not being ageist or anything but i was wondering if u all cared to speculate if prince realises that he has a very young fan base as well as his own generation.

my kids love prince as they have to - only kidding (they do love prince they dont have to) - but then i find their friends are downloading his music because they love it.

any attempts to appear more 'clean' are impossible because they are all listening to the early stuff as well.


do u think that if he realised that his attempt to make digital music for the masses available has actually worked in that so many kids are pinchin it from everywhere makes him super successful at his original desire to spread his music across all boundaries despite the 'industry'?

thoughts peeps?

I am aware that some kids are being introduced to Prince music. Prince has already engraved that immortality, that will go on and on. I couldn't be more proud for his success.

I used to worry about the innocence of youth, and what they are exposed to, however, I have realized that sexuality, and spirituality, become the life of the individual. The tv, is so saturated with unnecessary visuals, that, a song that has sexually explicit concepts, is more intimate, to learn from, than the raw reality of today's limited morality.

I can only speak from my own experience. I grew up to be, "A good girl." For all that I was exopsed to. I'm not an angel, however, I have not participated in many of the experiences, that can, shadow your spirit. Kids are going to become curious about sex...If they learn about sex a little from Prince, I am sure they will absorb the spiritual insight that helps them to become loving individuals as well. I did.

thanku tame for answering my questions!

You always have interesting viewpoints on things.

I agree that sexuality and morality can and do in fact co-exist

I just wonder if he realises how young his new fans are, there are plenty on here under 16 and that suggests that they still find his music exiting even after all these years. I also find it interesting that the different age groups appear to have similar tastes in a particular episode of princes music. that is my assumption from the way they write on here gives some indication as to age.

i think the internet revolution has expanded beyond his imagination and it has become impossible to police the whole world, maybe prince can come up with a new idea to protect his commercial rites and still provide accessible music. afterall we now cannot buy a huge amount of his music which is a shame as the 'new' prince fans are not able to experience the good the bad and or the ugly and decide for themselves what they like. lets face it if its on the net its downloadable and its only the morality of the individual that prevents the stealing.

3121 was put out in the stores and planet earth given away in disc format so i wonder if he is trying to side step the new method of distribution ie the net in favour of older traditional manageable methods such as drop outs of papers etc.

Yes he does. He discuseed this in an interview a while back with Ebony magazine and he said on the Jay Leno show that his concerts will be family friendly. but I don't understand these kids in their early teens digging Prince, I mean what did they do see him on American idol and just start liking him?

Prince has done alot of high profile events over the past couple of years that could have easily attracted new interest.

American Idol, The Brit awards, The Grammys, The Superbowl, Americas hall of Fame, Latin Music awards, as well as the 20th Anniversary of Purple Rain.

I wouldn't be surprised if they have alot to do with a new wave of Prince fans.

0+>

mentalist said:

Definitely.

I'd go as far as to say that he's won a lot of older fans too, from these appearances... people in their 70s, like my parents, who couldn't stand him before!

Well, some of the PE tracks sound like Semame Street songs (All the midnights, Planet Earth, Guitar, The 1 U wanna C, Resolution) so, maybe he's aware


Serious answer: well, maybe: 3121 sounded like P tryin' to get a contemporary electro-funk and modern R&B sound (aka shit hop).

my kids r 13 & 16...they recognise tht prince has style & while they initally dismissed him as uncool (purely cos their parents listen 2 him), i think as the melodies grow on them, they r changing their opinion. when u consider what kids have access 2 these days i thought prince seemed fairly tame but i was suprised when my son laughing, declared after a car journey, 'dad was playing filth'. turns out he had p. rain on the stereo & he heard darling nikki...i think it's great tht prince will always have tht shock appeal & i know his street cred has soared in my son's opinion.
i gave up trying 2 shield them from anything near the mark.
i'm not really 2 bothered about them hearing anything tht prince has done, but now they've twigged he's quite explicit i find myself more concerned tht they know their mum does

I'm fourteen and I'm in fricken love with him.

I don't think hes aware of that.

DANGEROUSx said:

u got good taste! but u fancy him at 50!? what about ur mates - do they like him 2?
[Edited 1/4/08 6:01am]

lottielooloo1968 said:

Haha well they like him but not in the way that I do

I was actually amazed at the amount of teens at the concerts in London, whether they actually got what was going on is another matter. I saw mixed reactions, some clearly loved it, and others were bored out of their minds. I have a feeling the 21 nights at the O2 became abit of "in" thing to go to during the summer, for some people.

I guess another side of Prince that appeals to young people, is his willingness to be a rebel, every decade has seen him go against the norms one way or another. he has never lost his ability to shock people, even his very own hardcore fans.

Well, my son's only 4 but he absolutely lOVES Prince (I wonder where that came from!) I'm really pleased he's got such a great role model to learn from so early in life. A REAL musician, plays all the instruments etc. My son's got a purple accoustic guitar - and does all P's moves with it. A piano, drums.... He watches the 'Rave' dvd constantly and knows all the words...

It's good for me that P has become 'family friendly' as it means I can take my son to one of his concerts and let him have that experience.

Of course as he gets older he'll be exposed to the more explicit stuff, but as someone has already said, I think it's mixed with spirituality, and it didn't do me any harm either (I'm a good girl too - mostly!)

