I've seen so many conflicting statements and actions on this issue. Prince has criticized it, used it in his own music, spoken of how rap stars use women in their videos in a way he doesn't agree, and then again has utilized women in his own music and has been in turn attacked for it . What is Prince's bottom line when it comes to rap?

depends on the day, i guess.

i think it depends on the rapper's respect for music as well -- and are they themselves musicians or being praised for the use of loops and samples, oh wow

Depends on if he's taken his pills or not.

I don't know his stand now, but the other day I watched SOT on BET and he used the $hit outta CAT!!!!!

Prince's stand on rap has changed and evolved over the years.

Like any of us, the views we held on any particular subject when we were young
are likely to be different to the ones we have when we're older.

My impression is that in the early days Prince wasn't that keen on it, and
saw it very much as not being a true 'musical' art form. Tongue in cheek as it
is, his song 'Dead On It' expressed some of his actual opinions on the
subject. But by the time he'd actually recorded that song, he did have a lot
more appreciation of the art involved in 'rhythmn and rhyme'. Once he started
discovering rap artists who (he felt) were actually creating something new
and MUSICALLY valid (ie, not just rapping over a beat lifted wholesale from
another artist's song, but creating something sonically different and new),
then he embraced it as a valid art form and tried out and experimented with
aspects of it himself. These days he's quite comfortable with it and likes it.
That doesn't mean to say he loves ALL rap unreservedly, there's still many
aspects of it he doesn't like or agree with, just as there is with any other
type of music or art.

Go and watch that Tavis Smiley interview if you can get it somewhere and you´ll get his most up to date stand on rap music.
He hangs out with certain rappers ( QTip, Common, Chuck D to name a few) and Scrap D off the Emancipation album once told me he kinda likes a lot of it, just disagrees with certgain elements and aspects of it.
Me personally, I dig both, Prince´s purple music and HipHop, because I grew up listening to both, but mainly HipHop, that used to be my background but I think rap and Prince just don´t mix well, even though he´s created some really decent raps ( check out the other thread about Prince´s best rapping).
A lot of people diss Prince for his ambivalent stance on rap but action speaks louder than words and in this regard it´s quite cool how Prince and Bernadette Anderson showed support for the Mpls HipHop scene.
Don´t forget that Prince also supported some RAWKUS events financially. And his collaborations with Tony M or TC Ellis might sound , ehhm, weird , to say the least, I mean he was kind of jumping on the band waggon with these individuals who simply didn´t fit into his universe, but then again he at least tried to put some local rappers into the spotlight by giving them a chance...instead of collaborating with the hot act of the moment.
I may not like all his rap collabos, but I give him credit for that.
I´m probably the only one who kinda likes DA DA DA . MUCH better than any of that Tony M crap.

well said kooleaze

KoolEaze said:

Damn that was good! Thanks

I can also appreciate DA DA DA, so you are not alone!

SexyRan said:

regular bet?!!??

I don't mind 'Da Da Da' at all. i actually think the guy on it sounds like a half credible rapper.

Marrk said:

He´s a really nice person, and his rapping isn´t that bad.Tony M is a different story,and Scrap knows this too well

I think he said it best already some two decades ago:

I could never take the place of yo man...

Moonwalkbjrain said:

No, Black Stars

KoolEaze said:

"Kinda''? "Kinda''? I can do you one better. I really like the song. It's an album cut, sure, but it's a good one in my book. With a good message.

I noticed that Prince seems lil choosey about how his music is sampled by rappers:

Ja Rule has a unreleased song with Case called "Thug Life" which is sample from Pop Life and pretty much a remake of it. I heard from some gossip that Prince wouldn't let him sample it because it wasn't positive.

Warren G & Nate Dogg originally sampled "Darlin Nikki" for "Annie Mae" (a song about a whore they know), but for 'some reason' it was remixed and released.

Suga Free and Morris Day remade "Cool" and it was supposed to be Suga Free's 1st single off of his album last year....BUT of course, the sample didn't get cleared, so it didn't make the album.

And Techn9ne has a bouncy song called "Freaky" that sampled "Darlin Nikki" - sounds like it would've been a hit. I dont know the story behind it but the song is unreleased.

But besides that, he let 2Pac use a "Darlin Nikki" sample for "Heatz Of Men" and "Do Me Baby" for "To Live And Die In LA"; Bone Thugs N Harmony sampled "Little Red Corvette" for "Change The World"; and Eve re-did Irresistible Bitch, but its called Irresistible Chick on her album.

on a certain interview, sorry i forget which one
prince stated that if someone wanted to sample his work
unfortunately they are allowed to without his permission

The only good rapper is the one who's DEAD!


































































on it!!

????





Ohhhh i get it!!

I think he digs good hip hop like THE ROOTS COMMON< MOS DEF< TALIB KWELI< OUTKAST
But like most real hip hop fans hate the hip Pop like Ja Rule, nelly, 50 cent, Fabolous and other crap like that

yeah im guessing its the messages behind most of the rappers lyrics these days
that is turning him off it..

all those pop rap songs now are all about bullsh*t
they used to have some fun in the lyrics
now its all just a stand off about who's the baddest

Prince didnt like rap. He felt he was making real music and he didnt like people who couldnt sing. Prince didnt like all braggadocio stuff. LL Cool J "Im Bad ,Im this ,Im that". he began listening to rap like 2 live crue and public Enamy and said "I can do that, and I can do it better." says Eric Leeds. 1997 musician mag. interview prince said "You cant call yourself a musician if you just take a sample and loop it. You can call yourself a thief! Because all your doing is stealing someones groove. Just dont call it music."

Tony M was a Ice T wannabe.

Now that I think about it...I HATE anything to do wit Rap when it comes to Prince. IT'S NOT HIM!!! ANYTIME (IMO) he or anyone closely associted wit him has tried it(in HIS) music, it sounds forced. btw, No Rap song has EVER moved me...but Prince has...OFTEN...SO THERE!!!!!