It's not rare, here on the org, to see discussion (bashing) of Prince's infamous rap protege, Tony M. But, we don't see much talk about the other rapper he introduced in the early 90s. No, I'm not talking about Carmen Electra, I'm talking about T.C. Ellis.

Introduced on the soundtrack to Graffiti Bridge, Ellis was also given the spotlight on the remix "T.C.'s Rap" from Prince's New Power Generation maxi-single. Tony M. was also spotlighted on the maxi-single, with the remix "Brother With A Purpose". Personally, I never cared for either of those tracks, prefering the 3 b-sides on side 2 of the 12" to the 3 remixes on side 1.

The following year, Tony was given a prominent position as a member of Prince's newest band, The New Power Generation, while Ellis released his own album from Paisley Park Records, True Confessions. That CD has sat on the shelf amongst my Prince protege collection, unplayed for over two decades. Just for kicks, I loaded it onto my iTunes along with the two 12" singles that were released at the time, "Miss Thang" & "Pussycat".

Is it as bad as I remember? Is T.C. as bad as, or worse than, Tony? Primarily produced by Levi Seacer, among the CD's 16 tracks are: 1 song contributed by Prince, 1 remix of that same song, 2 covers of Prince songs and 2 tracks produced by George Clinton & P-Funk. Prince & P-Funk are my two all-time favorites! Can they save this project? With contributions from Eric Leeds & Rosie Gaines, can it really be that bad? Let's see:

True Confessions

1. Intro, 2. Dope, 3. Segue - "The Beat is dope! Dope! Dope! Dope!".... No. It's not. Horrible. Embarrasing. Ridiculous. Crap. Unlistenable. Off to a bad start...

4. Miss Thang - According to The Vault, "written, produced & largely performed by Prince", featuring Jana Anderson on background vocals. Recorded by Femi Jiya at Paisley Park in 89, the track musically has the Prince sound from the era. Not great, guitar's kinda nice, lead vocal annoying.... An instrumental would be better.

5. Pussycat - The first of the George Clinton produced tracks. Featuring the P-Funk Mob, this would fit in nicely with the material from The Cinderella Theory. Easily the best track on the CD, but, it would be even better with Ellis' contribution omitted. This one definitely goes in my "guilty pleasures" category. It's not the most ridiculous P-Funk related track that I like, so...

6. For The Record - "This one's for the record", unfortunately. Actually, Levi's groove & Eric's horns are kinda tight. Once again, would like to hear an instrumental, because, the vocals are atrocious as ever. T.C. actually "sings" on this one. Boasts about the band being real and not sampled. Yeah, it's too bad I have to listen to him to get to hear them...

7. Bustin' - Clinton's other producing contribution. Kinda bland, mostly just a looped groove, kinda funky but doesn't go anywhere. GC's backing vocals sound cool. T.C.'s flow is forced and very affected. Rapping about all the female celebrities he thinks are hot and wants to get with. "Bustin with a lot of love". Ugghh! No.

8. Brothers And Sisters - Levi's music here is full of late 80s/early 90s Paisley Park production cliches, used in excess to cover up that none of them are working. T.C. is either rapping about civil rights or how bad drugs are or something... who cares?

9. True Confession - The vocals from T.C.'s Rap expanded into it's own song. Did we really need a complete song of this? Different music, too busy, Rosie on the backing vocals can't save this.

10. Cold Thang - Owww! Hurts my ears AND my brain... SKIP>

11. Bambi (Rap) - Opening with some backmasking vocals and blistering guitar, this is a cover of Prince's classic track, Bambi. Re-recorded by Levi and a couple of guys I never heard of. Musically, I'm saying "Meh", not really good, but not horrible either, except that cowbell sound, that sucks. The rap? Duh! It sucks! "ABC ya! Later!"

12. Girl O' My Dreams - A cover of the classic Prince outtake. The liner notes say "All instruments by Levi Seacer, Jr." This one is blasphemy. FU T.C. and FU Levi! Just criminal...

13. Somebody's Got To Lover Her - T.C. "sings" again. This is a goofy bar room blues song with samples from Richard Pryor albums. Not the worst thing on the disc, but not really good either. Levi's guitar playing is pretty nice, though.

14. Love - Obligatory love ballad rip off of L.L. Cool J's "I Need Love". This is even cheesier and not at all good. Skip>

15. Brothers And Sisters (Reprise) - Reprised to outro the album.

16. Miss Thang (Vasquez Ice Mix) - Bonus remix of the Prince track. Junior Vasquez actually manages to make this song even worse. Yuck! Prince's guitar solo is the only thing here that doesn't suck.

