I know I'm gonna get some heat for this.

But I really do think that Lenny would've been a better choice to induct our hero into the Hall of Fame. I mean, much respect to Outkast (& I guess Alicia Keys), but I see more of a Prince influence in Lenny than those other guys. The look, the sound, the arrogance (), etc. It's like Lenny is a missing link between Prince and his forefathers of Funk.

Now on with the onslaughts.....

Actually, I agree with you

no onslaught - but i'm glad lenny didn't. he's way too much of a wanna-be, and i think he has all the character of a dishrag. a very pricey, pretty dishrag, of course (you know, like one in a crate & barrel catalog), but a dishrag nonetheless.

of course, andre3000 has certainly done his prince clone thing over the past couple of years, bu i don't think of outkast as being a career prince-impersonator band. i thought it was a cool choice, though i'll admit i was a bit underwhelmed by the choice of presenters (i loved alicia's speech, though.)

NWF said:

I would have preferred him myself. Since, he has been in the biz for while and has cited P as would of his idols. To me, it was a let down that they used such amateur musicians. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that they aren't talented but they haven't paid as much does as Lenny has in the biz.

That’s a really tuff call there. I know Outkast didn’t deserve 2 be the one 2 induct him. I had a problem with both there speeches. Alicia Keys was on target with her speech. Herbie Hancock is a big fan of Prince. That would have been real sweet coming from a veteran like him

pennylover said:

Alright, I will give you this. Alicia speech was pretty good however Herbe Hancock would have been more appropriate b/c he has paid dues in the biz.

i don't know... it just seems strange to me when i see younger musicians who are still learning their way, welcoming a legend into the Hall of Fame? just don't seem right -- it should've been a whole stage of elder statesmen up there welcoming Prince -- people like George Clinton, Bootsy, James Brown, Sly Stone, Little Richard, Ray Charles, etc. not these young "i barely know nothing"s -- anyhow, if they wanted younger musicians inducting Prince, it should've been Lenny & TTD-Sananda in the least

Snap said:

Agreed. That's my point exactly.

NWF said:

i agree with you..even tho i am not a Lenny fan i dont like the way Outkast didnt give props to Prince at the MTV awards like Usher did with MJ..they could have at least said something after he let them induct him into the Hall

I heard that there was a rift between them or something. Does anyone know what thats about? They were so great together on the Rave DVD!!! It would be a shame if there was. Maybe thats why he did'nt?.....

Morris Day & Jerome Benton should have inducted Prince
into the rock -n - roll hall of fame.
imagine how cool that would have been.....

sexxi said:

I guess that would've been alright, since they are contemporaries.

NWF said:

imagining.....Morris & Prince in a cat-fight on stage, Morris being pissed off because P is being inducted and he's not, Jerome holding a mirror for Morris' hair.....HUHAAAA!!!!.....

abierman said:

Yeah, that would be something to see.

I'm not a fan of Alicia Keys, but, she was right on point with her speech. I don't think that anyone would have said it (what I assume a lot of us feel), any better. That's the most important thing. Anyone outside of that who really knows "P" and always speaks very well and 'highly' of him is 'Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis'.

I love Lenny and would have liked to have seen him up there
with Alicia and Outkast but I guess that would have been kinda crowded
Im not a huge fan of Big Boi so I
would have replaced him with Lenny Kravitz

TheBatman said:

Alicia's speech was perfect and the orgasms only made her point more valid. She FELT his music and plus she has something that most artists wish they had, Prince's respect.

TheBatman said:

That would have been a fight to pay for! The Revolution is definitely no more, and what have they done eversince?

Bobby Z: : 'Matt, you suck!'
Matt Fink: 'But I am the Dr.!'
Wendy: 'Lisa, why don't you dig me my way?'
Lisa: 'I'm still craving for Prince, bitch!'
Prince: [sucking a lollypop, waving.....]
Lenny, in the audience, thinking: Hey man, I'm a better copycat!
[Edited 10/8/04 10:59am]

TheBatman said:

Sad but true.

abierman said:

You all are killing me.

Lenny, I'm not too sure....Maybe if someone could've dug up Sly Stone. Outkast are terrible, Andre Benjamins guitar playing & singing is downright awful. Alicia Keys is o.k., but she's got tons of homework left to do. Ms. Keys needs to get with a real producer & stop trying to write her own songs. ( Not everyone can be Prince).

AVENUEMAN said:

Exactly.

lenny sucks! he hasn't done a good song in 13 years.

NWF said:

No I agree with you 100%. When I saw Outkast up there I was like why in the hell are they up there? I mean when you look at what Alicia Keyes said. Sure she was a little overdramatic but that is because Prince means something to her. If you are young and black and you decided to play an instrument well there ain't too many people to look up too and Prince is simply the Neo in this Matrix if you will.

Now I don't know why people hate on Lenny so much on this site. He is cool he loves Prince and he has never shyed away from expressing how much Prince means to him. I think Lenny's speech would have been on par with Alicia's.

Oh and for all those people who say Lenny just copies Prince. Well I am sure Little Richard and James Brown and Jimi Hendrix fans said the same about Prince when he first came out. Also if you watched the MTV video awards Adre sang the slow jam of his and was acting just like Prince circa Purple Rain and I do mean just like him.

Peace

Yall seem to forget that Outkast had their first official release on a Laface Christmas compilation back in '93. And released their debut album a decade ago. They may not be grand-scale musicians, but they certainly aren't amateurs. As far as I'm concerned, they have paid their dues and have established themselves as one of the most if not THE MOST influential artists in Hip-Hop and should be applauded for trying to perform outside of the boundaries of the rap genres.

psykosoul said:

True dat. I knew about them since ATLiens. But I never once did say that they were just these young bucks that just caught on the Prince bandwagon. As for Alicia? Well, even if she's been around for about 3 or 4 years, she's still very young.

What I was trying to say was that I see Lenny as more of an heir to Prince's throne than Outkast or Alicia. Just like Prince, Lenny is an artist that synthesizes his influences and creates a style all his own. Plus, Lenny (I reckon) puts most of the music together himself. You kow, writing, arranging, recording, producing, yada, yada...

So even if I'll just have to accept the fact that what happened happened, I'm just letting you all know what I think should've been done.

chiltonmusic said:

I agree with you 100%.

Kravitz has earned the right, he was in the audience...he should have done it. Keys because she has been influenced by him and offered a different spin was cool, but I don't wanna hear stupid anecdotes from the streets have some fu*kin respect and mention him in the same breath as all the genius' from the past!

YODAHENDRIX said:

Earned the right? How so exactly? I think they were looking for someone more original than Lenny. His last three records have been an embarasment not only to him but to all musicians that struggle to put out records. All Lenny has become is a guy who is now known more for being a male model than a musician. Somewhere along the way he forgot how to write a good song. Lenny could put out 50 singles a year for ten years and still not have a fraction of the talent that Prince has on his big toe. The great thing about music fans is that they have caught on to Lenny real fast. His latest album sold less than 200,000 copies and he couldn't sell enough seats to support a US tour.