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Reply #30 posted 02/25/18 10:09am

databank

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TheDigitalGardener said:

Having an opinion here unless it meets the specific requirements of a certain few is becoming quite difficult. It's considered "trolling" and harmful to others idea's of what a fan is and should be.


There is a huge amount of things that I'm repeatedly fed up with reading, but you know what? That's life.


Good day to you all, and those albums are still shit.


I would argue that having an extremely radical opinion on a topic and wanting to express it in a community that is assumed to have an opposite, or at least more moderate opinion on same topic, requires care and some explanation. Coming on a Prince fan board and saying such album is "shit" without moderation or elaboration is a violent statement calling for an outraged response. Going on a music fans board and telling educated music afficionados that a record such as Exodus is "shit" is little more than provocative, and coming on a board to provoke people into hostile reactions by making such blunt statements can be taken for trolling.
That's life indeed, but you can't complain if people react bluntly to blunt things you post.
A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #31 posted 02/25/18 10:51am

TheDigitalGard
ener

I wonder if it ever becomes boring thinking that you're right all the time.

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Reply #32 posted 02/25/18 11:18am

SimonCharles

TheDigitalGardener said:

I wonder if it ever becomes boring thinking that you're right all the time.

To chip in here - I don't get why you think Exodus is a shit album.

*

Gold Nigga is a good album - there are some properly good songs on here but I don't enjoy it quite so much as other Prince albums because of Tony M's rapping. It is a style I do not enjoy.

*

Exodus, by contrast, is an astonishing album, to these ears. It is funny, funky, provocative, sexy, challenging and muscially expansive and expressive for Prince...again, to these ears. So, what is it about the record you find shit?

*

NPS I really like some of the songs but I find Push It Up and I Like Funky Music lazy, lazy song writing. However, those two songs are arguably on the other side of the coin to Freaks On This Side and Return of the Bump Squad/Good Love (Exodus) and I adore those two tunes. I think that being dismissive without explanation in a discussion leave you open to contradiction and short contradiction too.

*

So, feel free to hve your opinion (you're welcome biggrin) but do expand on it so people can engage with you.

*closeseyesandwaitsforsomeonetofrindathreadthathighlightsmyhopelesshypocrisy*

[Edited 2/25/18 11:18am]

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Reply #33 posted 02/25/18 11:22am

SimonCharles

SimonCharles said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I wonder if it ever becomes boring thinking that you're right all the time.

To chip in here - I don't get why you think Exodus is a shit album.

*

Gold Nigga is a good album - there are some properly good songs on here but I don't enjoy it quite so much as other Prince albums because of Tony M's rapping. It is a style I do not enjoy.

*

Exodus, by contrast, is an astonishing album, to these ears. It is funny, funky, provocative, sexy, challenging and muscially expansive and expressive for Prince...again, to these ears. So, what is it about the record you find shit?

*

NPS I really like some of the songs but I find Push It Up and I Like Funky Music lazy, lazy song writing. However, those two songs are arguably on the other side of the coin to Freaks On This Side and Return of the Bump Squad/Good Love (Exodus) and I adore those two tunes. I think that being dismissive without explanation in a discussion leave you open to contradiction and short contradiction too.

*

So, feel free to hve your opinion (you're welcome biggrin) but do expand on it so people can engage with you.

*closeseyesandwaitsforsomeonetofrindathreadthathighlightsmyhopelesshypocrisy*

[Edited 2/25/18 11:18am]

I guess, what I'm asking is, what do you mean by, "Gold Nigga and Exodus are embarrassing pseudo gangster twaddle and Newpower Soul is the aural equivalent of wading waist high through wallpaper paste." - beautiful image though that is.

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Reply #34 posted 02/25/18 12:54pm

herb4

TheDigitalGardener said:

Having an opinion here unless it meets the specific requirements of a certain few is becoming quite difficult. It's considered "trolling" and harmful to others idea's of what a fan is and should be.

There is a huge amount of things that I'm repeatedly fed up with reading, but you know what? That's life.

Good day to you all, and those albums are still shit.

OK, but when an opinion is "I hate the shitty rapping on 'Exodus'", referring to an album with pretty much ZERO rap on it, I wonder if we're critiquing the same record. It's like saying I hate all the electric guitar work on the ONA Piano album or all of the salsa on 1999.