So, yeah, even with over two decades between the release and this review, this album sucks. But, wait, there's more: 2 12" singles!

Miss Thang

1. The Big Thang Mix - Remixed by somebody called Larry Robinson. Much better than the Vasquez mix but not good enough that I'd want to hear it again.

2. Vasquez Ice Mix - Same as on the CD. Still sucks.

3. Bonus Beats - Another contribution by Larry Robinson. Loops of the beats he remixed Miss Thang with. Some "Sign 'O' The Times" mixed in there. Meh. No vocals though , so, that's a plus.

4. The Swang Thang - Remixed by David Friedlander & Levi himself. Meh.

5. Instrumental Mix - Dammit! I was really hoping this would be Prince's version from the album without T.C.'s vocals. But, NO!!! This piece o' shit is an instrumental of the Vasquez Mix. Fail!

Pussycat

1. Cat In The Hat Mix - Boring and repetitive. This just sucks what little enjoyment I had out of the song.

2. Extended Mix - Basically as advertised. The album version extended by about a minute and a half. Means more P-Funk instrumental jamming, which I'm digging, so, I guess, I like it. Hmmm.

3. Radio Edit - This is the same length as the album cut, so, I assume the edit is lyrical. I'm trying to ignore the lead vocals and focus on the music so, I don't notice what lyrics might be cut.

4. Jeep Mix - It's the early 90s, so, gots to have a "Jeep Mix", right? I think I hear a sample of Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "A Real Mother For Ya!" in there.

5. Quick Mix - I definitely hear "A Real Mother For Ya!", so, I guess this is an instrumental of the Jeep Mix. Not that great but gets a bonus for having no T.C. Ellis vocals.

To answer my questions from above: Yes, it is as bad as I remember. In my opinion, yes, T.C. is worse than Tony. And, no, the contributions of Prince, George Clinton & the P-Funk Mob, Eric Leeds, Rosie Gaines & Levi Seacer, Jr. could not save it.

I like Pussycat because of P-Funk and elements of Miss Thang because of Prince. Everything else is, for the most part, noise pollution.

At least T.C. wasn't the one that ended up in the NPG. Could you imagine him rapping on Gett Off or Sexy MF. Guess we're lucky to have Tony after all?

To anyone who read this whole thing... Just, WOW!

[Edited 3/18/13 12:15pm]

djThunderfunk said:

It's not rare, here on the org, to see discussion (bashing) of Prince's infamous rap protege, Tony M. But, we don't see much talk about the other rapper he introduced in the early 90s. No, I'm not talking about Carmen Electra, I'm talking about T.C. Ellis.

Introduced on the soundtrack to Graffiti Bridge, Ellis was also given the spotlight on the remix "T.C.'s Rap" from Prince's New Power Generation maxi-single. Tony M. was also spotlighted on the maxi-single, with the remix "Brother With A Purpose". Personally, I never cared for either of those tracks, prefering the 3 b-sides on side 2 of the 12" to the 3 remixes on side 1.

The following year, Tony was given a prominent position as a member of Prince's newest band, The New Power Generation, while Ellis released his own album from Paisley Park Records, True Confessions. That CD has sat on the shelf amongst my Prince protege collection, unplayed for over two decades. Just for kicks, I loaded it onto my iTunes along with the two 12" singles that were released at the time, "Miss Thang" & "Pussycat".

Is it as bad as I remember? Is T.C. as bad as, or worse than, Tony? Primarily produced by Levi Seacer, among the CD's 16 tracks are: 1 song contributed by Prince, 1 remix of that same song, 2 covers of Prince songs and 2 tracks produced by George Clinton & P-Funk. Prince & P-Funk are my two all-time favorites! Can they save this project? With contributions from Eric Leeds & Rosie Gaines, can it really be that bad? Let's see:

True Confessions

1. Intro, 2. Dope, 3. Segue - "The Beat is dope! Dope! Dope! Dope!".... No. It's not. Horrible. Embarrasing. Ridiculous. Crap. Unlistenable. Off to a bad start...

4. Miss Thang - According to The Vault, "written, produced & largely performed by Prince", featuring Jana Anderson on background vocals. Recorded by Femi Jiya at Paisley Park in 89, the track musically has the Prince sound from the era. Not great, guitar's kinda nice, lead vocal annoying.... An instrumental would be better.

