http://www.salon.com/2013...by_boomer/

CynicKill said:

http://www.salon.com/2013...by_boomer/

Surprisingly, (to me) good read. Nicely done.

Wait..Toure' wrote this?

Hmm..not bad. Maybe I will pick his book up.

Okay, so while I’ve never thought much of Toure as a writer and while I was baffled that someone who had spent so much time covering hip hop would dare to write or could write an objective analytical work on Prince (especially Prince’s entire narrative arc), if this excerpt is any indication of the entirety of the book, then it may be well worth the read.

Note that he misquotes the lyrics from 1999. If he's such a great journalist and a big fan of Prince, couldn't he have taken the time to consult the lyrics in the liner notes?

As I stated in another thread, I'm one chapter in, and find the approach to be unique, interesting and worthwhile, but, I can't abide an author getting the facts wrong.

He also states that Papa came out in 1996. I guess it would be too much effort to look at the date on the CD or check PrinceVault (who he thanks in the book) to get the date right.

Again, I'm enjoying the read so far. I'm just disgusted with his inability to fact check.

It's sloppy "journalism"...

EDIT: Salon is just as sloppy in their report. Toure clearly states that Prince is a Baby Boomer but that he is an Icon for Generation X. The title of their article proves they don't understand the text they are promoting.

[Edited 3/20/13 9:20am]

[Edited 3/20/13 9:21am]

Wow. Extrememly well written and on point, but I expect that from Toure'. He's weel educated, well written, and well spoken.

As a Gen X person myself, I couldn't have summed it up any better... What he writes here is one big reason why I was so strongly attracted to Prince's music and lyrics. It all started for me with the '1999' album...

Toure' is hit or miss for me. He often says things I disagree with, but every now and then he'll have a gem: like his recent Django Unchained review that was brilliant and better than what I just read about Prince.

This Prince essay/book excerpt was OK, but I don't agree with the premise of casting Prince as a figurative Generation Xer. Sure, we can appropriate him and feel attuned to him, but that's because we came of age in the 80s and Prince captured that zeitgeist.

What Toure is isolating as simply Gen X traits, were major themes of 80s fringe society which Prince pushed into the mainstream. Prince IS a Baby Boomer; he is simply also an excellent artistic and cultural archivist of the 80s because that era coincided with his peak -- not in terms of charts -- but in terms of his his intensity, briliance, prolificness, angst, protestant nature, formative ideologies, etc.

We can claim that time as Generation Xers, but we can't claim Prince as a fellow Xer. Interesting argument, though.

SynthiaRose said:

Toure' is hit or miss for me. He often says things I disagree with, but every now and then he'll have a gem: like his recent Django Unchained review that was brilliant and better than what I just read about Prince.

This Prince essay/book excerpt was OK, but I don't agree with the premise of casting Prince as a figurative Generation Xer. Sure, we can appropriate him and feel attuned to him, but that's because we came of age in the 80s and Prince captured that zeitgeist.

What Toure is isolating as simply Gen X traits, were major themes of 80s fringe society which Prince pushed into the mainstream. Prince IS a Baby Boomer; he is simply also an excellent artistic and cultural archivist of the 80s because that era coincided with his peak -- not in terms of charts -- but in terms of his his intensity, briliance, prolificness, angst, protestant nature, formative ideologies, etc.

We can claim that time as Generation Xers, but we can't claim Prince as a fellow Xer. Interesting argument, though.

True. He is a Boomer who needed us, as teens we were the ones buying the records and he shaped his craft to appeal to us. The Purple Rain Campaign from Warner Brothers was aimed at us despite the fact that he was a decade older. When he finally became successful he kind of had mixed feelings about what he was to this generation and frankly he's never acknowledged that a small segment of 40 somethings stood by him when many had abandoned him. When he came back in 2004 his conversation sounded as if he was around when James was at his peak, "real music, bla bla bla" when it was the cold technology and drum machines of our generation that made him an icon not sax solo's.

