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Printablealexadeparisone said: 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? Like Frank Zappa, Prince was only in it for the money!!! So if it was cool for Michael Jackson to make millions, why not Prince? Shouldn't Prince have the right to have to largest audience possible? Even NWA, 2pac, & 50 Cent prefer a racially-mixed audience. THAT how you make a lot of money. And beside, what wrong with white children/teens/young adults buying too much black music? I'll being silly & dead serious. | |
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skywalker said: Tell me this--- What sounds like "white" music? What is "black" music? Eminem, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Ray Charles, Vanilla Ice, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson, The Time, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix,The Bee Gees, Little Richard, and Prince,etc.? Black music? White music? What are you talking about?
If a black person thinks Parade or Around the World in a Day sounds "too white" that is their fault for being a narrow minded ass. Conversely if a white person thinks Prince is being "too black" when he raps or puts out a funk record that person is also a narrow minded ass. It's not about black and white, it's not about allegiance to one side or another. It's about the 2 and the 4 and making people feel things. Okay and sometimes it's about the drawers and the $$$..... [Edited 4/20/05 10:57am] That's the best thing I've read in this whole thread. I second and third it. | |
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So if it was cool for Michael Jackson to make millions, why not Prince?
It's cool. Shouldn't Prince have the right to have to largest audience possible?
Yes Even NWA, 2pac, & 50 Cent prefer a racially-mixed audience. THAT how you make a lot of money.
And Prince led the way for them to do that. And beside, what wrong with white children/teens/young adults buying too much black music?
Nothing, BUT it never used to be done. That's my only point. If I had been Prince, I would have gone for the biggest audience possible, too. Nothing wrong with that. Wish I had his $$. "Are you my Caucasian?" - L.D. | |
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skywalker said: Tell me this--- What sounds like "white" music? What is "black" music? Eminem, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Ray Charles, Vanilla Ice, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson, The Time, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix,The Bee Gees, Little Richard, and Prince,etc.? Black music? White music? What are you talking about?
If a black person thinks Parade or Around the World in a Day sounds "too white" that is their fault for being a narrow minded ass. Conversely if a white person thinks Prince is being "too black" when he raps or puts out a funk record that person is also a narrow minded ass. It's not about black and white, it's not about allegiance to one side or another. It's about the 2 and the 4 and making people feel things. Okay and sometimes it's about the drawers and the $$$..... [Edited 4/20/05 10:57am] Good Essay. One More Thing: All music (except for classical & [maybe] new age) IS black music by origin!!! Jazz, Rock, Metal, R&B, Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Country, Funk, House, Techno, Electro, D&B, Reggae, etc. etc. etc. And no, I'm not narrow-minded or racist for telling the facts. Prince was (and still is) way more black than the critics give him credit for. | |
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I don't know which audience he favors, but I'd hope it would be his music-loving audience. If some fools want to worry about whether it's more black or white let them. |
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alexadeparisone said: 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?  Exactly.Andy is a four letter word. | |
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TonyVanDam said: vainandy said: 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. This isn't just your opinion, this is THE Truth. I really liked All Around The World In A Day, Parade, & Sign 'O' The Times just as much as Purple Rain (even though I still rank SOTT right over PR easily). But right after the sucess of Purple Rain, Most young black people were listening to rap/hip-hop a lot more often. Why? Because at THAT point in time, rap/hip-hop culture was the underdog. It was a "rebel music" genre. And thanks (or no thanks???) to mainstream success, Prince was no long an underdog or a rebel. In fact, he became an icon along with Michael & Madonna. A lot of rap, back in the mid to late 1980s, was definately making it's way more and more into my record collection. Rap, during that time, was actually funky. Groups like Egyptian Lover, Freestyle, LA Dream Team, etc. made fast uptempo funk that was filling the void for me because more and more mainstream R&B artists were watering down their music to go after the pop audience. When the tempo to rap slowed down in the 1990s and most of the instruments were stripped off of it, I said the hell with it too. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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Krystal666 said: alexadeparisone said: 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? I'm not really sure considering I am not a black person...but I do like the fact that you factored in the time frame as to which we were dealing with here...back in the eighties you didn't see a whole bunch of white kids singing "You droped the bomb on me" by the Gap as you go to any high school and see white kids blasting Snoop Dogg in their cars....seems as if times have definatly changed and I can understand Prince wanting to go after a more 'white' audiance to become more accepted as a pop music giant you have to reach as many people as you can...but I always thought that was a cool thing...like at Prince shows and in Purple Rain you would see white and black kids just enjoying the music...I thought that was awsome expecialy considering the year!  