I think they are both great but personally I have to go with Andre. I think his stuff is quirkier yet it still has a pop sensibility to it. What do you guys think??

It is my firm belief, based on what I've heard from both, that Jesse (Johnson) is far and away vastly superior to Andre (Cymone).

amyhr said:

are you serious? why do you say that? I mean he's good but he aint no Dre!

dancerella said:

There are two possible reasons I disagree on this. One: All my Andre is on vinyl and I haven't listened to it for ages. Two: I prefer Jesse's "Minneapolis Sound" to Andre's "New Wave" sound. It's not that I dislike Andre (heck, I tried to change my name to Andre back in the day, cuz I thought he was cool and it's not too far from my given name) I just like Jesse much better. This is based purely on their solo work, not their production or what they did in the Prince camp.

amyhr said:

Ok I hear ya. I think I prefer the new wave sound so that's why I pick Andre. Plus he's easy on the eyes if ya know what I mean.

dancerella said:

Neither are really my type, but if I were to swing that way, I think I'd have to disagree with you again

Damn rella, u have REALLY been biten by the Cymone bug. Jesse is mainly a guitarist, as where Andre is more in the vein of P. That said, Jesse's first 3 albums, as a whole, blow away Andre's. I'm not even going to count Jesse's EXCELLENT "Bare My Naked Soul" album, cuz Cymone hasn't put out anything that can fuck with that. Cymone's earlier albums, again, as a whole, was really on the trip of "I gotta sound different from P". So, he was doing shit that, if he wasn't hell bent on not being compared to P, he probably wouldn't have even done. Some of his tracks sound forced, not as natural, where as Jesse's shit sounded like he was doing what he wanted, so it just flowed better. So, Jesse all the way, hands down.

blackguitaristz said:

you're right. i'm totally sweating andre. i'm a late bloomer. what can i say? oh man, i'm surprised with what i'm hearing from you guys. i really thought you would have liked andre more but i guess i'm wrong. i just think he has that electro/new wave sound that i love so much down. perhaps i should pay more attnetion to jesse too. his stuff is good but just doesn't garb me as much as andre's.

dancerella said:

That's cool. I dig Andre's stuff. Just not saying that cuz I've known Andre personally. U dig what u dig, don't have to justify it. Lot of folks dig Andre's stuff. I really like A.C. That sounds the most natural to me.

blackguitaristz said:

what is the AC cd like??

Jesse easily
I actually hated Andre's first 2 albums for a long time, but in the last couple years i got CDRs of them and gave them another listen and like them alot better now. i always liked AC, great album. I just love Jesse's shit though

blackguitaristz said:

but don't forget Andre's input as a songwriter and producer of other artists -- he had greater success than Jesse in this department; though, all-in-all Jesse is still the better all-around musician/songwriter
[Edited 3/20/06 21:57pm]

dancerella said:

U don't have it? That's a must have since u dig Dre so much.

blackguitaristz said:

I'm working on getting a copy of it. I have some songs a friend downloaded for me. Only 5 tracks though. I need more!

amyhr said:

Really? Well they actually look pretty similar but once again Dre wins for me in that dept.

dancerella said:

Who, Jesse and Dre'?

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah, don't you agree?? They had a similar look. 80's new wave with the curls.

dancerella said:

The images I can conjure up in my mind of Andre are from his pre-solo days, and of Jesse from his first two albums.

I remember Andre being faily masculine. Jesse looks a little more... feminine to me. I can see myself getting it on with a feminie guy, but not a masculine one.

dancerella said:

I think that this Bass,Guitar dueo would make a great team.I would love to see a concert with these two together.Andre is a killer bassist and Jesse's playing speaks for itself.

Oh this is hard. Two of my favorites. But if you put a gun to my head, I'd have to choose Jesse Johnson. Just listen to the man's greatest hits cd! Or better yet, his BARE MY NAKED SOUL! Andre was fantastic too. But his work fell short of JJ. Cymone really tried to sell his new wave image...perhaps a little too much. Consequently, most of his music sounded contrived at times. Still light years ahead of anything on the radio today. I'd put SURVIVIN' IN THE 80's next to anything else out there and it would be the winner! But some of Jesse's tune resonated on another level -- BEING BLACK IN AMERICA? Forget about the politics, the sound is just totally awesome -- neither fully R&B or rock. FOOL's PARADISE? If you dont' like that song, you're an idiot! Not to mention his duet with Sly -- CRA-ZAY! Cymone didn't have anything that could touch it.

dancerella said:

Technically, there is no such thing. Andre's albums have never been released on CD. Not officially anyway.

spelling edit
[Edited 3/26/06 10:11am]

That's a hard choice because both of those are my favorite two from the Prince camp. It's very hard to choose but I guess I favor Andre slightly.

To hell with all this "versus" stuff!!!! Imagine the two of them TOGETHER!!!! In either a funk, rock or a funk/rock project!!!!! Besides, Jesse is the ONLY guitarist that scared the holy S**T outta Prince!!! Then U have Andre. What more needs to be said???? Although Andre's albums may not have fared as well commercially as Jesse's, they were GOOD, and any true Prince fan should have them in the crates in some way shape or form, EVEN if it's 8-track!!!! Survivin' In the 80's was a DOPE LP!!!!! p.s.: WHRE THE HELL ARE THEZE GUYZ TODAY, ANYWAY????? Would love to hear new grooves from either one, if not BOTH!!!!!