Here's what I think:

PurpleKnight said:

A lot has changed over the years. He's not the guy he used to be.

I have always loved it that Prince attracted all types, creeds and races of people as his fans but when I talk to black people and white people they always seem to like Prince at completly eras. Have you found that certain years Prince started alienating his white fans and in certain eras he was alienating his black fans? Which years do you think they were and why?

The listener in me is able to see some of the points here and believe that they might have some validity.

The artist in me says that Prince never gave a damn what any of y'all thought, and still doesn't.

PurpleKnight said:

A lot has changed over the years. He's not the guy he used to be.

PleasurePrinciple said:

You don't like Conway Twitty????

thekidsgirl said:

This is Prince's black period. SOTT ? Black album?

PurpleKnight said:

A lot has changed over the years. He's not the guy he used to be.

DiamondGirl said:

take your pick, its up for interpretation

It's an interesting question, but it usually opens a really bad can of worms. I think there's been instances in the past where Prince has alienated sections of his fans of all races. A few years ago he gave an interview on the subject of going indie and said "Now I can do something that people of color have never been able to do, We can manufacture and market to our own people". What am I supposed 2 think when I read something like that?

npgmaverick said:

There are so many "touchy" subjects re. Prince (his ethnicity, his sexuality, his attitude towards different races, his behaviour towards women, how he handled the WB thing, the list goes on and on) that have the potential to be interesting, even educational debates. Problem is, a good chunk of the fanbase (at least here on the Org) decides they have to take the issue personally, and any differing view is treated as a personal insult. There's too much childishness on the Org to have a proper discussion on a lot of topics without it falling apart into a flame-fest.

thekidsgirl said:

Id actually say Symbol era since he has Tony M's hairstyle. I've read somewhere that Tony M made a staement about joining NPG "I'm going to make that nigga(Prince)black if it kills him"-paraphrased

DiamondGirl said:

That Tony M. really has a way with words. A regular Shakespere

thekidsgirl said:

"Get stupid...get stupid" sayeth Tony M-eth.

1999 was calculated cross-over.

I definately think so. Every, and I mean every black person I knew at the time was extremely pissed with "Around In The World In A Day" and furious with "Parade" and most of them dropped him after that. The white people I knew were not cool with it either but they could tolerate it more.

I understand that Prince has always been versitile in his music but the earlier rock style music was at least appealing to his black listeners. The work he did beginning with "Around The World In A Day", except for particular songs, was only appealing to a fraction of the long time fans that loved his music.

Another thing that pissed many black people off was the timing of the whole thing. Prince waited until after the huge major crossover success of "Purple Rain" to completely change his style. He wasn't crazy. Had he released an album like "Around The World In A Day" or "Parade" when the majority of his listeners were black and he didn't have a large white pop audience to fall back on, he would have been tossed to the side and never even made it to the point of making a big success like "Purple Rain".

Apparently it must have bothered him because then he comes up with "The Black Album". Even if it had been released when it was supposed to, the majority of his long time black fans weren't going to like this album. It was funk but it was not the type of funk they loved Prince for.

Then he starts trying to get back some of the black audience by adding rap and hip hop to his music. This is when a lot of the white fans started feeling alienated. This wasn't working with the black fans either because they were an age group that didn't like rap, so he started picking up even more new fans.

Whether Prince meant to do it or not, he alienated both sides at some time in his career.

Jeezzzz! people have you not learned anything about Prince in his 26yrs of making music. With Prince, It isn't about being black or white , its about where the money is!

I'm going to throw out the wild assumption that there are not a lot of actual minorities on this thread. Here's the humble opinion of one actual minority. Flame away.

That being said, yes, I do definitely believe that at one point he was catering to the more mainstream ("White") audience. Now that most white people listen to black people's music, the point has become moot. It has not only become acceptable, it is indeed the norm. However, 20 years ago, (i.e. at the time of Purple Rain thru SOTT) this was not so much the case. White people had their music, black people had theirs, and rarely (I won't say never) the twain met.

Let's keep it real. People are closed minded, and if their mind is closed, guess what, their wallet will be as well. I think back in the day, the point of post PR albums was the almighty dollar, grab as much as you can while your star burns bright, etc. Now, yes I do think Prince has turned "back to his roots" or however you want to phrase it. It is just a side effect of maturity, and growing up. You identify with your family, of course, and the people you grew up with, your people. Those of you who are not minorities will never truly understand the experience, and by "catering" to the black audience, it is really more of a matter of self identification and a reflection of self. I don't think it is intended to exclude or offend anyone.

Thoughts?

PurpleKnight said:

A lot has changed over the years. He's not the guy he used to be.

ufoclub said:

He wasn't raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis. He was raised in the middle class/poor black section of MN. He may live in the burbs now, but he didn't in his youth.

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[Edited 4/19/05 16:37pm]