AnckSuNamun said:

Prince looks like Jimi, aspecially back in the day.

PurpleKnight said:

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When were you born dude. We know P had a big following but some young people were still feeling Mike Jackson. I should know I had plenty of friends telling me P suck until PR came out.

laurarichardson said:

I was born in '85, but I still know my history. Prince had a big following with the black community by the time 1999 was out, as several people who were fans back then have confirmed. So I mean, Prince was still popular then in spite of the fact that MJ was way, way bigger..

That's a nice holloween costume. Kinda like vampire clothes.

that kid is sooooo cute!
keisha is a evil bitch tho!

Remember folks this show is a comedy, not a documentary. It's loosely based on Chris Rock's life, but it's not a biography. Sorta like Purple Rain was based on Prince's life, but wasn't 100 % accurate. It's meant to make you laugh. I think it's mission was accomplished.

Regarding Prince and the black community back in the early 80's, depends on which black community you're talking about. I know where I'm from, Prince was considered a god by the time 1999 came out. Controversy was his break out album here. But other parts of the nation took longer to latch on to him. Anything dubbed the Minneapolis Sound was real big to us. We had garage bands that were covering Prince tunes long before Purple Rain came out.

AnckSuNamun said:

he looks even more like Morris Day

vainandy said:

My thoughts exactly.

On the thing about P and his following before PR; P's following, from 78 up untill 83 was largely black. In early 82, during the Controversy tour, although u had some white folks at the show I went to, easily 90% of the audience were black. This was at the Santa Monica Civic. Same thing during the 1999 tour. One L.A. show, one Long Beach. A little more show of white folks at these shows, especially the L.A. show. A lot of celebs. Hell, "Little Red Corvette" was a HUGE MTV hit, so the percentage changed a little. Maybe 60/40 at the L.A. show. But Long Beach a week later? Nah, easily 80% blacks was at this show. And that was early 83.

Let's try to clear some of this up, Chris Rock chose to set this show loosely based on his life in the eighties rather than the seventies(when he really was that age) because he felt it worked best for the show.

Most likely they used the Purple Rain era look because it is Prince's most well known look by the general public.Either that or Tyler James Williams flat out refused to wear a black or beige trenchcoat,bikini briefs and leg warmers.

Also, maybe some of the people at the party were kinda turned off by his being only 13 years old more so than just him being dressed as Prince.Most of those kids looked like they were high schoolers to me. Remember the show is called Everybody Hates Chris.


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blackguitaristz said:

Yep. I was at the show at the Santa Monica Civic.

andyman91 said:

Yes... it's the shot I thought about when I saw the show.

To me he looks more like HENDRIX than PRINCE But CHRIS ROCK and Prince are FRIENDs so it is PRINCE... I'll get the Re-Run as State of Emergency in Florida.

Jamzone333 said:

a lot of the people who are watching this show are in their early twenties. they don't remember this time period and probably aren't all that familiar with prince. and let's not forget the white people. believe me, i'm in my twenties and most people my age don't know shit about him. one of my roommates didn't even know what purple rain was nevermind little red corvette, international lover, or automatic.

let's not forget that the majority of the world is not as prince obsessed as us and the majority of upn viewers aren't really going to notice or care.

I remember slow-dragging to Purple Rain at a party - not me, but the girl I had my eye on

Nonetheless, August 1984 was a magic time, 'cause Prince just broke the f**k out!!! Until then, he was like this mythical being, known more for his dirty lyrics than anything else (at least according to Right On magazine, which seemed to feature him and the Debarges every other week). When Purple Rain came out, it was just an amazing thing to see him finally embraced by the mainstream. Then Right On started to feature him every week...

This is the "Controversy" tour, just one year earlier. Whoever made the tanning oil for all those white people must have made millions.

The whole Prince vs. Michael Jackson thing was mainly a white thing, not a black thing. Some blacks were into that but for the most part, in the black community, it was always Prince vs. Rick James.

vainandy said:

thank you! i could never understand how people can seriously compare prince to micheal jackson when, musically, they are so different.

Exactly. The only thing Prince and Michael have in common is their feminine sides. Even comparing that aspect, Prince is much stronger with a "bitch", "bad ass" attitude and Michael is more "sensitive" in a "caring and sharing" kind of way.

sitruk7 said:

vainandy said:

Great pic, thanks!

I've heard everything from Jimi, to Larry Blackmon, to Morris Day.....he looks like everyone, but Prince.

calldapplwondery83 said:[quote]vainandy said:[quote]




what is the source of this pic?

vainandy said:

yeah...I agree with this....


and I don't know where this thing comes from that black folks didn't support prince pre-purple rain.....

My older cousins were Prince fans from the beginning.....I was a fan from the moment I saw him in Right On!

vainandy said:

lol...

Rhondab said:

Yeah Prince was on the R&B Soul charts first.
Then in crossed over to the other charts also.
So he was around and known in black families way before 84.

It's in the gallery right here at the org.

Prince was in all the black music magazines...."Right On", "Black Beat", and "Rock & Soul". long before he was in magazines like "Rolling Stone". Prince even thanked Cynthia Horner from "Right On" magazine on the "Dirty Mind" album. "Right On" really got Prince's name out there from the very beginning.

Exactly.

JasmineFire said:

I hear ya, but dayum....you would think that if they are going to have Chris dress like Prince, they would have thought about this segment a little bit more....