Yes, back in those days, very few white people were listening to The Gap Band like many of them listen to Snoop Dogg today. Radio was very "segregated" back then but actually I preferred it that way. Good music was being made from both sides of the fence and anyone was welcome at any time to turn to a different station when they were particularly feeling rock or funk that day. Even though Prince crossed over, he still made funk and he still had ryhthm...it was just a "weird" type of funk that his earlier fans didn't want to hear. The real problem came when everyone started trying to cross over. Their music was so watered down that even Prince's "weird" funk was kicking their ass. Their music had absolutely no rhythm whatsoever. With all the mainstream R&B artists trying to crossover, rap was starting to get more and more airplay. It was uptempo and funky back in those days and was filling the void that these mainstream R&B artists had left. Then gansta rap had to rear it's ugly head and slow everything down. It was much slower and completely stripped down to mainly a beat and some "talking". A lot of white kids started liking it and buying it. In fact, white kids bought most of the records. Then major corporations saw they could make money off of it and made sure it stayed alive by making sure it was the only thing that was played. If these corporations had left it alone, it would have gone back underground and different styles would emerge just like they always have. If it wasn't for everyone trying to crossover back in the day, R&B wouldn't be in the mess it's in today. [Edited 4/24/05 12:35pm] Andy is a four letter word. | |
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alexadeparisone said: 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? Thank you, thank you, thank you! Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise. | |
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alexadeparisone said: 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? Yeah, I'm feelin' you. You're right. Although I loved the Parade album, Prince definately toned down some of his funkiness for awhile after the success of Purple Rain. But whatever works huh? I always thought that playing up his "mixed race" background was also to get a wider audience. Whether or not they'll admit it, for a lot of White people that made it OK to be into Prince-if he was seen as something other than "just" Black. That sucks too. I AM BEATLOAF
www.myspace.com/teriteriboberi www.stickam.com/profile/Beatloaf www.myspace.com/americasfunnyman www.stephenking.com www.tomgreen.com I'm my own favorite orger and that trumps any elitist list you guys can come up with. | |
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For me, Prince never deliberately made the decision to make more white or more black sounding music.... I think it has a lot to do with the kind of musicians surounding him (and the influences they bring into his music), his urges to experiment during one period or keep it more sobre during the other...
Let me start with this thing that many Peeps seem to see wrong: the following up of Purple Rain with Around The World in a day.....some see it as a move that alienated his black fans...others (like me) see it as a development to grow further as an artist. I mean from Dirty Mind unto Purple Rain he created his trademark funkrock (Minneapolis) sound, a became a big star with it.... But Around the World in a day is not so much a 'watershed'-record as some think it was.... When you listen to the basic-arrangements, the skeletons of the songs on Around...you hear Prince still using his trademark linn-beat, funky pop / rock rhythem tracks. On top of that he uses melodies and arrangments that are more white (beatlesque) sounding maybe or influenced by new styles (psychedelic pop, worldmusic), but i see that as a natural development: Prince had allready created a basic-sound, but on this record he tries out new melody-lines and arrangements because he wants to grow creatively... I think Wendy and Lisa played a big part in this, by putting his attention at new styles of music he never tried before, and Prince for me, in the first place, is a creative artist who wants to grow artistically, so, in my opinion he experimentated with this influences because it is in his 'blood' to experiment.... On Parade he broaded his horizons even further with semi-classical influences, different European musicalstyles and folk. NOT with the purpose to alianate himselve from a black audience, but as a way to keep music interesting to him, to experiment with new sounds and arrangements.... Sign of the Times (especially the concerttour and the records that followed it: The Black Album and Lovesexy) brought new influences to his music: namely Jazz and Jazz-rock, and as an creative artist, he tried this kind of music, tried to combine his with his trademark funk/rock sound, just showing a natural artistic development..... So, to my opninion: i think you see to much in Princes music when it comes to labelling himselve as either black or white, i think the first goal Prince had was: making music that was interesting for him, experiment with new sounds, I mean he allready achieved great commercial succes with Purple Rain, it gave him the freedom to be who he really is: a curious, openminded musician, willing to experiment and try out new things... And to end with (not to nag): Princes father was halve phillipan, halve black, Princes mother was halve black, halve italian.....so we are talkig about a multicoloured musician here trying out multicoloured music  | |
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vainandy said: Yes, back in those days, very few white people were listening to The Gap Band like many of them listen to Snoop Dogg today. Radio was very "segregated" back then but actually I preferred it that way. Good music was being made from both sides of the fence and anyone was welcome at any time to turn to a different station when they were particularly feeling rock or funk that day. Even though Prince crossed over, he still made funk and he still had ryhthm...it was just a "weird" type of funk that his earlier fans didn't want to hear. The real problem came when everyone started trying to cross over. Their music was so watered down that even Prince's "weird" funk was kicking their ass. Their music had absolutely no rhythm whatsoever. With all the mainstream R&B artists trying to crossover, rap was starting to get more and more airplay. It was uptempo and funky back in those days and was filling the void that these mainstream R&B artists had left. Then gansta rap had to rear it's ugly head and slow everything down. It was much slower and completely stripped down to mainly a beat and some "talking". A lot of white kids started liking it and buying it. In fact, white kids bought most of the records. Then major corporations saw they could make money off of it and made sure it stayed alive by making sure it was the only thing that was played. If these corporations had left it alone, it would have gone back underground and different styles would emerge just like they always have. If it wasn't for everyone trying to crossover back in the day, R&B wouldn't be in the mess it's in today. [Edited 4/24/05 12:35pm] That is a really good analysis! And yes R&B is a mess today! I just can't listen to most of it...it is totally unispiring and rehased crap! The only person I think has potiental is Pharell and even then I don't like all of his stuff. | |
