.


OK, so after years of courting rap with mixxed results, to say the least, Prince's release of Musicology all but ignores the genre (except maybe in "Illusion Coma, Pimp, and Circumstance".

In the Musicology video he even goes so far as showing young kids in urbanware being denied access to his show while Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis lookalikes circa 1987 are allowed to enter wearing more refined attire.

Does anyone think this might be more than just a little indication that he's had enough of following trends in music? From up until Rave, he seemed to be playing catchup. ANd now it appears that he's finally found his solution--to pretend somehow cast them in the light of "new act that can't play", and himself in the role of "Old school teacher that can show you how it's done".

It's no secret that since around the time of "The Black Album", Prince was starting to be seen as no longer cutting edge, and much of his encorporation of music from whatever was big at the time, seemed to be his reaction to it. But it appears that Musicology sees Prince as finally not feeling a need to compete with current music today.

Also, do you think that any of his albums are an indication that he might be gay?
[Edited 1/14/05 5:00am]

AsianBoi777 said:

We can only hope.

I can't wait for the music journalists and media to get bored with it too, the music that's clogging up the charts these past few years has been the most dire.

I can't believe people seriously listen to this 'music'

Let's not forget The Rainbow Children, at least if we're talking in terms of Prince no longer seeming to care about whatever is trendy.
When I listen to TRC and Musicology, for the most part I hear music that is unmistakably Prince,
I used to like hip-hop a lot more than I do now, as I have become bored with it. The whole hip-hop "culture", at least to me, boils down to little more than an uninspiring mix of rampant materialism and stupidity.
Prince's music, even at it's most derivative, has always had positive messages, and I salute him for remaining what at times seems like a lost voice in the wilderness.

NouveauDance said:

Agree. All you can do is hope that eventually the madness ends and people wake up. I feel the same way about the state of television and the current glut of reality shows.

NouveauDance said:

Okay, Grandpa. "Back in my day we had real music....."

skywalker said:

S'up, are you an Usher fan?

Well, what new styles/trends could he include in his music? There has been nothing new in pop music since maybe the mid/late 90's. In the 90's, hiphop and dance/techno made their way to mass pop culture. He included both in some of his 90's work. What trend could he keep in touch with? Hire talentless singers and let them sing uninspired covers of more or less classic songs with the aim to milk the average pop consumer? (At least that's the way it is in Europe right now - in Germany, we have a children song currently at No. 1 in the charts - that tells all...)


Well, let me think... No, I think posing naked with a strange hairdo on a record cover with flowers in the background is something every heterosexual man in the world usually likes to do...

EmancipationLover said:

It was cool how he did the little dancehall reggae thing on life of the party. It would be cool to see P do some more reggae type grooves.

I think it would be cool if he poured his creativity and lyrical concepts into a reggae style (dance hall, roots, etc.), and not just as a breakdown/embellishment to a song.
Take it on full tilt from beginning to end and see what happens, that is, if he hasn't already.

NouveauDance said:

Not at all. Most of what is on the radio is crap. It's just the way you worded your thoughts putiing quotes around "music" reminds me of how the old folks called rock n' roll "noise" when it came out. It's kind of the duty of every generation to dislike the music of the generations after it right?