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Reply #35 posted 02/25/18 12:58pm

TheDigitalGard
ener

herb4 said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Having an opinion here unless it meets the specific requirements of a certain few is becoming quite difficult. It's considered "trolling" and harmful to others idea's of what a fan is and should be.

There is a huge amount of things that I'm repeatedly fed up with reading, but you know what? That's life.

Good day to you all, and those albums are still shit.

OK, but when an opinion is "I hate the shitty rapping on 'Exodus'", referring to an album with pretty much ZERO rap on it, I wonder if we're critiquing the same record. It's like saying I hate all the electric guitar work on the ONA Piano album or all of the salsa on 1999.

Yeah, well you can take that up with the person who actually said that.

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Reply #36 posted 02/25/18 1:21pm

Strive

Or track down the bootleg The Exodus Has Begun and sub out It Takes Three with Return Of The Bump Squad. So good.
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Reply #37 posted 02/26/18 10:49pm

databank

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TheDigitalGardener said:

I wonder if it ever becomes boring thinking that you're right all the time.

I'm only right until proven wrong. By all means do it.

.

Slightly off-topic I see you've joined in 2015. Are you THE Digital Gardener (the historical orger) with a new account, or someone else who took on that orgname?

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #38 posted 02/27/18 1:55am

NorthC

databank said:



ShaggyDog said:


I agree too that Exodus would be a much better album with the segues taken out. For me they detract from the album and just seem like crude posturing rather than being witty or entertaining, but then again the whole Urban and Hip-Hop scenes seemed to go a little crazy with unnecessary and unfunny bandwagon-jumping skits and segues during the second half of the 90's.

Incidentally, Morris Hayes explained in the Peach and Black podcast that those segues reflect humorous conversations Prince and the band were having all the time, playing characters and having fun. One may dislike them but if we're to believe Morris, there are everything but posture.


So what? I'm sure other bands also have great fun backstage, but they don't put that nonsense on record. Imagine buying a Rolling Stones album and hearing Mick & Keith talk blabla for twenty minutes! Who needs that?
Wasting so much time on an album while you have songs like Mad and Funky Design and Superhero in the vault... It shows that Prince wasn't always the best judge of what makes a good Prince album!
[Edited 2/27/18 1:57am]
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Reply #39 posted 02/27/18 2:11am

SimonCharles

NorthC said:

databank said:

Incidentally, Morris Hayes explained in the Peach and Black podcast that those segues reflect humorous conversations Prince and the band were having all the time, playing characters and having fun. One may dislike them but if we're to believe Morris, there are everything but posture.

So what? I'm sure other bands also have great fun backstage, but they don't put that nonsense on record. Imagine buying a Rolling Stones album and hearing Mick & Keith talk blabla for twenty minutes! Who needs that? Wasting so much time on an album while you have songs like Mad and Funky Design and Superhero in the vault... It shows that Prince wasn't always the best judge of what makes a good Prince album! [Edited 2/27/18 1:57am]

Perhaps he thought he'd be alive to be able to release them? Perhaps he thought the skits reflected who he was at the time and the other songs did not? Who can say? Trying to second guess Prince is fruitless. I'm as frustrated as you that these and other songs did not see the light of day through official release. Prince released what he wanted to because he believed it was good...he used that line of argument in an interview about NPS. That it doesn't always match our tastes is not his fault.

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Reply #40 posted 02/27/18 3:32am

databank

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SimonCharles said:

NorthC said:

databank said: So what? I'm sure other bands also have great fun backstage, but they don't put that nonsense on record. Imagine buying a Rolling Stones album and hearing Mick & Keith talk blabla for twenty minutes! Who needs that? Wasting so much time on an album while you have songs like Mad and Funky Design and Superhero in the vault... It shows that Prince wasn't always the best judge of what makes a good Prince album! [Edited 2/27/18 1:57am]

Perhaps he thought he'd be alive to be able to release them? Perhaps he thought the skits reflected who he was at the time and the other songs did not? Who can say? Trying to second guess Prince is fruitless. I'm as frustrated as you that these and other songs did not see the light of day through official release. Prince released what he wanted to because he believed it was good...he used that line of argument in an interview about NPS. That it doesn't always match our tastes is not his fault.

Yeah.

I've never minded the skits. While I don't find them hilarious I find them funny and they somehow reflect a certain state of mind that I like, very much a continuation of The Time's spirit. Now I'm cool with people disliking them, or feeling the album would have been better off without that additionnal narrative, but I've always thought it worked well in the context of that particular record.

