Nah, Prince was a big fan of Jesse. The rivalry was between their fans. Yeah, Jesse and Prince had their little tiffs from time to time, but they still worked together, bought each other's music, and imitated each other's sound. Prince's "Feel U Up" sounds A LOT like him trying to be Jesse -- same rhythm and rhyme, not to mention the voice inflections. They were cool with each other for a good long while.

vainandy said:

Translation: Jesse made music that sounded like everyone else of that era and now only die hard Prince fans remember him. Prince, on the other hand, was busy making timeless masterpieces that people are still tryin' to top nowadays. Yeah, like Jesse could fuck with "Housequake" or "Kiss".

PS. Don't prentend to know him. Most of you think Prince is a jerk because of third party talking, and that he was a dick in the movie "purple rain."
[Edited 5/17/05 15:02pm]

Yeah, like Jesse could fuck with "Housequake" or "Kiss".

which is my point 4 this thread. those songs were made in response 2
what those dudes were doing. it's a no brainer that prince
was the better musician. but damn...she i can't resist, fake,etc.etc
raised the stakes as far as funk in that era.
i know this is an old discussion but prince doesnt have anybody like
jesse or jam and lewis 2 'wake' him up. he's lazy.that performance on the naacp awards was ok
BUT....it ain't no 1985 grammy awards show.

revolution75 said:

So you think Prince's greatness comes from his desire to TOP others?????

My theory is this---Prince is so confident, so full of himself, that he actually believes that he has no competition in what he does musically. He has said this himself several times. He feels like no one can run with him today for the type of music he is doing. He has stated that his only competition is his past self. Prince has already proved to the world that he is without peer and has been doin' it just for the funk of it and his own musings since, at least, 1988. Frankly, I dig him more for that.

u r missing my point
i am not dismissing prince's greatness or legacy
if it wasnt 4 prince, there wouldnt have been no jam and lewis or jesse
i am talking about a SPECIFIC era in his career-1986-1987
when prince lost his cred with the r&b crowd (see vainandy's posts on this)
2 the sound that HE created but decided 2 move away from.
i don't believe prince's words. if he didnt feel he had any competetion
he would not have fucked over the time the way he did. he was
scared of them cats.
now once again he made the music 4 them 2 perform
but they took that blueprint and ran with it
all i am saying is that during that time (1986-1987)..he HAD 2 b on top
of his shit when it came 2 r&b and funk because of what those cats were putting out
check the history. jimmy and terry OWNED the r&b charts in 1986..and prince wanted that market back..hence the reason 4 the black album and camille
.
.didnt they win producers of the year in '87?

skywalker said:

i dont..i wish he did feel musically threatened cause maybe we would get music that doesnt sound regurgitated....and the reaso why? well, you said it all there in that quote...

Yes, only the die hard Prince pop fans would remember Jesse because he received practically no pop radio airplay back then (Prince wasn't getting that much either except for a very few songs). As far as the early R&B Prince fans go, almost all of them remember Jesse because he was receiving massive R&B airplay, much moreso than Prince at the time. Jesse also has a lot of ex-Prince fans that left him because of his style change. There are even people that love Jesse that never liked Prince, even back in the day.

Yes, everyone remembers "Kiss", but mainly the die hard Prince fans remember "Housequake" because it received absolutely no radio airplay on either pop or R&B radio. In other words, if most of them didn't have the album, they never heard it.
[Edited 5/17/05 21:45pm]

Yeah, R&B radio was really pumping up Jesse Johnson's "She I Can't Resist", "Be Your Man", "Can You Help Me", "Crazay", "Love Struck", "I Want My Girl", and "I'm Just Wanting You". The main jam I remember them pumping up was "Free World" and that was a B Side. Everyone still remembers those jams to this day. Then there was his side group TaMara and the Seen which was getting plenty of airplay with "Everybody Dance" and "Affection".

People were definately feeling Jesse more than Prince during that era. Beginning with "Around The World In A Day", R&B radio played new Prince songs, mainly the singles, and soon they wore off because they didn't have the love that the earlier songs had. Previously on R&B radio, Prince songs received massive airplay and many songs that were never singles received massive airplay also. As far as pop radio goes, after "Around The World In A Day", Prince songs were getting even less airplay than on R&B radio.

From "Around The World In A Day", R&B radio played mainly "Raspberry Beret" and "Pop Life" and they didn't stay around for long. On "Parade", besides "Kiss", R&B radio mainly pumped "Girls and Boys". "Sign O The Times", "If I Was Your Girlfriend", and "U Got The Look" got a little play but it soon wore off. The only song that really received massive airplay was "Adore" and it was a slow jam. When "Lovesexy" came out, "Alphabet St." got a little play in the beginning and it soon wore off also. The two main songs that average R&B fans remember from this era is "Kiss" and "Adore".

As far as who is a more talented artist, most people could care less. Sure Prince has more talent than Jesse but many an ex-Prince fan will tell you they left Prince because of the type of music he was doing, regardless of how much talent it takes to make it. Classical musicians are very talented also but people aren't flocking to buy their records.

vainandy said:

I remember hearing Hot Thing on FM Radio in 87. How long did that last in your area?

Now how did I forget about that one. Actually "Hot Thing" got a little airplay when the album first dropped but soon fizzled. I think the old school fans would have really enjoyed "It" because it had that "old Prince" sound, but the radio never played it. "Housequake" could have been a big smash but the radio never played it because it had a cuss word in it. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" got much more play, of course, it was a single. People weren't feeling "U Got The Look" at all until the 12 Inch dropped and then they played it a little more. The radio absolutely wore "Adore" out but, of course, the ladies are going to flock to a slow jam and ballads were starting to take over the radio back then. "Adore" still gets worn out down here.

I never heard any of these songs in the clubs though, except "Adore", but they were pumping plenty of Jesse Johnson songs.
[Edited 5/18/05 1:46am]

vainandy said:

VainAndy,
keeping it real!
Kiss and Adore are the 2 main songs... also sign of time, simply because it was the title cut. I also heard Anotherloverholeinyourhead. I bought the 45, still have it.
And you are right about classical musician having a lot of talent but no popularity. Most people spend hard earned cash to buy a song that they want to listen to over and over and enjoy it... not to put in a case and display it to their friends and say "I got the latest from this musical genuis.... I may not like it, but hey after all, it is ART". No people want music that is appeasing.
So if you are in the record business, give the people what they want.

ok... circa1987 i was 10...and i remember my brother listening to Housequake in his walkman...and he let me listen. I was like DAMN!!... but they never played it on the radio.. i heard u got the look sometimes...and I could never take the place...but that was it fromt hat album...the hard core stuck around...and then the masses realized later that the album was classic. Jesse Jammed..but only for that first album, in my eyes. after Crazay, i dont remember too much lol

Hell yeah. I'm a big Millie Jackson fan too so you know I like to call it like I see it. All this "art" shit reminds me of her track called "Phuck U Symphony". She talks about people having symphony music and only playing it around other people trying to make themselves look all "high class". Then, they have her records hidden in a drawer somewhere and listen to them all the time in private.

vainandy said:

LOL!! I also like Millie Jackson. My auntie LOVED Millie and would buy and blast all of her records.
She is right about people putting on airs. I play what I like. Not afraid to try something new, but if I don't like it... I don't pretend. My rejection of ATWIAD was a classic example for me.