5. Pussycat - The first of the George Clinton produced tracks. Featuring the P-Funk Mob, this would fit in nicely with the material from The Cinderella Theory. Easily the best track on the CD, but, it would be even better with Ellis' contribution omitted. This one definitely goes in my "guilty pleasures" category. It's not the most ridiculous P-Funk related track that I like, so...

6. For The Record - "This one's for the record", unfortunately. Actually, Levi's groove & Eric's horns are kinda tight. Once again, would like to hear an instrumental, because, the vocals are atrocious as ever. T.C. actually "sings" on this one. Boasts about the band being real and not sampled. Yeah, it's too bad I have to listen to him to get to hear them...

7. Bustin' - Clinton's other producing contribution. Kinda bland, mostly just a looped groove, kinda funky but doesn't go anywhere. GC's backing vocals sound cool. T.C.'s flow is forced and very affected. Rapping about all the female celebrities he thinks are hot and wants to get with. "Bustin with a lot of love". Ugghh! No.

8. Brothers And Sisters - Levi's music here is full of late 80s/early 90s Paisley Park production cliches, used in excess to cover up that none of them are working. T.C. is either rapping about civil rights or how bad drugs are or something... who cares?

9. True Confession - The vocals from T.C.'s Rap expanded into it's own song. Did we really need a complete song of this? Different music, too busy, Rosie on the backing vocals can't save this.

10. Cold Thang - Owww! Hurts my ears AND my brain... SKIP>

11. Bambi (Rap) - Opening with some backmasking vocals and blistering guitar, this is a cover of Prince's classic track, Bambi. Re-recorded by Levi and a couple of guys I never heard of. Musically, I'm saying "Meh", not really good, but not horrible either, except that cowbell sound, that sucks. The rap? Duh! It sucks! "ABC ya! Later!"

12. Girl O' My Dreams - A cover of the classic Prince outtake. The liner notes say "All instruments by Levi Seacer, Jr." This one is blasphemy. FU T.C. and FU Levi! Just criminal...

13. Somebody's Got To Lover Her - T.C. "sings" again. This is a goofy bar room blues song with samples from Richard Pryor albums. Not the worst thing on the disc, but not really good either. Levi's guitar playing is pretty nice, though.

14. Love - Obligatory love ballad rip off of L.L. Cool J's "I Need Love". This is even cheesier and not at all good. Skip>

15. Brothers And Sisters (Reprise) - Reprised to outro the album.

16. Miss Thang (Vasquez Ice Mix) - Bonus remix of the Prince track. Junior Vasquez actually manages to make this song even worse. Yuck! Prince's guitar solo is the only thing here that doesn't suck.

So, yeah, even with over two decades between the release and this review, this album sucks. But, wait, there's more: 2 12" singles!

Miss Thang

1. The Big Thang Mix - Remixed by somebody called Larry Robinson. Much better than the Vasquez mix but not good enough that I'd want to hear it again.

2. Vasquez Ice Mix - Same as on the CD. Still sucks.

3. Bonus Beats - Another contribution by Larry Robinson. Loops of the beats he remixed Miss Thang with. Some "Sign 'O' The Times" mixed in there. Meh. No vocals though , so, that's a plus.

4. The Swang Thang - Remixed by David Friedlander & Levi himself. Meh.

5. Instrumental Mix - Dammit! I was really hoping this would be Prince's version from the album without T.C.'s vocals. But, NO!!! This piece o' shit is an instrumental of the Vasquez Mix. Fail!

Pussycat

1. Cat In The Hat Mix - Boring and repetitive. This just sucks what little enjoyment I had out of the song.

2. Extended Mix - Basically as advertised. The album version extended by about a minute and a half. Means more P-Funk instrumental jamming, which I'm digging, so, I guess, I like it. Hmmm.

3. Radio Edit - This is the same length as the album cut, so, I assume the edit is lyrical. I'm trying to ignore the lead vocals and focus on the music so, I don't notice what lyrics might be cut.

4. Jeep Mix - It's the early 90s, so, gots to have a "Jeep Mix", right? I think I hear a sample of Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "A Real Mother For Ya!" in there.

5. Quick Mix - I definitely hear "A Real Mother For Ya!", so, I guess this is an instrumental of the Jeep Mix. Not that great but gets a bonus for having no T.C. Ellis vocals.

To answer my questions from above: Yes, it is as bad as I remember. In my opinion, yes, T.C. is worse than Tony. And, no, the contributions of Prince, George Clinton & the P-Funk Mob, Eric Leeds, Rosie Gaines & Levi Seacer, Jr. could not save it.

