1978-1981: Breaking through
Hello... I'm Come funkateer 'Danceelectric'
from Housequake.com | |
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FrenchGuy said: I was wondering how U as fans, define Princey's status in the Music Industry? Do U consider him "mainstream" (or Hollywood as they say?), rather underground artist? or just borderline, flirting with the two sides? Or has he changed throughout his career?
I personnaly think he's borderline, especially back in the 80, there was a transition period, somewhere between "1999" and "Purple Rain", P was an underground artist, cause of his looks, adorned by punks, hipsters, gays and music critics mostly... Ant not much by the general public. But "Purple Rain" made him mainstream, but still, there was something about him that just didn't make him straight "hollywood" (sell-out) à la MJ or Madonna... But since "Diaminds & Pearls", he's kinda of "underground" to me, ever since he left Warner... Whaut's your opinion on his "status"? Do U see him as mainstream? Underground? elitist? borderline? I would classify him as underground mainstream, a pop artist with a large cult following. He obviously can not truly be underground since he has over 30 years of a rich musical catalog with hits and rarities known to many music fans who follow his work. Also note that with so many high profile moments in his career (Purple Rain movie, performances, name change), the general public is aware of Prince, albeit for different reasons. On that same note, he can not be considered mainstream since he really does not benefit from massive airplay on the radio or TV. Since leaving WB, his musical distribution is more or less controlled by who he wants it to stream through, so if he chooses different media, different gate keepers will accept or promote his work differently. Hurrah i awake from yesterday
alive but the war is here to stay so my love catherina and me decide to take our last walk through the noise to the sea not to die but to be re-born away from a life so battered and torn.... forever... | |
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COMPUTERBLUE1984 said: FrenchGuy said: I was wondering how U as fans, define Princey's status in the Music Industry? Do U consider him "mainstream" (or Hollywood as they say?), rather underground artist? or just borderline, flirting with the two sides? Or has he changed throughout his career?
I personnaly think he's borderline, especially back in the 80, there was a transition period, somewhere between "1999" and "Purple Rain", P was an underground artist, cause of his looks, adorned by punks, hipsters, gays and music critics mostly... Ant not much by the general public. But "Purple Rain" made him mainstream, but still, there was something about him that just didn't make him straight "hollywood" (sell-out) à la MJ or Madonna... But since "Diaminds & Pearls", he's kinda of "underground" to me, ever since he left Warner... Whaut's your opinion on his "status"? Do U see him as mainstream? Underground? elitist? borderline? I would classify him as underground mainstream, a pop artist with a large cult following. He obviously can not truly be underground since he has over 30 years of a rich musical catalog with hits and rarities known to many music fans who follow his work. Also note that with so many high profile moments in his career (Purple Rain movie, performances, name change), the general public is aware of Prince, albeit for different reasons. On that same note, he can not be considered mainstream since he really does not benefit from massive airplay on the radio or TV. Since leaving WB, his musical distribution is more or less controlled by who he wants it to stream through, so if he chooses different media, different gate keepers will accept or promote his work differently. ... Tom Waits has been putting an album every 2 year or so, he's a quite versatile musician (maybe not as talented as Princey), but he's still some obscure/indie/alternative/underground artist to the "average" listener and has a huge cult following too... So lm kind of wondering where the line between "mainstream" and "underground" is, especially for prince, ever since he's a genre-bending musician, had HUGE moments ("PurPle Rain", "Batman"..) and less than indie approach of music ("Black Album", "N.EW.S.")... Does/he ever have a sponsorship from some big brand? advertising? | |
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FrenchGuy said: COMPUTERBLUE1984 said: I would classify him as underground mainstream, a pop artist with a large cult following. He obviously can not truly be underground since he has over 30 years of a rich musical catalog with hits and rarities known to many music fans who follow his work. Also note that with so many high profile moments in his career (Purple Rain movie, performances, name change), the general public is aware of Prince, albeit for different reasons. On that same note, he can not be considered mainstream since he really does not benefit from massive airplay on the radio or TV. Since leaving WB, his musical distribution is more or less controlled by who he wants it to stream through, so if he chooses different media, different gate keepers will accept or promote his work differently. ... Tom Waits has been putting an album every 2 year or so, he's a quite versatile musician (maybe not as talented as Princey), but he's still some obscure/indie/alternative/underground artist to the "average" listener and has a huge cult following too... So lm kind of wondering where the line between "mainstream" and "underground" is, especially for prince, ever since he's a genre-bending musician, had HUGE moments ("PurPle Rain", "Batman"..) and less than indie approach of music ("Black Album", "N.EW.S.")... Does/he ever have a sponsorship from some big brand? advertising? Outside of Target (LotusFlower), I can't really say. I still think he is a pop artist with a cult following. In my opinion, the line exists/created when a mainstream talented artist is no longer the darling of the mainsream media and rely on touring and albums releases to keep their fan base engaged to their music. This in turn creates the notion of being "underground" when in reality, it may be a matter of being less publicized. Hurrah i awake from yesterday
alive but the war is here to stay so my love catherina and me decide to take our last walk through the noise to the sea not to die but to be re-born away from a life so battered and torn.... forever... | |
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For his entire career, Prince has straddled the line between being "mainstream" and "underground". The fact is, he is a musician/artist who is also a popular rock star as well.
"I'VE GOT A MIND FULL OF GOOD INTENTIONS
AND A MOUTH FULL OF RAISINETS..." ---------------Mr. Goodnight | |
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I think alot of his fans think and want him to be mainstream but the truth is he's underground, the only people that buy his records and sign up/get ripped off by his websites is us his hardcore fans, sure he has enough clout to do superbowl an the O2 and stuff like that but he's mainly underground.
I've got a bet goin with my partner that your the best kisser in L.A, if i'm out of line you can tell me, but if i'm not we can get busy! | |
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I'd say he's borderline. Everyone knows Prince, but no one knows what happened to him. "You're just another part of me" MJ | |
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