everyone has made valid points throughout that it's hard 2 say anything new or thought provoking other than pointing out the obvious, it's not prince but the entire industry and the pawns caught in the game. technology plays a powerful role in the music made 2day where as back in the days, u needed ACTUAL musicians 2 make the sounds, now u just hit one key on a keyboard and it sounds like a 50 piece orchestra. trace it back 2 schools that don't have a music program 4 kids 2 learn a instrument. whether due 2 budget cuts or whatever. music shops that provide instruments r dwindling and even if u go in there, u would b hard pressed 2 find people playing.

media plays the other crucial element like mtv, vh1 and bet. where r the videos? now in prime time u c nothing but reality based bullshit. so music takes a back seat 2 everything now. take a listen 2 music 2day and u scratch ur head trying 2 figure out if there is a base line or a groove. there aren't any cause everyone is more infactuated with a beat that sounds like the last song.

then there is prince, one of the last ones 2 actually put 2gether songs that have the elements of true songwritting and instrumentation. but also u have 2 consider his age. he's not going 2 appeal 2 the kids of 2day due 2 the lack of xposure of musicians like him. if ur fed crap all day on the airwaves and television, ur gonna eventually like that crap and think it's the greatest thing ever created. but think it ain't illegal yet!! how can we as the elder statesmen/women of a generation pass that knowledge downward? when in New york there r radio stations that play nothing but hip hop and a station that plays soft jazz gets replaced due 2 "ratings" is pathetic.

planet earth aside i belive the lyric that sums up the music industry is in musicology "don't u miss the feeling music gave u back in the day?"

i say by everyone that has spoken about this thread..the answer is YES

Flowerz said:

I don't know about that.

You don't think he could play the payola, millions in promo, and full album of Black Sweat material game and have mainstream all over him?

Regardless of all that symbol stuff, and really that was all cloudy anyway, he's still a name. He can still gig. When you consider what state the industry is in right now with almost no one buying records, even if they were pissed, they wouldn't screw him over. Right now they're on their knees for him whenever he shows up wanting some weird one off deal. He's still cash.

L4OATheOriginal said:

In our school district, they cut it out of the elementary & middle schools, but not the high school. How the hell are kids going to become exposed to different instruments and music if not at a young age unless their parent shell out for private lessons?!

I started out on the recorder, then began on the clarinet in 3rd grade. 1st I borrowed from the school, then my parents rented one. When they realized I was serious, they bought me my own. I just got a brand new clarinet 2 Christmases ago, and I'm 40!
Kids today don't seem to have the same enthusiasm for playing, and I blame the lack of exposure.

L4OATheOriginal said:

It's all been said, but that sums it up perfectly. However, when you hear Prince live, you feel it again, and some, no doubt!

I loved Planet Earth!

Much better than 3121 (tho that one had some good moments too)

People here are jaded and hard to please.

Prince doesn't fit in at all with today's music and he shouldn't even try. He has enough hardcore fans that will continue buying his music. He should make the type of stuff that pleases them and tell the mainstream audience of today to go straight to hell.

Prince doesn't fit in at all with today's music and he shouldn't even try. He has enough hardcore fans that will continue buying his music. He should make the type of stuff that pleases them and tell the mainstream audience of today to go straight to hell.

vainandy said:

i say that that should xtended 2 his concerts as well, fuck the mainstream give us another ONA type tour or better yet another TGE tour

Is Prince's new music in limbo these days? Is he forced to just reconcile himself to the position of a Greatest Hits act

L4OATheOriginal said:

Out of the almost 30 I've attended, that was my fave!

everyone has made valid points throughout that it's hard 2 say anything new or thought provoking other than pointing out the obvious, it's not prince but the entire industry and the pawns caught in the game. technology plays a powerful role in the music made 2day where as back in the days, u needed ACTUAL musicians 2 make the sounds, now u just hit one key on a keyboard and it sounds like a 50 piece orchestra. trace it back 2 schools that don't have a music program 4 kids 2 learn a instrument. whether due 2 budget cuts or whatever. music shops that provide instruments r dwindling and even if u go in there, u would b hard pressed 2 find people playing.