I like Pussycat because of P-Funk and elements of Miss Thang because of Prince. Everything else is, for the most part, noise pollution.

At least T.C. wasn't the one that ended up in the NPG. Could you imagine him rapping on Gett Off or Sexy MF. Guess we're lucky to have Tony after all?

To anyone who read this whole thing... Just, WOW!

[Edited 3/18/13 12:15pm]

TC Ellis was lucky to get a album, Tony M didn't (Gold Nigga sort of counts I guess), Scrap D never did even though he did get a song on "Emancipation" "DA DA DA" None of this makes any sense & I've never heard any of them ever say anything about their experience. Those contractual agreements are stealth.

But the real mystery to me is, NONE of these rappers ever said anything.

Trickology said:

TC Ellis was lucky to get a album, Tony M didn't (Gold Nigga sort of counts I guess), Scrap D never did even though he did get a song on "Emancipation" "DA DA DA" None of this makes any sense & I've never heard any of them ever say anything about their experience. Those contractual agreements are stealth.

But the real mystery to me is, NONE of these rappers ever said anything.

Was T.C. really the lucky one to get the album? Tony got heard more appearing on Prince's music. Has anybody outside completists fans even heard T.C.? I would guess that many who visit the org have not listened this stuff. And, they probably shouldn't...

I liked Miss Thang, there was a video for it also. I think I may have listened to the whole album maybe once. I saw him do a show at Glam Slam in Mpls to promote it.

motherfunka said:

I liked Miss Thang, there was a video for it also. I think I may have listened to the whole album maybe once. I saw him do a show at Glam Slam in Mpls to promote it.

And, dare I ask, how was that?

djThunderfunk said:

motherfunka said:

I liked Miss Thang, there was a video for it also. I think I may have listened to the whole album maybe once. I saw him do a show at Glam Slam in Mpls to promote it.

And, dare I ask, how was that?

I'm sure, just like you think it was! Even worse live. Only exciting thing about the night was that Prince was watching.

motherfunka said:

djThunderfunk said:

And, dare I ask, how was that?

I'm sure, just like you think it was! Even worse live. Only exciting thing about the night was that Prince was watching.

Any interesting musicians in the "band"? Levi? Eric?

Thanks for the long review, djThunderfunk! I haven't listened to T. C. Ellis' album, but, according to your review, I can continue living reasonably happy without it.

Thanks for the long review Thunderfunk....I realy enjoyed reading it, your style is quite funny (although I wouldn´t want TC Ellis to read this, ever ).

TC Ellis and Scrap D are the butt of jokes here on the org, and understandably so, but they are both really nice guys, and TC used to do a lot of community work in Minneapolis, worked with underprivileged children and whatnot.

Scrap told me a little bit about his work with Prince, and he didn´t give me the impression that he had signed a gag order.

I know their collaborations with Prince were horrible ( well, I don´t really hate Da Da Da as much as other people here because there are far worse songs on Emancipation , like Courtin Time and We Gets Up). But they are really, really nice people.

I know that doesn´t count when you review their music, and truth be told I have never even listened to TC Ellis´ album, so much respect to you for doing so ( I was so involved in the real Hip Hop scene back then that I basically HATED every one of Prince´s attempts at rap).

But look at it this way....Prince gave them a chance, Prince chose some local rappers over some wellknown rappers, and he let go of his ego for a moment to give them a moment to shine. (Well, shine they didn´t .....but hey.... ).

Of course one could also interpret that as Prince simply being cheap and not wanting to spend any money on some real rappers but we don´t really know about that.

Most of those people from Scrap D´s circle are ( or were) really nice guys to hang around with.

But this was way back in the mid 90s....I don´t know what they´re up to today.

KoolEaze said:

Thanks for the long review Thunderfunk....I realy enjoyed reading it, your style is quite funny (although I wouldn´t want TC Ellis to read this, ever ).

TC Ellis and Scrap D are the butt of jokes here on the org, and understandably so, but they are both really nice guys, and TC used to do a lot of community work in Minneapolis, worked with underprivileged children and whatnot.

Scrap told me a little bit about his work with Prince, and he didn´t give me the impression that he had signed a gag order.

I know their collaborations with Prince were horrible ( well, I don´t really hate Da Da Da as much as other people here because there are far worse songs on Emancipation , like Courtin Time and We Gets Up). But they are really, really nice people.

