I was just wondering why hardly anyone likes Tony M. I always thought he was a good rapper when I first heard him, and then I read everyone's comments on him. Am I the only one who likes Tony and his rapping?

Tony M singlehandedly saved Diamonds And Pearls!!!!


Without him, the album would have only been 5 minutes long.

I liked him-as long as Prince did!

glamslam45 said:

As rappers go's I guess he is pretty good. Maybe if he rap less on the prince albums it would have been better. When I put in a Prince cd I want to hear Prince. Jughead should have never been.

From many discussions on the topic, my conclusion is that people didn't like him because he tried to appear as a gangster rapper without having the street cred to back it up, I guess that means he hadn't been shot up several times, dealt drugs in his early years, or was covered in tats with the name of his homies.

Insert a 'proper' rapper like Tupac or whatever, everybody would have been fine with the same raps.

sexxydancer said:

Now there's an answer for ya!

I guess i'm in the minority that actually likes him, "sexy mother fuckers so fine i'd drink her bathwater" i think the raps add another ingrediant to the pirnce cook book which is a good thing
[Edited 11/22/06 14:45pm]

metalorange said:

I disagree. I think the real problem is the fact that these songs just didn't require any rapping in them. None of the songs where Tony appears are strengthened at all by his raps. Not one.

True hip-hop has never been comfortably integrated into Prince's music before, and his fans liked it that way.

Everyone was able to see how transparent and desperate it was when Prince tried to pull it off with Tony.

PurpleKnight said:

Yes I agree 100% with that.

His style worked quite well on the GoldNigga cd though.

So the bottom line is that it was Prince that was messing it up, but we all blame Tony? I thought Tony was a fairly talented MC with a quick delivery. I don't like rap much and could have done without the Tony stuff, but at the end of the day, if his rapping sucked that bad, Prince wouldn't have put it on his tunes.

madhouseman said:

It was Prince's fault for adding rappers on his songs in the first place.

he sounded like Bullwinkle

funkyhead said:

agreed i think he should've stayed there and out of prince's work.

Personally, I think that Prince would've done better to perform the raps on record himself rather then let Tony M. do it. Prince is a much better rapper then Tony. But I guess Prince would've needed him for the live performances.

BlaqueKnight said:

I think Prince SUCKED as a rapper. Terrible. Corny as hell.

Consider yourself one of the minority with that opinion.

I never had a problem with Tony's skillz and have argued in his favor on the P music & more threads in the past.

Well then I'm afraid it's you who doesn't know a good rapper when you hear one.

His hardcore fans seem to hate Tony with a passion because they operate under the 'Prince can do no wrong, so its _____'s fault" mentality.

How dare you? Actually, we operate under the "Tony M's rapping sucks" mentality. That's not Prince's fault. Still making [Flame snipped - BananaCologne] general assumptions about Prince fans
[Edited 11/27/06 19:20pm]

WomanScorned said:

Prince is a true artist. A musician/singer/songwriter; not a rapper. I'm certainly NOT in the minority with that opinion beyond the walls of Prince.org. Prince has blazed 0 trails in the field of hip-hop. 0. ZERO. That is fact, not a generalization. Only Prince's fans want to hear him rap.
I know good hip-hop and I heard none from Paisley Park. I said Tony was "okay" in a generic sense but make no mistakes, Tony didn't blaze any trails, either. He just had a better flow. [Flame snipped - BananaCologne]

BlaqueKnight said:

Yes Prince sucks as a rapper. It's just that Tony M. is worse. He sounds like a poor man's MC Hammer to me. And T.C Ellis should have his @** kicked if he ever gets near a microphone again. He SUUUUUCKS!!!

BlaqueKnight said:

I have a feeling REAL rock types laughed their heads off at Prince's corny attempts to do rock music with Purple Rain. Perhaps REAL jazz types laugh their heads off at his corny attempts to do jazz, etc etc.

The point is, Prince has always fused different musical types together to make this thing called MUSIC. Prince's attempts at rap were never serious attempts at REAL rap or hip-hop, they were merely Prince bringing in elements he thought he could use to make some interesting songs. I don't think you can compare Prince's 'songs containing some rap' to full-on complete rap songs anymore than you can when MJ does it. They're just songs with musical elements from different sources that you either like or don't. To me saying, "I don't like the rap in those songs" is no different than saying "I don't like the sitar in Thunder", a musical element that you may believe is out of place. Prince has never made a pure rap song that was ever meant to take on REAL rap by REAL rap artists, in my opinion.

I never had a problem with Tony M.I liked his raps on the 'Love Symbol' CD,especially on "Sexy MF".

[/quote]Yes Prince sucks as a rapper. It's just that Tony M. is worse. He sounds like a poor man's MC Hammer to me. And T.C Ellis should have his @** kicked if he ever gets near a microphone again. He SUUUUUCKS!!![/quote]


ditto!! hearing prince rap gives me a dpression. and both Tony and TC Ellis are shit rappers, maybe not as bad a Prince, but still shit,imo.
[Edited 11/28/06 7:04am]

metalorange said:

That's YOUR rationalization. I disagree. A good rap verse can enhance a song if done well. Cadence, flow, technique and rhymes can add spice to the record. Prince is UNSKILLED at rapping. It would be like Lionel Ritchie rapping just because he's a good songwriter. Rapping out of arrogance is insulting to the audience. Cadence, technique, flow and rhyme all play a part in a good rap verse. Take Snoop for instance. Typically, he writes gang-themed raps BUT if you listen to "Pose" with Justin Timberlake and "Conversations" on his duet with Stevie Wonder, you hear how differently he flows according to subject matter and song. Neither of those songs are typical of Snoop Dogg but it shows how a skilled rapper can enhance a song. I'm not calling Snoop one of the greats but I'm saying that he is skilled at his craft. "Sexy MF" was probably Prince's best attempt at rap. His rhythm is off in the 1st verse and his flow is erratic but his verses were okay lyrically. When Tony M comes in, there's a vast difference and his flow fits the song much better. Everything else Prince has done in the way of rap has pretty much sucked. He was rapping because he thought he COULD rather than understanding the nuances that seperate a skilled rapper from a wack one. He doesn't need to rap, he doesn't seem to sincerely enjoy the genre (understandable, its not of his era) and he should refrain from any attempts at it. His forte is blending music styles (mainly rock & R&B) and he's damn good at that.
[Edited 11/28/06 8:22am]

I know I'm in the minority, but I actually liked Tony M. I love hip hop and I heard a lot worse.
Besides, he was easy on the eyes too. (But no where on Prince's level - let's not get it twisted.)

BlaqueKnight said:

Hmmm. . . I agree with both a' yall.

I agree that "Sexy MF" is one of Prince's best attempts at rapping.This is one example where he and Tony both deliver good raps,and the whole thing doesn't come off as embarassing.

I bet if you throw that ass in the air,it would turn into sunshine

BlaqueKnight said:

Oh so now he's a true artist. Any other time he's an imitator of Hendrix, etc. How very convenient.




[Flame snipped - BananaCologne] Did I say he did? No, but that's what YOU saw because that's what you WANTED to see.




spare me.


[Flame snipped - BananaCologne]

funkyhead said:

I agree and I thought he did a C.O.O.L job on the songs he Rap'd over. Especially "My Name Is Prince"... I friggin' Love that track...