media plays the other crucial element like mtv, vh1 and bet. where r the videos? now in prime time u c nothing but reality based bullshit. so music takes a back seat 2 everything now. take a listen 2 music 2day and u scratch ur head trying 2 figure out if there is a base line or a groove. there aren't any cause everyone is more infactuated with a beat that sounds like the last song.

then there is prince, one of the last ones 2 actually put 2gether songs that have the elements of true songwritting and instrumentation. but also u have 2 consider his age. he's not going 2 appeal 2 the kids of 2day due 2 the lack of xposure of musicians like him. if ur fed crap all day on the airwaves and television, ur gonna eventually like that crap and think it's the greatest thing ever created. but think it ain't illegal yet!! how can we as the elder statesmen/women of a generation pass that knowledge downward? when in New york there r radio stations that play nothing but hip hop and a station that plays soft jazz gets replaced due 2 "ratings" is pathetic.

planet earth aside i belive the lyric that sums up the music industry is in musicology "don't u miss the feeling music gave u back in the day?"

i say by everyone that has spoken about this thread..the answer is YES

It was great for Prince to be all experimental, changing his sound with every album and all in the 80s. It worked then because he set the trends and was ahead of them. He was cool because the 80s was a hard core nerd bazaar

He can't do that now because he's out of touch. And no, he's not hip.

The result is now he's a chameleon with no home. He keeps trying to fit the latest fashion to be cool (Baby Mama anyone? ) & I think comes off as someone without a genuine musical voice or identity. That's crazy. He of all people should have a credible voice. But he denounces his past, changes his lyrics. Refuses to play staples then only plays them. I mean, who is this guy, this schizoid? and which one of him is real and which one of him is the one that keeps me a fan?

I'll tell you what attracted me. His indie side and his lyrical philosophies and metaphors. Indie doesn't have to play cool. Indie just is. Had he stayed true to that, he could carve a place for himself anywhere and any era. But he betrayed that.

But he can't just be indie when it's convenient and opportunistic. Because it doesn't read genuine. I mean this is the guy who on New Years Eve 1999 wore a bunch of braids and ribbons in his hair trying to sound hard core, cool, and down. Give me a break. What a pretender. What kind of artist at this age doesn't know who he is?

Would the real Prince please stand up? He's trying to appeal to the pop crowd, i.e. the kiddie crowd and that's not even an appropriate evolution for an artist of his merit and talent.

He's become a caricature. And I hate that. He comes off as desperate and trying to hard for a hit. It's unbelievable.

So in closing, there is no place at the inn for Prince because:
1. Musicially schizophrenic and disingenious.
2. Pretender who betrayed his indie status and counterculture persona.
3. Caricature in bright suits.
4. Desperate (dancing twins, the latest jargon as cool as that computer guy at the office, namechecking artists in a lower caste on his records for all eternity. . Metaphors that reveal not insight but stupidity "like the wall in Berlin").
5. He has nothing to say. His music used to be about ideas. Now, everything is recycled and the thoughts are lazy as hell.

Prince doesn't fit in at all with today's music and he shouldn't even try. He has enough hardcore fans that will continue buying his music. He should make the type of stuff that pleases them and tell the mainstream audience of today to go straight to hell.

Dance said:

and that's pretty much it.. in a nutshell.. cause regardless of what anybody thinks .. fans or the industry.. brother can do what he wants, when he wants, however he likes.. period.. and he'll still be making 7-8 digit money .. and still collecting awards too..
[Edited 3/12/08 23:58pm]

Prince has no place in today's music, other than nostalgia.

Each generation has, and deserves its own music.

I was thinking about this in regard to Planet Earth being so bitterly rejected by most people on the internet. Are people too cynical for the somewhat naive, simple positivity that Prince tried to invoke on the album? Was the negative reception just a reflection of the album's quality, or was it a sign of the less mainstream music community's disenchantment with unbridled positivity in art?