.

However, believing the skits took the place of the outtakes is a grave misunderstanding of Prince's intentions, for the simple reason that the album is 65 minutes-long and that Prince did NOT choose to use those extra 10/15 minutes to put a few other songs. For reasons his own that are hard to second-guess, he decided that the songs he left out simply didn't belong there and even without the skits you'd have a 53 or so minutes-long record consisting of 9 tracks. And however painful it is for me to see awesome tracks remain locked in the vault, I have to admit that I respect P's decision not to fill CD's for the sake of filling CD space just because it's there when assembling albums.

.

There was at the time a rumor that the soon to be cancelled American reissue by WB would have contained a whole second CD with those outtakes, and Prince could indeed have assembled a very interesting second album out of them, but I've never ever seen that rumor addressed again ever since, so IDK if any of it is true.

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #41 posted 02/27/18 5:40am

TrevorAyer

Nps was prince last great record ... come on an the one are new standards ... the rest is a funky enjoyable ride ... a couple duds but mostly solid .. not pop enough to bear the prince name but easily more enjoyable than half his catalog.

Exodus is a classic ... u can barely even tell sonny is singing ... prince is up there in the mix ... the songs and segues are all pretty great ... far more enjoyable than gold experience or any of the o(+> albums that came after

Goldnigga is tight n funky ... tony m sounds better here than on prince pop songs ... considering tony m is on this record, its quite impressive and serves as a nice companion to dnp ... much better than those awful maxi singles ... did i mention the band is mf tight

All good stuff if u don’t go comparing it to sott ...
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Reply #42 posted 02/27/18 6:49am

AhPook

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NPS is a remix album. Freaks on this Side and Push it Up are Face Down and Jam of the Year. I feel like the rest of the tracks are Emancipation outtakes. It's a little disingenuous to call it a NPG album. I like it a lot though.

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Reply #43 posted 02/27/18 8:19am

thedance

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herb4 said:

Exodus is in my top 5 Prince albums, minus the segues.

Exodus is...... brilliant.. heart

nod I agree here smile

Prince 4Ever. heart
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Reply #44 posted 02/27/18 1:24pm

TheDigitalGard
ener

databank said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I wonder if it ever becomes boring thinking that you're right all the time.

I'm only right until proven wrong. By all means do it.

.

Slightly off-topic I see you've joined in 2015. Are you THE Digital Gardener (the historical orger) with a new account, or someone else who took on that orgname?

Yeah, I've been here a few years wink Left, came back etc. MikeyB71 before that too.

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Reply #45 posted 02/27/18 4:07pm

controversy99

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I like these albums more than I dislike them.

Gold Nigga
Horrible album title. Definitely pseudo-gangsta. Some great music on there. The instrumental parts are great on 90% of the album. Funky, funky. Very P-Funk vibe. My favorites are Johnny, Black MFers ..., and 2Gether.

Exodus
Best of the bunch. Some really good songs and some so-so. The drum patterns are a bit of let down at times, too simple and monotonous. Songs that I like seem to be different than a lot of other peoples. Big Fun, New Power Soul (instrumental), the Exodus Has Begun, and Count the Days are monster tracks. The Segues are pretty funny, although there is that pseudo-gangsta vibe again.

NPS
Weakest, but also radically different so it’s hard to compare. This would’ve been better as a true protege album (somebody else on lead vocals, different album cover) rather than a Prince album. The chant songs are awful. Much better are the melodic songs, including Sho Bed... and Until Ur in My Arms Again. Come On is pretty good. The One album version is only so-so, but the remix with a little bit more midtempo feel is very good.
"Love & honesty, peace & harmony"
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Reply #46 posted 02/27/18 6:09pm

herb4

The skits on Exodus are perfectly fine...


THE FIRST TIME.

Yoiu can listen to albums full fo music hundreds...maybe thousands of times. Comedy? Not so much. Even my favorite comedy records and movies I may have seen or listened to ten times tops.

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Reply #47 posted 02/27/18 9:42pm

Adorecream

TrivialPursuit said:

Adorecream said:

To be honest it is not very high.