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Krystal666 said: vainandy said: That is a really good analysis! And yes R&B is a mess today! I just can't listen to most of it...it is totally unispiring and rehased crap! The only person I think has potiental is Pharell and even then I don't like all of his stuff. Agreed 100% Funny thing about Pharell is that he is a HUGE P fan and supposedly offered Frontin' to him as well. | |
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vainandy said: A lot of rap, back in the mid to late 1980s, was definately making it's way more and more into my record collection. Rap, during that time, was actually funky. Groups like Egyptian Lover, Freestyle, LA Dream Team, etc. made fast uptempo funk that was filling the void for me because more and more mainstream R&B artists were watering down their music to go after the pop audience. When the tempo to rap slowed down in the 1990s and most of the instruments were stripped off of it, I said the hell with it too. My favorite artists & songs are mostly between the years of 1970-1993 for good reason. With a strong exception of 2pac & TLC, I really believe that most of 90's music (after 1993) was a total disgrace! BTW, I respect Egyptian Lover & Pretty Tony (bandleader of Freestyle and inventor of Freestyle...the electronic music genre itself) for keeping electro-funk alive after all these years. And yes, tthey still use synths!  | |
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alexadeparisone said: 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? I disagree. "Going back to your roots" as you put it, has nothing to do with age or maturity. If it did, does that mean that when I hit mid-40's I'll dump all the "black" and "white" music I listen to and just be jamming to Native drumming and songs? No. So P. is more "black" now that he's styling himself as a younger, prettier, James Brown? Give me a break. I'm not one to pretend that there still aren't sharp racial lines in a lot of areas, nor that certain styles of music and dress aren't associated with particular ethnicities. But anyone who thinks they have to play a certain style of music, or dress a certain way, or use certain slang, or act a particular way in order to identify with "their" people is way too hung up on race and the need to identify as one over another. And if you didn't pick it up, here I am, a minority. But not white or black. You're not alone on this thread after all. "A Watcher scoffs at gravity!" | |
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MattyJam said: skywalker said: Tell me this--- What sounds like "white" music? What is "black" music? Eminem, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Ray Charles, Vanilla Ice, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson, The Time, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix,The Bee Gees, Little Richard, and Prince,etc.? Black music? White music? What are you talking about?
If a black person thinks Parade or Around the World in a Day sounds "too white" that is their fault for being a narrow minded ass. Conversely if a white person thinks Prince is being "too black" when he raps or puts out a funk record that person is also a narrow minded ass. It's not about black and white, it's not about allegiance to one side or another. It's about the 2 and the 4 and making people feel things. Okay and sometimes it's about the drawers and the $$$..... [Edited 4/20/05 10:57am] That's the best thing I've read in this whole thread. I second and third it. fourth fifth and sixth! "A Watcher scoffs at gravity!" | |
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I don't think Prince has ever consiously decided to make "white" albums or "black" albums. He just makes what he likes, and he likes a lot of different styles of music. I think when he gets an idea, he just runs with it. For example, NPS was just Prince kickin around making a fun George Clinton/Funkadelic-esque album. He didn't make it because he wanted to expand his black audience. Similarly, ATWIAD definately harks back to '60s psychodelic pop and has a lot of Wendy and Lisa's sound. But that doesn't mean it was intended to sell out to his white audience. It was just Prince trippin on something new and having fun with it. Toejam @ Peach & Black Podcast: http://peachandblack.podbean.com
Toejam's band "Cheap Fakes": http://cheapfakes.com.au, http://www.facebook.com/cheapfakes Toejam the solo artist: http://www.youtube.com/scottbignell | |
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FunkMistress said: Here's what I think:
 I love it when someone does this on thread. It keeps thing balanced. | |
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Pardon me if someone as already said this, but:
"You'd never would have drank my coffee, if I hadn't served you cream..." I could be wrong but that seems to answer the question. | |
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morningsong said: Pardon me if someone as already said this, but:
"You'd never would have drank my coffee, if I hadn't served you cream..." I could be wrong but that seems to answer the question. I drink my coffee black. Cream and sugar takes away from the coffee taste.  [Edited 4/25/05 22:11pm] Andy is a four letter word. | |
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vainandy said: I drink my coffee black. Cream and sugar takes away from the coffee taste.
