Most of us know that Prince borrowed heavily from the music and image of James Brown, Sly Stone, Santana, etc...but is there anything that Prince did, musically, or imagewise, that was his "own"?

SquarePeg said:

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The use of the Linn Drum machine. The two keyboards playing the same parts. Prince has a signature sound in the 8o's that some people are now ripping off.

SquarePeg said:

Looking back at the history of American pop music, you'll see different degrees of originality. Prince is a great hybrid artist. He's the entire 20th Century of Black Music rolled up into one.

He's definately unique but I don't think I can say he is an originator. Louis Armstrong, James Brown... these guys are originators. Like Sly is to James Brown, so is Prince to his influences.

I do believe that he is a wonderful talent. I would argue that he's had the furthest reach among any 20th and 21st C popular music artist.

jayARDAHB said:

Right. Ok, I agree with that. But can you think of anything Prince might've done, even the smallest thing, that was innovative? Not just musically, but also imagewise. Maybe it was his attitude, was there anything about his attitude that was original?

SquarePeg said:

wasnt his attitude punk inspired?

good question...lets hope nobody takes offense to it..

sosgemini said:

His attitude was definately punk inspired, yes...

ok, I guess no one can think of anything...

This line was very original:

"...I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine..."



"Ancient-Prince"

sosgemini said:

mmmm, not exactly...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

would you say that, while not punk itself, it had an air of punkness about it?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

expand...

this aint no soundbite heaven here lady!! PARTICIPATE!!

his massively controversial image and music themes are the reason we have parental guidance on adult themed albums.

wasnt around then - but according to the history books.. the notably thin production on when doves cry hadnt been heard before.

im sure he's also credited with bringing black and white music together for the first time.. not jst a black artist playing white music, or a white artist playing black music.. he successfully integrated the prominent sounds of the two into one unique sound.

for somethin completely original.. a song about incest maybe? lol

ive never heard anythin like kiss, the master prince version - its a unique sound.. the high voice.. again, the thin orchestration.. and the pure funk

housequake is a unique sound too - there's loooooads of things lol

sosgemini said:

meanin simply this: to have the type of attitude he's always had, of not bending towards the norm and not givin a good gotdamn, isn't exactly punk-inspired. you don't have to look towards the punk community in order to get it.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

good point. That's a basic rock n roll attitude, as well.

Someone used the word "Hybrid". This is what Prince is. He took everything that came before him and made it unique and his own. You can see his influences and hear them, but it is still different and still Prince. He is one of the few in pop music/ rock music history who has been able to defy being catagorized. Simply by being Prince he did something original. I think if you ask most musicians they all view Prince as being, if nothing else, original.

Further more, it would not be a stretch to say that besides Prince, no one has so successfully incoporated so many genres into their music. No one has every done it all and has the commercial appeal that Prince has. Not The Beatles, not James, not MJ, not Sly, not Jimi, or even Stevie.

laurarichardson said:

Many people then ripped him off too.
[Edited 1/8/05 10:03am]

SquarePeg said:

I think that with all of the influences rolled up in one...along with his extreme prolific...er ness....he becomes unique and original in his own right. He mixes and twists them together in his own way. He didn't invent Funk...but he certainly took it to new heights and gave it a whole new sound. Lyrically he is very original too. I am certain that no one could have done the songs from Dirty Mind or 1999...or songs like Crystall Ball or All my Dreams or Computer Blue or Bob George

SquarePeg said:

there's nothing new under the sun
[Edited 1/8/05 10:08am]