A few weeks ago I was at this club chatting with this guys from Minneapolis. He was telling me about the city and what it was like since I'm thinking of going this year. I also asked about the music scene and stuff too. I brought up the Punk/New Wave scene that spawned groups like The Replacements and The Suburbs. But then I had to bring up the fact this this is my hero's hometown too. He said he loved Prince as well and always wanted to visit Paisley Park.

But then I brought up an interesting question: I asked him what the music scene was like in Minneapolis today. He says it's fairly cosmopolitan, but it's mostly made up of either Rock, Dance, or Hip-Hop. Then I asked him why Prince's "Minneapolis sound" isn't so favorable among the young generations of musicians. You would think that since Prince and his empire had such a major impact on Minneapolis music in the 80's that it would last and would prove influential to younger musicians. But my friend says that there's really no one out there now that's trying to bring back that sound or even create a new sound inspired by that. I was hoping that Prince's sound would hold up, but I guess not. But then again we live in a time now where music is dominated by Hip-Hop anyways. But there should be some room for something different or something funkier.

So my question is: Why isn't Prince's funky Minneapolis sound important or influential today among younger generations (especially those in his native city)?

All the current R&B and pop seems to have that minimal BIG BROAD prince sound. If there hadn't been SOTT/PARADE/1999/and bootleg albums, I think that none of that would sound the way it does, 'cause these producers are on record saying they were shaped greatly by Prince.

Yeah, I guess he's influential in the broad scheme of things in music, but I just think there should be a new generation of Funk/Soul/New Wave musicians in the Minneapolis music scene. Especially since Prince and his empire were dominant figures in that scene in the 80's.

Hmmmm.... interesting....

I dunno about the MPLS scene in particular but it's a fact that Prince's Minneapolis sound HAS a huge influence on 2000's artists. But surprisingly this influence doesn't express itself thru the R&B/hip-hop scene but thru the electroclash movment (which doesn't mean that black musicians don't like or listen 2 Prince, which they obviously ALL do.) Artists such as Mount Sims, Peaches or Nam:Live (to mention only a few) obviously owe something 2 Prince's 80's sound, which is kinda natural if u consider that electroclash is mostly a mix between late 70's punk, 80's electrofunk & electropop & modern electronica. Many of these artists have stated that Prince was a major influence & it can b heard in their music. The funny thing about it is that most of these artists r white, meaning that Prince has more than successezd in his "crossover" wish.