I know that doesn´t count when you review their music, and truth be told I have never even listened to TC Ellis´ album, so much respect to you for doing so ( I was so involved in the real Hip Hop scene back then that I basically HATED every one of Prince´s attempts at rap).

But look at it this way....Prince gave them a chance, Prince chose some local rappers over some wellknown rappers, and he let go of his ego for a moment to give them a moment to shine. (Well, shine they didn´t .....but hey.... ).

Of course one could also interpret that as Prince simply being cheap and not wanting to spend any money on some real rappers but we don´t really know about that.

Most of those people from Scrap D´s circle are ( or were) really nice guys to hang around with.

But this was way back in the mid 90s....I don´t know what they´re up to today.

Reading this, I started to think about T.C. the person, as opposed the the performer, and began to feel a bit guilty. I stand by my opinions, but, I considered that I could have sacrificed being "funny" and not been so mean.

Then I considered how I don't think Prince is a nice person, but, I love his music. So, I decided the person and the performer really are two different things and since my review is of the album and not the person, I'm gonna let it stand.

If you read this T.C., sorry! I hear you're a real nice guy...

That said, you are right about Da, Da, Da, there are worse songs on Emancipation, and We Gets Up is definitely one of them!

Thanks for the comments.

djThunderfunk said:

motherfunka said:

I'm sure, just like you think it was! Even worse live. Only exciting thing about the night was that Prince was watching.

Any interesting musicians in the "band"? Levi? Eric?

No one from Prince's band. I don't know who they were. I did see an "Eric" show in 1993 at Glam Slam to promote the Things Left Unsaid album. Again, didn't recognize anyone in his band, but Prince was there to watch.

[img:$uid]http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt249/dboen/Tickets/DSC00960.jpg[/img:$uid]

Very COOL!

Funny, I came across this CD the other day sorting through some boxes of stuff. Honestly, I've never listened to it. Will have to now I suppose now you put it in mind - so thanks, for ruining my day!

NouveauDance said:

Funny, I came across this CD the other day sorting through some boxes of stuff. Honestly, I've never listened to it. Will have to now I suppose now you put it in mind - so thanks, for ruining my day!

I made it through about 2 minutes of 'Dope' before I shouted "SHUT.....UP!" and turned it off.

NouveauDance said:

I made it through about 2 minutes of 'Dope' before I shouted "SHUT.....UP!" and turned it off.

"The beat is dope! Dope! Dope!"

Reading this thread has lead me to think about other early 90's collaborations which I haven't listened: Loïs Lane's Precious, Louie Louie's Let's Get Started and Tevin Campbell's I'm Ready.

What do you think about these albums?

Actually, I like Prince's music of the early 90's a lot (not his rap incursions), and I wonder if the albums I mentioned are any good.

Javi said:

Reading this thread has lead me to think about other early 90's collaborations which I haven't listened: Loïs Lane's Precious, Louie Louie's Let's Get Started and Tevin Campbell's I'm Ready.

What do you think about these albums?

Actually, I like Prince's music of the early 90's a lot (not his rap incursions), and I wonder if the albums I mentioned are any good.

iirc, I liked a couple songs on Tevin's CD. I'll have to give it a spin...

djThunderfunk said:

Javi said:

Reading this thread has lead me to think about other early 90's collaborations which I haven't listened: Loïs Lane's Precious, Louie Louie's Let's Get Started and Tevin Campbell's I'm Ready.

What do you think about these albums?

Actually, I like Prince's music of the early 90's a lot (not his rap incursions), and I wonder if the albums I mentioned are any good.

iirc, I liked a couple songs on Tevin's CD. I'll have to give it a spin...

You could make a review, that'd be great! I know it has the original version of "Shhhh", before it was published in The Gold Experience.

The Lois Lane album is pretty good, I never listened to it beyond the Prince input until recently. Same goes for Elisa Fiorillo's I Am.

There was a time when I would buy any album that Prince was connected to,somehow.I even bought the Carmen Elektra CD but for some reason,I never bought this TC Ellis record.I had a feeling that it wouldn't be a wise purchase,lol

NouveauDance said:

The Lois Lane album is pretty good, I never listened to it beyond the Prince input until recently. Same goes for Elisa Fiorillo's I Am.

Thanks, I'll give Loïs Lane a listen. Elisa Fiorillo's I Am is OK, I listened to it for the first time some months ago and enjoyed it.

