That's a horrible thing to say about Escape.

I think people here care too much about what everyone else thinks...and I think peoeple here care too much about making sure everyone eles knows what they think...lol ...wild how our mindset changes with technology.

Had the internet and message board sites like this one existed 20 years ago when "Kiss" first came out, I imagine the split among fans who loved/hated the song was intially released would have been similar to what it is now for "Black Sweat": most of us liking it, some of us not getting into it at all, at least not initially...I, for one, was underwhelmed when I first heard "Kiss", and a bit disappointed. I'd imagine the "haters" (...I hate that term) back then may have commented on things like saying Prince's falsetto is too irritating for the entire length of a single, and how much better it would have been had he sung it in his "normal" voice...that the rhythm guitar is "ok" but pales when compared to what he threw down on "Let's Go Crazy" and "Temptation"...that lines like "Act your age/Not your shoe size" are immature and weak compared to the poetry of "When Does Cry"...and that his Donald-Duck-On Helium screetching at the end of the song is just a step above fingernails on a chalkboard.

I know we all like to pretend we could spot and appreciate Prince's classic singles the very first time we heard them, that we just "knew" this one was different than the rest...and we also tend to convince ourselves that the number of years we've been a fan somehow gives us otherworldly insight into how long Prince spent creating a song, whether or not he had fun doing so, his mindset at the time of creation, whether or not the song will be a Top 40 hit, and especially whether or not he'll ever again be able to create anything worthy of the label "Genius"...and this goes for both sides of the fence, both pro and con, good and bad, "Love it" and "Hate it". I chalk it up to nothing more than how the internet has shaped our perceptions of our opinions, as well as how it has shaped our perceptions of everyone else's...lol

I sometimes wish we could turn back the clock to a time where a new Prince song could exist on its own, and I could listen to it and either like it or be bored with it without the background noise of a million anonymous opinions trying to convince me I should feel differently. I suppose I could just not come here when a new song is released...but my mindset I think has been forever changed by 6+ years of message board experience of all shapes and colors. Unlike in 1986, I now want to know what "everyone" thinks all the time...and it's almost subconscious at this point.

Does anyone else hear "Escape" in "Black Sweat", especially the arrangement of the vocals; "It's more hard to love than it is to hate".

Yet it's still a Pharrell/Black Eyed Peas rip-off...lol

I know I'm an old motherfucker...But still, I have my ear planted to what's going on in music scene because I'm in the business...But "Black Eyed Peas"????? That song has no connection with anything remotely BEP...To me it sounds like a bunch of dried up, nursing home-ready fans who have no idea what's going on in contempoary music (if you don't fit the description, no harm, no foul)...Seriously, I hear shit like "add some horns" and it drives me crazy...As for Pharelle, the man merely implemented P's mojo into the style and rhythm of the hip-hop age..."Black Sweat" is designed to do damage on the radio and in the clubs...Live horns would merely slow the track down...My opinion: The song is find the way it is...

The song reminds me a bit of his music from the Dirty Mind and Controversy albums for some reason. I was surprised to hear him sing in falsetto, very refreshing to have the falsetto back! It's got a dancable beat and a catchy hook, I like it. It's not gonna go down as a classic Prince song, but it's still worth the occasional listen. I think the highlight of the song if from about 3:20 to about 3:50, but that's just me.

Byron said:

I agree with much of what you say here, but I think you're being a weeee bit hard on the... .... "fam" and the internet.

Art, in itself, is deeply personal, yet part of its extended appeal -- to me at least -- is that I can appreciate it in the context of a greater community that also appreciates it one way or another. Especially in times like these, it's FANTASTIC that we have this kinda thing to bring us together... even if it's only to blow hot air. Generally, others' opinions don't sway my own when it comes to this kinda stuff (I'm a stubborn bastard when it comes to my art ), but they do often help me see more nuanced terrain in the piece I'm taking it...

I mean, Byron, solely by perusing this thread, I've been made to think of "Black Sweat" in relation to Pharrell, James Brown, new and old Prince, his hits and his flops over 2 1/2 decades. I'm more actively thinking about the Linn drums, the absence of horns, the falsetto, the amount of lead and rhythm guitar, whether Wendy & Lisa continue to have an influence... I'm even considering the song's place in Prince's career as juxtaposed to that of John Fogerty and CCR, for goodness sake!! I LIVE FOR THIS SORT OF STUFF!

I, too, think the internet has turned everyone into an armchair critique and/or producer, but this is old as art itself. Consider the Algonquin Round Table or dedicated circles for the Bronte sisters, Plato, Socrates, Dickens, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Francis Bacon, any number of classical composers. And consider us to be Prince's!

For sure, all this banter strips away a certain innocence from the music, itself... or, quite opposite, overadorns it with things it needn't be weighed down with. But this conversation fleshes out our experience!!

Wait a minute...the versions I've heard end between 3:10 and 3:19...

Just a little note.

break down; U -can -act -hard -if -U -want -2 -this -groove -will -make -U -sweet

is very

2 the bridge; My -level -is -now -what -U -must -learn -2 -rise -above

innit?

I know I'm an old motherfucker...But still, I have my ear planted to what's going on in music scene because I'm in the business...But "Black Eyed Peas"????? That song has no connection with anything remotely BEP...To me it sounds like a bunch of dried up, nursing home-ready fans who have no idea what's going on in contempoary music (if you don't fit the description, no harm, no foul)...Seriously, I hear shit like "add some horns" and it drives me crazy...As for Pharelle, the man merely implemented P's mojo into the style and rhythm of the hip-hop age..."Black Sweat" is designed to do damage on the radio and in the clubs...Live horns would merely slow the track down...My opinion: The song is find the way it is...