SynthiaRose said:

Toure' is hit or miss for me. He often says things I disagree with, but every now and then he'll have a gem: like his recent Django Unchained review that was brilliant and better than what I just read about Prince.

This Prince essay/book excerpt was OK, but I don't agree with the premise of casting Prince as a figurative Generation Xer. Sure, we can appropriate him and feel attuned to him, but that's because we came of age in the 80s and Prince captured that zeitgeist.

What Toure is isolating as simply Gen X traits, were major themes of 80s fringe society which Prince pushed into the mainstream. Prince IS a Baby Boomer; he is simply also an excellent artistic and cultural archivist of the 80s because that era coincided with his peak -- not in terms of charts -- but in terms of his his intensity, briliance, prolificness, angst, protestant nature, formative ideologies, etc.

We can claim that time as Generation Xers, but we can't claim Prince as a fellow Xer. Interesting argument, though.

Speaking of well written... great points there, Synthia Rose! Yes, by definition, Prince is a Baby Boomer since Generation X began in 1964(?). Still, he could be considered to be both an influence on Gen X, and also, more importantly, an escape. He was both for me.

dreamshaman32 said:

SynthiaRose said:

Toure' is hit or miss for me. He often says things I disagree with, but every now and then he'll have a gem: like his recent Django Unchained review that was brilliant and better than what I just read about Prince.

This Prince essay/book excerpt was OK, but I don't agree with the premise of casting Prince as a figurative Generation Xer. Sure, we can appropriate him and feel attuned to him, but that's because we came of age in the 80s and Prince captured that zeitgeist.

What Toure is isolating as simply Gen X traits, were major themes of 80s fringe society which Prince pushed into the mainstream. Prince IS a Baby Boomer; he is simply also an excellent artistic and cultural archivist of the 80s because that era coincided with his peak -- not in terms of charts -- but in terms of his his intensity, briliance, prolificness, angst, protestant nature, formative ideologies, etc.

We can claim that time as Generation Xers, but we can't claim Prince as a fellow Xer. Interesting argument, though.

True. He is a Boomer who needed us, as teens we were the ones buying the records and he shaped his craft to appeal to us. The Purple Rain Campaign from Warner Brothers was aimed at us despite the fact that he was a decade older. When he finally became successful he kind of had mixed feelings about what he was to this generation and frankly he's never acknowledged that a small segment of 40 somethings stood by him when many had abandoned him. When he came back in 2004 his conversation sounded as if he was around when James was at his peak, "real music, bla bla bla" when it was the cold technology and drum machines of our generation that made him an icon not sax solo's.

Can you write the next book please?

dreamshaman32 said:

SynthiaRose said:

Toure' is hit or miss for me. He often says things I disagree with, but every now and then he'll have a gem: like his recent Django Unchained review that was brilliant and better than what I just read about Prince.

This Prince essay/book excerpt was OK, but I don't agree with the premise of casting Prince as a figurative Generation Xer. Sure, we can appropriate him and feel attuned to him, but that's because we came of age in the 80s and Prince captured that zeitgeist.

What Toure is isolating as simply Gen X traits, were major themes of 80s fringe society which Prince pushed into the mainstream. Prince IS a Baby Boomer; he is simply also an excellent artistic and cultural archivist of the 80s because that era coincided with his peak -- not in terms of charts -- but in terms of his his intensity, briliance, prolificness, angst, protestant nature, formative ideologies, etc.

We can claim that time as Generation Xers, but we can't claim Prince as a fellow Xer. Interesting argument, though.

True. He is a Boomer who needed us, as teens we were the ones buying the records and he shaped his craft to appeal to us. The Purple Rain Campaign from Warner Brothers was aimed at us despite the fact that he was a decade older. When he finally became successful he kind of had mixed feelings about what he was to this generation and frankly he's never acknowledged that a small segment of 40 somethings stood by him when many had abandoned him. When he came back in 2004 his conversation sounded as if he was around when James was at his peak, "real music, bla bla bla" when it was the cold technology and drum machines of our generation that made him an icon not sax solo's.

Thisi si good stuff.

If he's banging that young blond drummer I will slap his hand.