[Edited 3/23/13 14:45pm]

mushmackalenta said:

The Prince songs on Tevin's album are all pretty good. The rest of it is awfully bland.

Four of the fourteen songs on the album are Prince's. If they're good, that may be enough for me to finally buy it...

Javi said:

mushmackalenta said:

The Prince songs on Tevin's album are all pretty good. The rest of it is awfully bland.

Four of the fourteen songs on the album are Prince's. If they're good, that may be enough for me to finally buy it...

Do it, you won't regret it. The prince songs are good.

ludwig said:

Javi said:

Four of the fourteen songs on the album are Prince's. If they're good, that may be enough for me to finally buy it...

Do it, you won't regret it. The prince songs are good.

Yeah, I'll do it. The period 1991-1995 is quite interesting in my opinion, so Tevin Campbell's album will be a good addition to my collection. Thanks!

djThunderfunk said:

Trickology said:

TC Ellis was lucky to get a album, Tony M didn't (Gold Nigga sort of counts I guess), Scrap D never did even though he did get a song on "Emancipation" "DA DA DA" None of this makes any sense & I've never heard any of them ever say anything about their experience. Those contractual agreements are stealth.

But the real mystery to me is, NONE of these rappers ever said anything.

Was T.C. really the lucky one to get the album? Tony got heard more appearing on Prince's music. Has anybody outside completists fans even heard T.C.? I would guess that many who visit the org have not listened this stuff. And, they probably shouldn't...

Knowing Prince's M.O. he probably pushed TC because he needed a catalog title for Paisley Park & he wanted to appear hip w/ the pop culture. Lucky in the sense that, Prince had the ability to give even subpar rappers major distribution. I'd like to hear T.C. Ellis's side of the story but I'm guessing that gag contract is still in effect.

I get the feeling that Prince will put out music he probably doesn't like if he thinks there is a chance that it will catch fire & be something sales wise. In that sense he liked TC Ellis probably because he thought there was something there potentially for the urban rap market. He learned the hard way that the radio hits can fizzle out in a quick minute.

Look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUmovUrrgmo 3:40 TC Ellis appears & speaks

Still no video of Tony M,Scrap D or Steppa

[Edited 3/31/13 8:48am]

One of the main problems with Paisley Park Records is that....for the most part,Prince was just "rewarding" his friends with record contracts Many of these people would have never gotten record deals anywhere else.It's like when he made Gilbert Davison (a former bodyguard!) the president of Paisley Park Records.These were just amateurs pretending to be the real thing.

Prince indeed wanted hard to introduce hip-hop to his musical universe, just to stay in tunes with the spirit of the time. It started in 89 with T.C. Ellis and Robin Power, both featured on the NPG Radio Show and then came Tony M. and the Game Boyz, which led to hip-hop becoming a proheminent part of P's music starting with Diamonds And Pearls. Robin Power said (on this forum I think) that her project was discarted when Carmen Electra entered the scene: Prince wanted just one female rapper and he chose Carmen over Robin. Robin was way more badass but I ain't sure, when I listen to her tracks from back then (the few we have) wheither she really was relevant in that era's rap scene: her rapping was a bit hysterical and the music wasn't too great. T.C. was definitely too much "care bears" in comparison to gangsta rap (though I really dig his albim) and Carmen, being just a bimbo, was the disappointment we know. Tony was a very good rapper in the studio IMHO, but the way he kept shouting like a maniac on stage made him look like a disaster. According to Alex Hahn's book Tony really thought he was big and that he could become an important character in P's musical universe: he didn't realize he was just an "instrument" Prince would "play" and throw out when he'd get tired of it, which happened very quickly.

In the end, what Prince would have needed for his label was a very talented rapper with a strong creative personnality, who'd record an album on his own without too much contribution from Prince's camp. Prince, Levi and all these people were strong funkateers, and strong with synthfunk as well, but they didn't really get what hip-hop was about back then (the spirit and the sound). Gold Nigga is a great album IMHO, though, it could have been a historical release in the vein of Miles' Doo Bop and Guru's Jazzmatazz, which merged so talentely jazz, funk and hip-hop (later came Brooklyn Funk Essentials and Buckshot Le Fonque), but the release was so confidential and so related to Prince's series of flops with his labels and ego-trips that no one gave shit.

In the end, the rapper Prince could have done something really interesting with was Poet99, but unfortunately he chose to use her recordings as material for his own songs instead of finishing the tracks and releasing a full album. Scrap D really had something, too, I wish we could have heard more from him.