Exodus - Has a few good songs like The Good Life and get wild, but a very uneven album, ruined by a lot of pointless skits, way below average rapping and grunting and not good enough to like - 3/10


Errmm, rapping? On Exodus? It's the most funk-heavy of the three records. Goldnigga, even in its visual elements, is quasi-hip-hop-heavy. I'd challenge you to listen to it again, and actually take out the segue skits, and just let the music happen. While there are one or two fluff songs on there that go on too long. But if you aren't movin' your keister by the middle of the record, check yo' pulse.

Sorry I tried, but I just can't get into it. Get Wild is the only dancey and groovy song and that really is a Prince cut shoved in there (Toratora my foot), Cherry Cherry is a nice ballad, despite the dark themes, and Good Life is nice, but I can't dance to it. Count the days is ruined by all the motherfuckers. Same with Goldnigga - too much swearing, generic beats and sad rapping. In the early/mid 90s I got heavily into G funk and Jermaine Dupri type stuff and judge my booty shaking beats to those standards. This does not match up.

.

We agree on a lot, but we can't here, I must have 2 left feet and a lead butt I guess. Which is strange as I can move my ass very freely to most his stuff. I am just not feeling these records and I know its strange as so many of my Prince friends just love them.

[Edited 2/27/18 21:44pm]

Got some kind of love for you, and I don't even know your name
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Reply #48 posted 02/27/18 10:41pm

databank

avatar

TheDigitalGardener said:

databank said:

I'm only right until proven wrong. By all means do it.

.

Slightly off-topic I see you've joined in 2015. Are you THE Digital Gardener (the historical orger) with a new account, or someone else who took on that orgname?

Yeah, I've been here a few years wink Left, came back etc. MikeyB71 before that too.

Well, welcome back smile I've always liked your contributions so regardless of our disagreement on this specific thread, we're cool as far as I'm concerned hug

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #49 posted 02/28/18 1:45am

TheDigitalGard
ener

databank said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Yeah, I've been here a few years wink Left, came back etc. MikeyB71 before that too.

Well, welcome back smile I've always liked your contributions so regardless of our disagreement on this specific thread, we're cool as far as I'm concerned hug

Yeah, me too. Life's too short.

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Reply #50 posted 02/28/18 9:39am

TrivialPursuit

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Adorecream said:

Sorry I tried, but I just can't get into it.


"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #51 posted 03/05/18 1:28pm

Angelsoncrack

I love Exodus, it's my favourite of the NPG albums. I think some of the segues are a little unnecessary but I still laugh at some (NPG Bum Rush The Ship especially). Hallucination rain is criminally underrated. One of my absolute favourite tracks right there.

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Reply #52 posted 03/05/18 1:45pm

paisleypark4

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Adorecream said:

TrivialPursuit said:


Errmm, rapping? On Exodus? It's the most funk-heavy of the three records. Goldnigga, even in its visual elements, is quasi-hip-hop-heavy. I'd challenge you to listen to it again, and actually take out the segue skits, and just let the music happen. While there are one or two fluff songs on there that go on too long. But if you aren't movin' your keister by the middle of the record, check yo' pulse.

Sorry I tried, but I just can't get into it. Get Wild is the only dancey and groovy song and that really is a Prince cut shoved in there (Toratora my foot), Cherry Cherry is a nice ballad, despite the dark themes, and Good Life is nice, but I can't dance to it. Count the days is ruined by all the motherfuckers. Same with Goldnigga - too much swearing, generic beats and sad rapping. In the early/mid 90s I got heavily into G funk and Jermaine Dupri type stuff and judge my booty shaking beats to those standards. This does not match up.

.

We agree on a lot, but we can't here, I must have 2 left feet and a lead butt I guess. Which is strange as I can move my ass very freely to most his stuff. I am just not feeling these records and I know its strange as so many of my Prince friends just love them.

[Edited 2/27/18 21:44pm]

Im right there with you. Good for Private P listens but doesnt make me dance even when I was a kid. Good Life is okay...Return Of The Bump Squad ok....even Exodus Has Begun to me is aiight but I don't get the hoopla over it. Maybe I was only 13 or 14 when it came out, just didnt speak to me even at that time at that age like Gold Experience did.

Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #53 posted 03/10/18 5:43pm

herb4

Exodus is crazy great. Prince's best funk album hands down. I got rid of the segues and swapped in Days of Wild on my version. Play it to death and everyone I've turned on to it fucking love it.

