From my observation, it seems like a significant portion of Prince's online fan community have a strong dislike for r&b music. This really boggles my mind. How can anyone be a Prince fan and dislike r&b music. Can someone explain this too me?
[Edited 3/19/06 5:14am]

I don't. It's 90% of my music collection.

what sorta rnb do u mean?


I admit, prince cant do an rnb slowjam no more. Not since "one kiss at a time" anyway.

PurpleCharm said:

You mean today's mainstream R&B.

UndercovaBrotha said:

Oh, if that's what they mean, then yeah, I do hate it.

I don't dislike R&B. I just dislike most of today's R&B. It sounds so tired, lifeless and uninspired almost as if it's a job to sing these songs instead of them really feeling what they are singing.

Just my

Romera said:

guess u dont like black sweat then

Maybe I worded it wrong. It seems like a lot of fans dislike P's recent r&b cuts. I see it a lot on the fan boards

Survivor Results

Round one - Satisfied
Round two - Incence And Candles
Round three - Beautiful, Loved and Blessed
Round four - Get On The Boat
Round five - The Dance
[Edited 3/18/06 18:44pm]

Romera said:

Ha! co-sign there. I mean, whenever I put on Stevie, or Sly, or GCS, or James or Nina, or Marvin, or.....need I go on?
Most, though certainly not all, of today's stuff just downright damn sucks compared to these musical genuises.
Who do I like in R&B today? John Legend and Ricky Fante, to name a couple (and to answer my own question).

Depends on the definition.

I love Stevie, Marvin, Al Green, Otis Redding... but can't stand Usher, Joe, R. Kelly... yet like D'Angelo, Rahsaan Patterson, Maxwell, Van Hunt, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott.

Make of that what u will.

I understand not liking current r&b music, but current pop/rock music is in shambles also, but I don't see the constant post about how crappy it is.
[Edited 3/18/06 18:54pm]

Fauxie said:

I think the difference here may be this: What The artists you like from today have in common with those earlier artists is a feeling of true "soul" music, if that makes any sense.
I couldn't agree with you more...I don't care for Usher or Joe either. For me it is because the music doesn't feel like real "soul" or true "rythym & blues". It's a different, more processed and/or polished sound that feels inauthentic when compared to the other artists mentioned. It doesn't have the innate power of real soul music. "Satisfied" is a nice little example of a tune that does.

And please put Erykah, Maxwell, & Jill Scott to my list above...

eugnj420 said:

I agree.

And about "Satisfied", it does have that real soul feel to it musically, although I don't think it's that strong a song in general - just quite good

thesexofit said:

Black Sweat is not R&B to me. A lot of Prince's music is funky but I tend not to put it in one catergory.

Black Sweat does not deserved to be lumped with today's R&B.

Romera said:

He is biting pharrel somewhat, though to give pharrel credit, if he did the song, it wouldn't be quite so ordinary. Pharrel is great at chord changes.

thesexofit said:

Pharrel bit Prince first.

thesexofit said:

Prince is dying for hooks like Pharrel has made in the last few years. Pharrel got skillz.

lilgish said:

Romera, ur right, pharrel does bite prince (check "frontin'"), but as lilgish said, prince wouldn't mind being pharrel right now. Which is fine. But as i always state, Prince trying to copy other peoples rnb, often comes off a bit ropey. He did it to teddy (new power generation- sort of), did it to babyface (somebodys somebody), timbaland (undisputed, hmmm, infact i dont know what he was thinking on that track) and now pharrel.

Even "shhhhh" sounds like a song made for jodeci (and tevins version is better)


Anyway, from what u all say, the whole album ain't like "black sweat" so it could be cool

Besides, Prince is of course gonna be listening to whatever contemporary rnb is, he is still a pop artist through and through.

Up until the 90's, R&B truly was Rhythm & Blues. Since r'n'b and hiphop got blended in the 90's, it became "Repetitive & Boring".

See, I like my music with an EDGE. I like my hiphop with a street edge, not a watered down pop hook, and I like my r&b with FUNK and SOUL. The 90's blend of hiphop and r'n'b fucked up BOTH genres if you ask me.

So, do I as a Prince fan hate r'n'b? Of course not. I love REAL r'n'b. I love Motown, and Stevie, and the detroit spinners, and the four tops, and Prince, Cameo, Roger, Patrice Rushen, Juicy, Mtume, Jesse Johnson - the real shit.

Do I hate the modern pop r'n'b mixed with hiphop bullshit? ABSO-fucking-LUTELY.

I could probably name on one hand the amount of decent r'n'b singers to come out in the last 10 years....
[Edited 3/18/06 19:47pm]

I happen to absolutely love R&B, and while a lot of mainstream R&B today is repetitive, I do like some of it, I wouldn't put it on a pedestal and worship it, but as far as bobbing my head to and shaking the booty, it ain't half bad. Plus, most of these artists are biting off Prince anyway, so I think it's cool that his influence is apparent.

Yes they do...

I'm with Fauxie (altho I find Maxwell kinda boring)

PurpleCharm said:

I like old school R&B. Todays so called r&b lacks any soul.

Fauxie said:

I make that you have good taste.
And to answer thread topic, actually I'm not gonna answer that.
It's obvious to those who know.

Those of you that dislike the current r&b scene, how do you feel about the current pop and rock scene? I mean, who are the current day Rolling Stones, Pat Benatar, Steely Dan, The Doors, etc? Too me, all the commercial genres are affected by mediocrity, but I rarely see people dissing pop and rock music, like they do r&b.

PurpleCharm said:

Bingo....

PurpleCharm said:

Exactly. R&B/hip-hop gets picked out as the root of all evil when there are no other genres thriving either. Music, generally seems to be exhausted as a creative medium.

Yes & no... as far as the online community, I'd say a good number dislike R&B - old & new. But he's got so many fans of all different walks of life, so the online community doesn't represent everyone. It's just too simple to say most P fans hate R&B - depends on which sect of his fanbase you're asking...

I really don't like R&B at all - never liked rap, never liked hip-hop, never liked acts such as R Kelly... it leaves me completely cold.

Personally I find R&B all too samey, whereas rock has much more diversity within the genre to my ear, as you get so many forms of it, plus it seems infinitely more musical as it involves the playing of instruments rather than programming, mixing or sampling, so I admire rock acts more for their talent.