Wow. Q Magazine (UK), November 2001 edition, has a new editor and a new look... as well as copious Prince items! So here we go:

[Page 36, 'Now' section]
Lazy Muthaf**ka: Prince is AWOL but his influence is everywhere. So who's filling in while he's "resting"?

D'Angelo

-What he borrowed: Willingness to get nekkid. Tendency to dim the lights and ponder whether you wouldn't be more comfortable without that dress.

-Where he borrowed it from: Gold Experience (1995), specifically The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.

-Any improvement on original? Prince dropped the soul revolutionary baton only for D'Angelo to immediately pick it up, so yes.

- Most Princely track: Untitled (How Does It Feel?)

Kelis

-What she borrowed: Expansive fusion of headtrip soul and acid rock. Technicolour wardrobe.

-Where she borrowed it from: Psychedelic opus Purple Rain (1984).

-Any improvement on original? Considering Purple Rain was US Number 1 for 24 weeks, that would be tough. She is, however, much taller.

-Most Princely track: Roller Rink (Kaleidoscope).

Basement Jaxx

-What they borrowed: Sticky hormonal funk, all the better to ease the path from dancefloor to bedroom. Breathless genre-hopping. Lyrics peppered with references to naughty ladies.

-Where they borrowed it from: Dirty Mind (1980) - the little chap's filth-pop meisterwork.

-Any improvement on original? Heavyweight basslines more likely to keep the four-poster rocking. No references to threesomes or incest, though.

-Most Princely track: SFM (Rooty).

Felix Da Housecat

-What he borrowed: Throbbing, sweaty party music. Name-changing and eccentric (he briefly traded as Thee Madkatt Courtship).

-Where he borrowed it from: The Black Album (1987), the club-friendly bootleg scrapped for seven years after Prince took a bad E.

-Most Princely track: Pray For A Star (Kittenz And Thee Glitz), with Prince-a-like Harrison Crump on vocals.

Outkast

-What they borrowed: Insanely ambitious attempts to tackle the state of American society and the entire history of black music in the form of sprawling, chaotic double albums. Rumours of homosexuality.

-Where they borrowed it from: Sign 'O' The Times (1987) - the definitive apocalyptic party album.

-Any improvement on original? Certainly its latter-day equivalent.

-Most Princely track: Toilet Tisha (Stankonia) - gruelling lyrics, squealing guitars.

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[Page 68, 'Interactive : Ask Q Section']

Prince: Ecstasy Motherf***er?

A friend of mine once told me the real reason Prince blocked the release of the infamous Black Album was due to some kind of ecstasy epiphany. Any truth in this? (Nigel Moon, Penrith)

Q Answers: The one person who really knows is, of course, not telling. But Prince expert Per Nilsen (author of DanceMusicSexRomance) believes Prince did indeed scrap the album after an illuminating MDMA experience. Former Paisley Park employees have also corroborated this story.

The Black Album was originally scheduled for release in late 1987 as a quickly recorded follow-up to Sign O'The Times. With its none-more-black sleeve, darkly psychotic lyrics and music designed as a gritty street-style riposte to the rap movement, this certainly wasn't one of his most warm-hearted projects. Still, his final judgement does seem a tad extreme. According to Warners employee KAren Krattinger: "Prince called me when The Black Album was on the docks waiting to be shipped. He said, Karen, we've got to stop this album. It's evil."

This change of heart apparently came about the morning after what the artist later described as a religious experience. Talking to USA Today in 1991, he described having a vision of a field with the letters "GOD" hovering overhead. Suddenly realising the error of his ways he decided to devote himself solely to spreading the word of love (see the replacment opus Lovesexy). As you do.

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And finally...

[Page 149, "Recommended: The best of everything from the last three months"]

Prince: The Very Best Of Prince (WARNER BROS).

Love the purple fella's hits but not his self-indulgent excesses and experimental sex-jam filler? This "gnomic" volume could save you a fortune in CD skip-button repairs.

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Phew!

[Thanks for the typing! -Ben]