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Reply #54 posted 03/10/18 6:05pm

PPResident

By the time someone calls for the loop to be turned off in Return of the Bump Squad, I'm ready for it to end too. biggrin

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Reply #55 posted 03/11/18 9:35am

Angelsoncrack

PPResident said:

By the time someone calls for the loop to be turned off in Return of the Bump Squad, I'm ready for it to end too. biggrin

I wish you could spoiler on this forum but fuck that chirping loop on Return of the Bump Squad will forever be ingrained onto my memory for the time I once ingested some slightly funky mushrooms and all I could hear during the trip was that fucking chirping

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Reply #56 posted 03/11/18 12:27pm

dewmass

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Exodus is absolutely stunning in my opinion. If there was anyway I could articulate quickly why I was such a fan of the man, it would be to say that Count The Days and Return of the Bump squad are on the same album. I mean come on, who does that?
-----------------------------------------
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Reply #57 posted 03/11/18 2:19pm

herb4

dewmass said:

Exodus is absolutely stunning in my opinion. If there was anyway I could articulate quickly why I was such a fan of the man, it would be to say that Count The Days and Return of the Bump squad are on the same album. I mean come on, who does that?


^^^My man.^^^

Yeah, that album just crushes IMO. It's even paced properly once you get the segues out. Only thing I might do is drop Cherry Cherry, add Days of Wild or The Ride and PERHAPS push some guitar up front somewhere, which including The Ride would accomplish. I don't get the hate for Hallucination Rain either. I'd never really heard Prince take on Pink Floyd.

Exodus felt like it had some real passion behing it and sounded like an album Prince really wanted to make and for WB to relese, if that makes any sense. Big Fun, Exodus, Bump Squad, Good Life are thick and really bottom heavy. I can't think of another record I'd compare it to except maybe TBA but Exodus is better. More organic. It's a fucking banger.

Everyone I know who likes funk loves the hell out of it. It's one of those "why has noone heard this?" records.

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Reply #58 posted 03/11/18 3:07pm

dodger

herb4 said:



dewmass said:


Exodus is absolutely stunning in my opinion. If there was anyway I could articulate quickly why I was such a fan of the man, it would be to say that Count The Days and Return of the Bump squad are on the same album. I mean come on, who does that?


^^^My man.^^^

Yeah, that album just crushes IMO. It's even paced properly once you get the segues out. Only thing I might do is drop Cherry Cherry, add Days of Wild or The Ride and PERHAPS push some guitar up front somewhere, which including The Ride would accomplish. I don't get the hate for Hallucination Rain either. I'd never really heard Prince take on Pink Floyd.

Exodus felt like it had some real passion behing it and sounded like an album Prince really wanted to make and for WB to relese, if that makes any sense. Big Fun, Exodus, Bump Squad, Good Life are thick and really bottom heavy. I can't think of another record I'd compare it to except maybe TBA but Exodus is better. More organic. It's a fucking banger.

Everyone I know who likes funk loves the hell out of it. It's one of those "why has noone heard this?" records.



Agree with all this. I still love it as much as I did back in the day, what an era. Only small complaint would be what's been stated on here over the years; he could have dropped the segues for a couple of tracks.

As funny as Mash Potato Girl and New Power Day are they're not something you'd listen to often so I'd happily swap them for Mad and Funky Design (the Sonny version is great with the 'blow your mind' part in the chorus).
[Edited 3/11/18 15:11pm]
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Reply #59 posted 03/11/18 6:07pm

LittleProfesso
r

TrivialPursuit said:

...


The War - it is trippy, brilliant, and sort of an extension musically of "Hallucination Rain". You can almost hear it as an extended section on the end of "Hallucination Rain", making it a suite similar to "Computer Blue" in structure, or "3 Chains O' Gold". We know the track goes on longer, and it's almost a sin that the whole thing wasn't released. I never paid for my cassette of it. NPG just sent it to me out of the blue one day. People can talk about Prince's conspiracy talk or whatever, but he was way ahead of the curve in his lyrics on "The War". In the past year or two how often have we heard about companies implanting a microchip in their employees, or NSA surveillance through other means? The War was released how long ago before anyone was speaking about it on such a broad scale? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Trivial -

What's your take on the relationship between "The War" and Gil Scott Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"? It's clear that Prince was referencing it, and made it obvious enough that you know he wanted you to know that's what he was doing. But I came to Prince long after that was released, and I haven't yet done a deep dive into what else was going on with him that might've made him do "The War" when he did.

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