Zoe, I am glad you posted this. It is disconcerting that whenever someone voices a dislike for the Bria project or inquires about a Shelby project, they are branded a Bria hater who is a jealous female who wants Prince to bed them. It actually discourages me and others from even posting. At the end of the day Prince can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants. Given his track record with women, I would not want to be added to his hit list no matter how fine/sexy he is.

However, on a musical level, as a longtime fan I have been disappointed by some of the choices he has made when it comes to "proteges." I always think about the supreme waste of Rosie Gaines in favor of the Carmen Elektra project. I also wish that more was done with Marva King. He's wasted music and money on albums for women like Carmen and Mayte. So, I hope that history does not repeat itself and that Shelby does get a well-promoted album from her time with Prince. She has been a good addition to his shows over the last couple of years, and it would be a good idea to build on that momentum.

I do not know much about Bria, and I am honestly not that impressed with the three tracks that I have heard from her. The music is nice, but her vocals are unremarkable to me. Whether she is Prince's woman or not has no bearing on that. For example, I LOVE me some Sheila E. However, her private relationship with Prince had no bearing on that. Whether Prince was bedding her or not, I just really dug her sound, style and talent. If I was some jealous hater, I would have dogged her out because of the obvious closeness that they share. I also liked the Nona tracks he did, and the fact that she and Prince were together did not affect that. I actually thought they looked cute together in the Love Sign video. However, my focus has always been on the music.

I wish some people would grow up around here and have intelligent discussions about music rather than wage unfounded indictments about people's opinions of the MUSIC.

x 1,000

Grow up? Some opinions are not based on the music and that is quite clear by

your comments. Her music is good and her voice is also good. Three well

produced songs thus far and we have yet to hear a full album, yet you have made

your mind up about Prince's motives and future desicions. Preconceived notions

again fruitless to discuss at this point. Be in the now. You mention Sheila E,

well, to most she is not a 'remarkable' singer, as u put it, but her voice

works well with her music. You love her and so do I. Again its when social

stigmas get in the way of reason that intellectual discussions fall by the way

side wouldnt you agree? I think this is an underlying problem here, although

most will not admit to this. A beautiful girl is always scrutinized just for

the way she looks. If she has talent/accomplishments she is labelled gold

digger or manipulating men with sex to acheive fame. If she is spiritual she

could only be faking it. These are all indicative of a jealous or envious

personality trait. They do not uplift, they only tear down. Where is the intellect in that?

Where is the love for music in that? Cursing and calling me

names Zoetrulove is very childish and against forum rules. Mods I hope will put

and end to this.

Peace and love

Zoe, I am glad you posted this. It is disconcerting that whenever someone voices a dislike for the Bria project or inquires about a Shelby project, they are branded a Bria hater who is a jealous female who wants Prince to bed them. It actually discourages me and others from even posting. At the end of the day Prince can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants. Given his track record with women, I would not want to be added to his hit list no matter how fine/sexy he is.

Word to the Prince. Stick with real musicians, real artist, singers, song writers! Leave the bikini model, groupie/thong song chicks to guys like Ray J and Flo Rida! Better yet...just focus on your own shit! We love it too much to get distracted.

i missed having the protege days tho

The whole thing with Prince and his so-called proteges has been a recurring joke for a while now.

It's always the same pattern. Prince drags the young hopeful woman along with him everywhere and talks up their beautiful voice and dedication to music. He records a sub-par album for them. They perform together multiple times. The album does poorly, the woman disappears from view, and later we hear a few select news pieces about her shopping the album around desperately on myspace.

Bria will soon join the disgruntled line of other bright eyed "future superstars" like The Twinz and Tamar.

Trust The Kid with your career and pay the price.