Not really the late 90s....much earlier, around the time when Public Enemy´s first and second albums came out. But I can relate to why he´d feel that way at first. See, I actually come from a HipHop background. When I was a kid and later a teenager,I didn´t listen to many other genres except for Rap, i.e Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Ice-T, Rakim etc. etc. and my musical tastes were not very refined. I mean, of course I´d also listen to the mighty SOS Band and Midnight Star, Cameo, early ElectroFunk , Jody Watley, Sade and so on, and of course Prince. - - But I was too young to understand that many rappers were basically just using instrumentals or replayed , re-recorded versions of older songs, and it was a bit later that I understood that some of the melodies I liked were actually not even samples but blatantly stolen melodies. The thing is....most folks I knew who were into Rap also liked Prince. And so did I . Most of the mixtapes I had in the early 80s would contain lots of Rap songs, but there would always be the occasional Prince song on them. - - I think he didn´t really need to reach out to new audiences by chasing trends, or incorporating halfbaked ideas such as Tony M. into his music. He was already getting lots of respect for who he was and what he had achieved, and even today´s tough guys such as Dr.Dre tried to be like Prince and emulated his outfits and sexual and romantic lyrics. We even had a thread about this not too long ago. With Dre wearing Prince-like outfits. . I´m a bit proud to have been there since the very early days of Rap and into Prince since 1984 and, looking back, there wasn´t really such a big divide. As a matter of fact, I lost a bit of interest in Prince´s music after he had become so huge in the mainstream pop music landscape but in hindsight, I perfectly understand why he´d distance himself from most rappers because, in hindsight, even I find most of the early Rap stuff very amateurish and immature. But on the other hand you also had highly creative groups that would create their own beats and melodies and write some deep lyrics. Many rappers were big Prince fans and still are, for example Ice-T. I have this interview with Ice-T in his prime, must be from either 1987 or 1988, where Ice-T already talks about Prince having problems with WB and that the music biz is like pimping or prostitution, and that Prince is WB´s biggest bitch. But he does not come across as mean toward Prince. - Philly rapper SchoollyD dissed Prince pretty hard in the intro to his song "I Don´t Like RockNRoll" and also in interviews. But when Prince died he posted the album cover of Dirty Mind on his Facebook page and said that Prince was a major influence in his life. Which surprised me a bit because I remembered that diss so I asked him why he had changed his mind. To which Schooly D replied that Prince would not respect rappers and diss them early on, but he changed his stance later, and Scholly D told me that he even performed at Prince´s clubs three times and that they got along very well. Just goes to show you how people and things change over the years. - But, all in all, I totally agree with your post, and I find a bit of consolation in the fact that Prince inspired so many people from all walks of life, all races, religions, and locations in the world, and that so many rappers looked up to him and celebrated and respected him while he was still among us. The names you mentioned are good examples. I´m a bit surprised though that I haven´t seen any reaction from Common but that´s ok. I remember they got along very well around 1999-2001 and I don´t expect everyone to post about Prince´s death but it was nice to see Snoop Dogg pay respect the other day with that touching article that he wrote on Prince ( I made a thread about it). I mean, he also dissed him a couple of times because Prince would not let him sample his music but it´s nice to still see him pay respect to Prince.
" I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?" | |
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Thinking of Snoop being influenced the first thing I think of was that Sensual Seduction video lol
I was thinking about Chuck D. as later into the 90's because I feel like he wasn't wrking with them until then. Because wasn't Chuck involved in 1999 the New Master? And Doug E. was referenced in Musicology, and Prince was on Common's Electric Circus and that wasn't until 2002.
Being an 80's baby, hip hop was fully entrenched in my childhood. My mom loved Run-DMC and LL Cool J, and introduced me to ATCQ as a child(along with the other genres/musicians she loved, including Prince) and the rest was history. | |
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wasnt one song with his regular played on the ahdio show?? | |
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Tony shot first. . | |
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I love this album, but I never liked Tony nor Kirsty in it, and thought it was too long in certain spots. So I've made my own version called "The Love Symbol Album [Unrapped]". It took me about 5 hours, but I like the end results, and the edits are pretty clean.