[Edited 4/25/05 22:11pm] Okay, trying to be cute. I ain't mad atcha. 
I was just referring to "What's my name", myself. | |
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morningsong said: vainandy said: I drink my coffee black. Cream and sugar takes away from the coffee taste.
[Edited 4/25/05 22:11pm] Okay, trying to be cute. I ain't mad atcha.
I was just referring to "What's my name", myself. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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morningsong said: Pardon me if someone as already said this, but:
"You'd never would have drank my coffee, if I hadn't served you cream..." I could be wrong but that seems to answer the question. I suppose this is true in that marketing to a "white" audience increased Prince's visibility as an artist, and thereby made it so that in 2000, he'd get play on a mostly Top 40 station in a mostly white city in Canada, where I could've heard him for the first time. But would I not be listening to him strictly if he didn't do "white" music? Hell no. If, living where I do, there'd have been some way for me to have heard his music, I'd still be listening regardless. What's good is good, and colour shouldn't come into play. "A Watcher scoffs at gravity!" | |
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PleasurePrinciple said: funkpill said: You don't like Conway Twitty????  hey funk  ...who???  | |
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ultimately the issue is not Prince having "white" or "black" music". i think its that at certain points in his career he dabbled in genres that would on a large scale appeal to one race over the other. My two cents has been spent. How can I live 4 love? I'm calling!!! | |
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pennylover said: EvilWhiteMale said: A lot has changed over the years. He's not the guy he used to be. r u the same person u used 2 b I'm the same person I used to be in the future. "You need people like me so you can point your fuckin' fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." "
Al Pacino- Scarface | |
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PurpleKnight said: EvilWhiteMale said: A lot has changed over the years. He's not the guy he used to be. Well, his latest band has a black woman, a white woman, black men, and a white man. So what are you basing your assumption on? It's completely unfounded. You know as well as I do that his band hasn't been as mixed as it used to be. But it also seems he shows more love for the black members of his audience. He probably feels more comfortable around black folks than white folks. "You need people like me so you can point your fuckin' fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." "
Al Pacino- Scarface | |
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Right on spot, Toejam! | |
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vainandy said: 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.    | |
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vainandy said: Yes, back in those days, very few white people were listening to The Gap Band like many of them listen to Snoop Dogg today. Radio was very "segregated" back then but actually I preferred it that way. Good music was being made from both sides of the fence and anyone was welcome at any time to turn to a different station when they were particularly feeling rock or funk that day. Even though Prince crossed over, he still made funk and he still had ryhthm...it was just a "weird" type of funk that his earlier fans didn't want to hear. The real problem came when everyone started trying to cross over. Their music was so watered down that even Prince's "weird" funk was kicking their ass. Their music had absolutely no rhythm whatsoever. With all the mainstream R&B artists trying to crossover, rap was starting to get more and more airplay. It was uptempo and funky back in those days and was filling the void that these mainstream R&B artists had left. Then gansta rap had to rear it's ugly head and slow everything down. It was much slower and completely stripped down to mainly a beat and some "talking". A lot of white kids started liking it and buying it. In fact, white kids bought most of the records. Then major corporations saw they could make money off of it and made sure it stayed alive by making sure it was the only thing that was played. If these corporations had left it alone, it would have gone back underground and different styles would emerge just like they always have. If it wasn't for everyone trying to crossover back in the day, R&B wouldn't be in the mess it's in today. [Edited 4/24/05 12:35pm]  ok I should have read on before imediately replying. Now you've nuancated you opinion, you make sense... In fact I agree with you 100% 
Guess I got confused by the "black & white" way you styated your first comment peace 2 ya. | |
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