I can imagine a lot of people being quite offended by a multi millionaire calling himself this. do you think he regrets doing that? i think he drove a lot of people away. Those were certainly lean years for him.

I know why he did it, i just think it was the most stupid ridiculous thing he ever did. He could just as easily took on WB without that on his face.

What was your take on this?

.
[Edited 10/6/04 12:02pm]

It's weird looking back on it now. But in more recent Interviews with him, he did explain
what it meant, and it made sense.

mymocha

in a word...yes. it further estranged him from WB and his fans. the symbol thing was a bit over the top and he took it further.

ask a casual person about Prince and they usually say something about "the artist now formally known as" BS. We may let that stuff go, but most don't...even if they don't really care for his music. No one likes a nut job.

I've never admitted this to anyone, but until I him on television during the Oprah interview, I just thought he meant "Slave to the Rhythm." Prior to that interview, I just chalked it up to one of those weird Princeisms, you know, like high-heels, lace, and belly chains.

After I found out what he really meant by it, I just thought it was a novel form of protest. It didn't offend me at all, and I "kinda" got where he was coming from.
Kinda.


S

These kind of things with artists fighting with their record labels about the artistic freedom happens all the time. Like Michael Jackson with sony..
But I thought it was kinda cool to do such a thing, and make a statement.
And I don't think it really damage him.

Marrk said:

I think it only damaged him to those that take him too seriously. To me it was a normal silly artistic thing,, equal to his butless pants and posing naked on lovesexy and the name change.
I really think it did nothing to his financial business. He was having lean years way before the name change or the slave thing.

Money doesn't make you immune to slavery. Why are Brits in particular so obsessed with the idea of the word 'slave' being written on his cheek doing some kind of damage to Prince? I don't get it. Exactly what about it was damaging? George Michael (among countless others) was involved in a contract that kept him from the freedom to record what he wanted, and he was very public about it, but nothing is ever said about that damaging him. The assumption that you cannot be a slave simply because you are being paid (whatever the amount) is erroneous. Frankly the dispute was about artistic control and NOT money. Prince wanted his masters to be owned by their creator. Is that damaging?

I don't think it damaged him at all. Anyone that is into Prince, knows he is outrageous.

It really did.

The name change freaked a lot of people out, and this was way too soon after that.

I think the name change could have been viewed as just more kooky Prince fun, but this was bordering on offensive, he was an fool to this.

Jestyr said:

Fair points. As a Brit, i wouldn't say i'm obsessed with the 'Slave' thing. Infact, it's the first time i've brought it up in 5000+ posts.

Just after differing opinions that's all.

Personally, I didn't care, but it was just stupid. Him comparing himself to Ali and Malcolm changing their names was laughable. Embarrassing how he even had people calling him tafkap, which still hasn't been forgotten by the likes of Alicia Keys. We as common citizens, who live with less options than him and much less compensation are not going to understand a fight over millions of dollars. Sure he was being cheated, but how are we going to have sympathy for him? Not only that, but us more knowledgable fans know that he has been controlling and unfair himself to past employees. I love him, but it doesn't distort my realizing he's just a guy. At his concert, I marked it in my mind in case I never see him again that there will never be another like him. Doesn't mean he hasn't done some really stupid shit, like all of us do.

Actually the first time I saw "Slave" written across his face was on David Letterman when he performed "Dolphin". I didn't know the story behind it yet. I thought it was pretty cool. I thought he was referring to himself as a sex slave. When I found out why it was there...to piss Warner Bros. off, I still liked it. I like wildness and I like rebellion.....especially when you feel like you have been done wrong.

Well, I thought it was an ill-conceived stunt -- like so much of his behavior during that period.

And I know some other black folks weren't too pleased about it. Coming on the heels of his well-publicized penchant for lighter "sisters" and the earlier, obvious lies about his heritage, the slave imbroglio was a further indicator of just how confused a black man in America he was.

Definitely not his strongest moment.