Tony and Kirsty are absent from all the songs. Here are any additional changes:
My Name is Prince 2:39 - removed repetitions Sexy MF 2:57 - removed lame-o Tommy B & Levi solos Love to the 9's 3:50 - removed questionaire The Max 3:09 - edited for flow Blue Light 4:12 - tightened up ending a bit Damn U 4:02 - removed Kirsty ending Arrogance 1:25 - re-segued intro and outro The Flow 1:37 - removed rap The Sacrifice of Victor 4:41 - Removed intro segue; removed repetitions
No changes needed: Morning Papers I Wanna Melt with U Sweet Baby The Continental 7 And God Created Woman 3 Chains of Gold - although, i thought about moving the blazing guitar solo to the front, ala When Doves Cry, but that would've made it a remix...lol
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. | |
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You know, that's exactly what I was talking about: people butchering an album.like that. If you can remove the rap, you can also remove the guitar solo. Or the saxopone solo. What you end up with is a mess. But, I've made my point, no need to repeat myself. If you want to listen to your albums slashed an burned, go ahead. | |
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. | |
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NorthC said: You know, that's exactly what I was talking about: people butchering an album.like that. If you can remove the rap, you can also remove the guitar solo. Or the saxopone solo. What you end up with is a mess. But, I've made my point, no need to repeat myself. If you want to listen to your albums slashed an burned, go ahead. Lol. Mess hardly. What made it a mess was overstuffing all that crap in there to begin with. Weighed down what should have been his best album of the 90's. And Prince solos don't get cut. Levi solos do if they ramble on. | |
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. | |
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I don't think I could ever "remove" things from an album.I want to hear the artists' vision and listen to the album the way it was intended to sound. | |
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So I've heard. Oh wait... no I haven't | |
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SoulAlive said: I don't think I could ever "remove" things from an album.I want to hear the artists' vision and listen to the album the way it was intended to sound. Finally someone who gets it. | |
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So do I. Just before Tony M's vocals were mistakenly added. | |
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. | |
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I'm not a rap fan at all but I actually LIKE Tony M.'s rapping on the Diamonds and Pearls album and Love Symbol album... It really captures the "New Jack Swing/rap" style that was so prevalent in the late 80's/early 90's. I may be in the minority but I really like what Tony M. adds to those albums. [Edited 5/27/16 9:12am] [Edited 5/27/16 9:12am] | |
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homesquid said: What if I told you I made a nothing BUT Tony M. version of the Symbol album? GOLDNIGGA? | |
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Matty Jam is right about the ridiculous "questionnaire", that tries to ruin "Love2The9s"...but on "The Flow", tonyM kinda shines...if he was good enough for P, its good enough for me..but theres no doubt several songs would have been better off had he called in sick that day... | |
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Lovesymbol could have been perfect! | |
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I can't imagine the D+P and Symbol albums without Tony M's input. If anyone spends hours editing and removing them must be a hater of Tony M or is unemployed and living off on food stamps like a crazed home computer audio editor. [Edited 5/27/16 14:44pm] | |
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This is cool. I decided to do the same thing with Larry Graham's GS2000 album. I always felt the 12 tracks didn't flow well. So I'm made a new version that goes like this. 2. Free (featuring Prince) 3. Outro.
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. | |
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- - Don´t Let´em Change You was quite ok though. -
" I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?" | |
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'Something Funky this House Comes' on D&P Beginnings makes me smile. Might be nostalgia or hindsight, It's mainly for Rosie though, when she comes in..whoa! | |
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I've never really hated Tony M. He only really had one style, and did often sound like a machine gun... but some of his lyrics are amusingly tongue twisting.
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