My sister and I just watched The Beautiful Experience and it really typified the Mayte years to us. Prince just didn't seem to be himself - well I guess he was the symbol then. Those were probably the worst years for me as a Prince fan. He seemed obsessed with Mayte and being young and hip for her. He seemed so caught up in selling the idea of this fairy tale romance that his music took a backseat. He didn't really seem to enjoy playing and his performances seemed so mechanical with little of his trademark audience teasing/playful interaction. The deeper he got into that relationship, the darker he seemed. I think the fight with Warner also played a part. I am sorry that things turned out the way they did for him and Mayte with regard to the baby, but it really seems that it was for the better.

Whatever the case, those were some sorry times for this Prince fan. What do you all think about the Mayte years? I define "the Mayte years" as the time following Come and up to "Rave." Rave I consider the Mayte fallout.

bellanoche said:

I am insanely jealous of Mayte, but I don't hate the Mayte years. He was in love!

There is a time in our own lives that we sometimes
look back and say: "IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME.



"
[Edited 6/14/06 13:13pm]

bellanoche said:

Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20. I dug those years at the time they were happening.

bellanoche said:

I dislike the Mayte years as well.

Actually I think up untill he married Mayte were the dark years. He seemed very depressed back then. When he married Mayte he seemed to start looking better and acting more at peace. But between 1992-1996 he seemed very defensive and attacked. I once read in Ebony magazine that Mayte was the only person who showed him "no malice" at the time, according to him. It seemed like she was there for him when he most needed it.
[Edited 6/14/06 13:36pm]

when we were actually in the mayte years i didn't mind them. now, looking back, i think there was a lot of lame stuff going on. emancipation should have been one disc, newpowersoul was a nightmare, crystal ball was a let down, the tours were totally uninspired, and his whole image thing (tora tora, symbol, etc) was at an all time low.

i'm glad he got it out of his system but i feel like he's been trying to play catch up ever since.

he was in love for fuck's sake and Mayte is awesome!

Before that he was OBSESSED with making music and never gave 100% to relationships.Alot of great material was recorded during that period; don't forget TGE!

Being so compelled to only live for music is destructive and i'm glad Prince actually showed love and care for a women(even though it's speculated he cheated).

Even the NPG complained about Mayte. On that one release program Ryde Divyne I think. The fellas are walking talking about how the album has now been Mayte themed (refering to Symbol album etc).."Now its about her!"-Bland

You can blame her, but have you ever thought of what might had happened to Prince if there had not be Mayte ?

well i didnt like those years for other reasons that i think mayte to her credit probably lessened the negative effect of rather than heightened, but nevertheless...i didnt particularly care for her either. not to trivialize her and prince's love but to me as a fan it sort of felt like when a 7-year-old gets a brand new computer game and all he does for weeks is play the computer game or talk about playing the computer game. it gets tiresome, even if they are happy. she also seemed like a pretty boring person, and it seemed like she was just the latest in the line of easily-manipulated, naive, not particularly intelligent (sorry) prince girlfriends, but because she had come along at a time where prince was feeling especially vulnerable she was held onto with more commitment than the previous ones.

nevertheless, mayte & p in the videos for 7, race and the one are adorable

I MISS the Mayte years... well, at least her ass shaking on stage! THAT I do miss!!

DiamondGirl said:

that's scripted!

bellanoche said:

A lot of people would disagree with you, in a polar sense.

I sense that he was very distant during the 'Mayte years'. I don't know whether he was faking it or if something had really changed. I get the feeling that he only kept her around because she 'showed him no malice', as in she was a naïve teenager who would agree with everything he said because she had no experience. I know Vanity or Sheila or Apollonia would never put up with the crap he tried to pull with the name change and everything. I'm glad they are over, but I can't imagine things going any differently back then.
[Edited 6/15/06 11:09am]

ufoclub said:

I figured as much but it came from some true grumblings Im sure like they did in Purple Rain (let us do our music)

I loved them.

How can you hate the era that inspired the masterpiece known as "The Gold Experience"???

Militant said:

following Batman, Graf Bridge, Diamonds n Pearls and Symbol, of course TGE is going to be heralded.

Put a sock in it Joffy, the boyz in love!

luv4all7 said:

Coming To America

DiamondGirl said:

Oh good, I was afraid nobody would know!

sallysassalot said:

I know. I think it has taken him time through the NPG release to try to find his way back to who he is. I am a bit biased because I NEVER like Mayte. She always came off as a phony trying to come up. But whatever the case, he was into her in an unhealthy way as I think that whole relationship was unhealthy in many aspects and it manifested itself in his music. You are correct, the tours were uninspired. Emancipation SHOULD definitely have been one disc of solid music, two-thirds of it were better left in the "vault." His image was a mess then. He got paler and paler - lifeless looking. The big puffy jacket with the symbol on it and the pants with the faux symbol underwear showing were screaming "I'm hip like the hip hop dudes who are closer to Mayte's age." And his hair looked awful. The whole Egyptian princess farce, the infamous interview where he spoke through Mayte and some of that other stuff was just ridiculous. He truly lost his way then. In my opinion those were the WTF years.

bellanoche said:

Agreed.

bellanoche said:

I think it had more to do with his fight with WB, and Mayte just happened to be around at that time. She was a welcomed distraction for him from the WB bullshit that was going on. I don't know he was anymore in love with her than anybody else he kept around for more than a nano second. She just happed to ride out the storm to get what she wanted from the relationship. Whereas the others were like, enough .... time to move on.

luv4all7 said:

Good one, I knew I had heard that before...

Coming to America (CLASSIC!!!!)

Fhunkin said:

Well for one thing there probably wouldn't have been three discs of steaming hot also know as Emancipation. I could live without that.

jone70 said:

Well I 4 1 can not live without
Friend Lover Sister Mother Wife

luv4all7 said:

I can. That song sucks major Mayte-inspired ass. All three discs of Emancipation suck. (I don't like sappy, love ballads.) But to each his own.

jone70 said: