As an old school Hip Hop head from the early days (I was into HipHop culture way before I heard the first heard When Doves Cry in 1984) I must say I don´t really like how Prince blended rap into his music but there are some decent songs he´s released that I liked but none of them are really great, not even his best attempts, but some are really enjoyable, like the original version of Days of Wild, or the live version of 18 And Over. I love both Rap and Prince´s music too much to like his lukewarm attempts to mix both. But I fully understand that sooner or later, at some point in his career, he could no longer ignore Rap, just like he took elements from other styles such as New Wave, Funk, Rock, etc.

I really like Mickey Dolenz´s posts on this thread. You really know A LOT about music and pop music history. Always a pleasure to read your posts, and I hope you never leave the org.

KoolEaze said:

KingSausage said:

KoolEaze said:

As an old school Hip Hop head from the early days (I was into HipHop culture way before I heard the first heard When Doves Cry in 1984) I must say I don´t really like how Prince blended rap into his music but there are some decent songs he´s released that I liked but none of them are really great, not even his best attempts, but some are really enjoyable, like the original version of Days of Wild, or the live version of 18 And Over. I love both Rap and Prince´s music too much to like his lukewarm attempts to mix both. But I fully understand that sooner or later, at some point in his career, he could no longer ignore Rap, just like he took elements from other styles such as New Wave, Funk, Rock, etc.

I really like Mickey Dolenz´s posts on this thread. You really know A LOT about music and pop music history. Always a pleasure to read your posts, and I hope you never leave the org.

Yeah, Mickey Dolenz's posts are the shit!

Of course they are. Hey, Hey, He's a Monkee! People say he's Monkyeein' around.

herb4 said:

Now that I think about it, is "The Roof Is On Fire" (from the 1986 Wembley Arena show) a rap ?

And what about 1982's "Irresistible Bitch"? The verses sound like rap to me. Voice-over it is not.
Same goes for "Lady Cab Driver".

bonatoc said:

Now that I think about it, is "The Roof Is On Fire" (from the 1986 Wembley Arena show) a rap ?

And what about 1982's "Irresistible Bitch"? The verses sound like rap to me. Voice-over it is not.
Same goes for "Lady Cab Driver".

1. yes, definitely

.

2.yes, but almost not.

.

3. Not really but it wouldn't be hard to make it a rap song. Same as D.M.S.R.

.

1999 is really is it's own thing and hard to categorize. There are rap-ISH elements to it, rock elements, funk, punk, new wave and R&B elements to it too but it's hard to boil down to a single genre. That's why that album is so awesome. To this day, I hear new layers on it every time I listen to it. It's the greatest Prince album of all time and a Desert Island Disc if I ever I heard one.

.

Maybe it just came to me at the perfect time in my life (like seeing 'The Breakfast Club', 'Say Anything' or 'Valley Girl' at just the right age) and I wax nostalgic too hard with it but I love that record to death and always will. What any of that has to do with rap and hip-hop I have no fucking idea but there you go.

1999 is a gem. Yep, probably his best, all things considered.
The leap from Controversy is astounding, even if Controversy kicks ass.
Like Dez once said, suddenly, it all fell into place, and the groove was his, he found his style.

When you read 1999 reviews, Afrika Bambataa is a name that surfaces.
We know that one of P's main qualities is the capacity to absorb, digest and filter a particular music style,

to make his own rendition of it.

To me the aforementioned hints of rap are genuine.

So maybe Prince felt rightfully entitled to bring rap into his songs with the NPG,
considering he was already a precursor ten years ago,
a contributor in spreading the genre.

Of course, it could have been subtler than manure, but hey,
Prince's lyrics have puddles, stains and rivers of menstrual blood,

so what's a little fertilizer amongst friends?

Some of the theories on this thread are interesting, albeit not very convincing, and some are, to be honest, a bit of a stretch.

This being said, if you want to hear a more authentic approach of a truly HipHop sounding song by Prince, check out the instrumental version of the song Possessed.

Sure, it´s not Rap, but it comes very close to early 80s Electro Hip Hop and is much closer to HipHop than his later attempts.

bonatoc said:

Now that I think about it, is "The Roof Is On Fire" (from the 1986 Wembley Arena show) a rap ?

Are you talking about the Rock Master Scott song? I have the maxi single for that and Request Line

CharismaDove said:

Michael did a full-out New Jack Swing album (Dangerous is great R&B)

The Jacksons released 2300 Jackson Street, which had some New Jack Swing on it, before Dangerous was released. Several older acts released New Jack like James Ingram, Gap Band, Boy George, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Bar Kays, Whitney Houston, Sheena Easton, Daryl Hall, Morris Day, Quincy Jones, Jermaine Jackson, The Whispers, etc. The Rolling Stones had a Teddy Riley remix of Love Is Strong. Kool & The Gang released a New Jack remix of Ladies Night. So it was fairly common.