I can also say to him, "we don't say bad words - Prince doesn't swear and look how cool he is" Perfect

I'm 14 and I am also in love with him!! I don't know many other people my age that fancy him or that even heard of him! can be frustrating sometimes when people don't know who the hell I'm talking about when I rave on about him like I do. My friends think I'm weird for liking his music but all they listen 2 is shit-hop so I'm glad I'm different.

PurpleOnefan said:

OMG you're fourteen too! Thank god I'm not the only young one on here

syble said:

I noticed on Facebook the other day, that the only videos available (I take it they are authorised) are things like The Holy River, Te Amo Corazon, all quite mellow and fairly current - the raunchiest thing on there is Black Sweat, so this is obviously the way he wants to go. I think it's a shame though, I think a lot of teenagers would be blown away by the earlier Prince!

DANGEROUSx said:

Yep

the young girls tht like p...at least because of their great taste in the man they r setting their standards nice n high!

lottielooloo1968 said:

i have to admit that i have darling nikki unchecked in play list on itunes in case the 13 year old hears it but having said that he listens to far worse stuff as he has his own itunes account (i didnt like that they broadcast eminems lyrics about the girlfriend in the trunk of the car - stan - when my 7 year old was listening on the radio!) but that was my own thing to deal with as it didnt bother him as i dont think he even took it in or understood it.

however, i do believe that music should never be censored nor books the minute you do that, you loose the freedom of speech and self expression. if my kids hear something thats too explicit chances are they wont understand it anyhow. i mean theyll get the bits theyve learnt from sex-ed or from their mates in the play ground but the real explicit lyrics wont mean anything to them yet as it goes over their heads.

darling nikki is an example of my own prudishness when it come to my own kids, like you said you dont really want them to think you listen/ed to it and loved it, double standards eh thats what being a parent is these days. do as i say not as i did!!!


i did mean the thread to be more a discussion of how his music has been freely available in the past (not free but you know what i mean) accesible to all ages and no warning sticker on a cd cover can stop an online buyer from access to stuff other people have decided is unsuitable for them to hear.

a bit like clockwork orange book being banned in uk but deemed ok to televise in 2007. kids/young people have access to all music through the net and this seems to me what prince originally set out to do, not to sell his stuff to kids (im digging a hole here oops) just to everyone in order to free the music from the restarints of ' the industry', only now to have it kind of back fire with that young generations abilitiy on computers now exceeding his own and perhaps his mentors. they can take anything they like and hence the sticky predicament we are now in.

altho i agree with mentalist in that the old fashioned high profile events must have helped, as far as i am aware hes been on us tv doing stuff for years but not in europe. yeah the student music brigade probably all went mad for the 21 nights as it was cool to do, and there is now a feeling of ' must see xxxxx before i die' kinda mentality, even if you dont like em.

i think its the net and forums like this that have helped spread the word of his music more than anything, as in here you can be ageless


unless of course ur 14 and broadcast it to the world - very net safe -NOT!!!

syble said:

I'm guessing this is pointed at me?

DANGEROUSx said:

not in a mean way, just a pointer on safeguards in this ole big bad ugly world

never divulge personal info as nothing is as it seems on the net.



cool name DANGEROUSx

I would imagine the proportion of Princes "young" fanbase is vastly outnumbered by his older fans.


At least during the last concert I went to, there were far more 30+ folks out there than anyone in the 20's , let alone teens.



I mean, it wasn't exactly like attending a Fall Out Boy concert.

syble said:

LOL thanks haha trust me, I've been warned!

Im 15 and im in love with him even though he is 49
my parents say im obsesed
but who cares!!!!

What do these young people 'love' about Prince? They should have been around back in the 80's, now THAT was a HOT Prince. what are they old enough to do?
[Edited 1/4/08 7:28am]

wlcm2thdwn said:

I wonder that too.


You and I , honey--we totally think alike. It's like we're twins or something.



Anyways, seeing the Prince of the 80's would have blown these kid's minds. Seeing him now is like showing up to a cranky old Professor who likes to preach to you about what you're doing wrong in your life, albeit a funky one.

Yes. I'm getting scared Imago, we're agreeing on too much lately!

Imago said:

i dont know so much anymore. lets face it you gotta be workin to go to concerts or get your folks to pay.drive you.go with - so uncool etc etc

i was surprised by the young people i met at the 02 and how many were students from the org. admittedly i didnt meat any younger than that - but you dont exactly go up to a kid and say hey just been to the prince concert or just out for pizza with your parents? or just dragged here to the concert by your parents? unless you want to get arrested
lol

i recently went to the madness concert in dec at the 02 and there are always loads of kids at those dancing away and enjoying it with their families. and they dont exactly hold back on the language either, madness that is.

all i meant by this thread is that princes fan base is very diverse probably more so than any other artist, a friend of mine recently told me how her father loves prince. after i emailled her the link to 3121.com to see the live stuff when it all finished that they posted on there. she said oh thanks so much my dad will love this and shes early 40's!!

Well that concert was so Cheap, anybody could have gotten in almost. I don't know if I'd call these kids "Fans". Just because you see somebody on TV a couplel of times and look at these old 20 year old pictures of him we post doesn't make you a fan, I lthink LOYALTY makes you a fan and that comes over the years with some hard knocks to go along with it. These kids have so much Attention deficit disorder that they can't even stay on topic in a forum, they're certainly not gonna stick around and take Prince's crap, like we 'true funk soldiers' have thru the years!

syble said:

Freudian slip ?








bold meat edit
[Edited 1/4/08 7:43am]