ThreadBare said:

I hear ya, he has done a lot of things to diss his own over the years. He's tried to make up for it at times but alot of the things, like him lying about being italian and his early catering to the white masses can't be overlooked.

Without reading the replies, I feel it hurt him but maybe not in the most will say. I was falling out of love with P in those days. I felt burned by UTCM, and AWTIAD. I was in college, and couldn't really afford to run out and buy those new damn expensive CD. (remember when LP were 7 or 8 dollars and then CD came out and they were $16?, that was more than gas money for the entire week!). So, I had to choose carefully. I would buy a CD if it had several hits (Control comes to mind).. and how do you know if the CD has a hit unless you hear it on the radio... which is what brings up my point.

When P went to battle with WB, and the whole slave- name change thing, he stopped getting airplay. I am listening to old CDs and hear songs that I know I would have liked enough to buy the CD, except, I never heard them. I think P was black balled, and it did hurt him. I also think he knew it and defiantly seeked out new avenues for fans to hear his music (internet) because he recognized that the traditional way was not an option for him.

I think it did hurt his career, but I understand what he was trying to say. Dude just didn't think it through enough IMO.

It's not really one of his most cherished songs.

yes people didn't understand

that whole trip was hot hell on a triscuit, man. he might've meant well, but to me it was just totally jacked.

Even without the word "slave" written on his face, Prince's career was suffering from the battles with Warner Brothers. I am sure some distanced themselves further from Prince when they saw "slave" written on his face.

jbchavez said:

Exactly. At that point in his career "a lot of people" weren't paying attention to him anyway.

Redayh said:

Same here. Whether he was a multi-millionaire or not, the guy felt he was being treated unfairly and spoke up about it. Other artists only started coming out of the woodwork well after the fact.

It was insane, but it was the era I got to love him in.

To me as the symbol he was really enigmatic and I really enjoyed the mystery about it (when I was 7).
I remember browsing all these Geocities sites about "TAFKAP" and "The Artist" and it was really fun cause he was very mysterious.
Also, I loved the Exodus/TGE eras.

It damaged him, but I enjoyed him (not the way he looked) in 94/5

Can someone break it down for me because I don't understand why he did it.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

I have heard reasons that I think was Prince BS. I think it had something to do with his contract with WB. I believe they somehow had interest in anything produced by "Prince" and so to get around that, P changed his name and symbolically to an unpronouceable symbol. If you notice, he saved what some say was his better work to release under the symbol name and gave throw away stuff to WB to fulfill his contract. Also when the contract expired, Prince went back to being Prince which in my mind confirmed my suscipions that this name change was about business.

I don't think it "hurt" him anymore than the following "Prince moves"

-changing his name to a symbol
-buttless pants
-wearing high heels
-nude "lovesexy" cover
-releasing a non-commercial album ATWIAD to the at the height of his Purple Rain fame
-chain mask
-Dirty mind with black briefs, trenchcoat, head,sister,and an unshaved bikini line

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

The quote I have heard to explain the slave thing, is this:

If you don't own your masters (recordings) then your Masters (WB) own you. (Therefore you are a slave).


S

Marrk said:

Oh, of course. I didn't mean to be insulting or 'nationalist' about it. I've just seen countless threads over the years with this same old subject and it alway seems to be started by a someone in the UK or the European Union. It just makes me wonder if media coverage of the issue was slanted in a different way in Europe or something. In the US, we got bewildered responses from the media, but no one really thought Prince was damaged by it. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World was a huge hit here in the very midst of his 'slave' period. I know the African American community decided to be offended by it, but I honestly believe Prince is incapable of thinking in the same racial terms that most African-Americans think in. Prince lives in a different world than the rest of us.

Jestyr said:

Wow, we did? News to me.

I hang with a LOT of African-Americans (hell, I'm even related to a few ), and general consensus among those I hung with, was this: "Oh, you know how Prince is. Whatever." I honestly don't recall ANYONE I knew being at all offended.

Also, African-Americans have varied opinions about race matters, but I am sure you know that. I bet some of us even think about race in the same manner Prince does.




Sarita

...that just made him all the more famous.