Prince fit right in with those Michael Jackson days of the '80's where upbeat pop was all the rage. Even though Prince represented the darker, more mature side of that paradigm, the message in the end was still always an optimistic one, and so Prince's music was a good fit for the times.

Obviously, things changed significantly with the grunge era of the '90's. People flatly rejected idealistic visions of the world in favour of societal denouncements and sarcastic cynicism. Even here, though, Prince's music became somewhat darker in tone, and he revealed a much more aggressive and complex side of himself in a lot of his work (The Truth, Come) to transition himself with the changing scene. Mismanagement issues aside, the music itself had a certain relevance within the context of more negative times.

That brings us to today. Prince is still maintaining that simple message of hope and love, yet he's no longer hip enough to hold the attention of younger listeners who have drifted toward newer, more marketable acts like Justin Timberlake and Beyonce who essentially espouse the same messages (both of whom SUCK, though, in my opinion).

Yet Prince also doesn't quite seem to fit in with the indie scene, either, where you find a lot more intellectually challenging lyrics and thematically darker subject matter overall.

Is Prince's new music in limbo these days? Is he forced to just reconcile himself to the position of a Greatest Hits act?
[Edited 3/10/08 20:55pm]

It was great for Prince to be all experimental, changing his sound with every album and all in the 80s. It worked then because he set the trends and was ahead of them. He was cool because the 80s was a hard core nerd bazaar

He can't do that now because he's out of touch. And no, he's not hip.

The result is now he's a chameleon with no home. He keeps trying to fit the latest fashion to be cool (Baby Mama anyone? ) & I think comes off as someone without a genuine musical voice or identity. That's crazy. He of all people should have a credible voice. But he denounces his past, changes his lyrics. Refuses to play staples then only plays them. I mean, who is this guy, this schizoid? and which one of him is real and which one of him is the one that keeps me a fan?

I'll tell you what attracted me. His indie side and his lyrical philosophies and metaphors. Indie doesn't have to play cool. Indie just is. Had he stayed true to that, he could carve a place for himself anywhere and any era. But he betrayed that.

But he can't just be indie when it's convenient and opportunistic. Because it doesn't read genuine. I mean this is the guy who on New Years Eve 1999 wore a bunch of braids and ribbons in his hair trying to sound hard core, cool, and down. Give me a break. What a pretender. What kind of artist at this age doesn't know who he is?

Would the real Prince please stand up? He's trying to appeal to the pop crowd, i.e. the kiddie crowd and that's not even an appropriate evolution for an artist of his merit and talent.

He's become a caricature. And I hate that. He comes off as desperate and trying to hard for a hit. It's unbelievable.

So in closing, there is no place at the inn for Prince because:
1. Musicially schizophrenic and disingenious.
2. Pretender who betrayed his indie status and counterculture persona.
3. Caricature in bright suits.
4. Desperate (dancing twins, the latest jargon as cool as that computer guy at the office, namechecking artists in a lower caste on his records for all eternity. . Metaphors that reveal not insight but stupidity "like the wall in Berlin").
5. He has nothing to say. His music used to be about ideas. Now, everything is recycled and the thoughts are lazy as hell.

violetblues said:

This generation has no music of their own.

They have no sounds.

They have no artists.

They're sampling, watering down, imitating, and bastardizing artists and sounds of every other generation.

Most of the "music" of today is just a cheap version of what Prince was doing in the 80s.

Many brothers wear bright suits. I am not saying it is always a good look but P is not a white boy. Some of you do not get many of the things that he does because you desperately want to be something he is not.

PurpleKnight said:

Honey, everything that Prince does is debated. Some hated D&P, CB and TRC, however, within a five to ten year period people begin to pronounce the above compilations as classic. It has always been like that. First, many didn't like Dirty Mind, then everyone is comparing Dirty Mind against some of Prince's other work. Prince is so revelant. His music is always light years ahead, in the moment or if he goes back to his old skool roots....I think that the music industry is still trying to keep up with him.

Before Prince, did you hear of any artist trying to sell music over the internet??? (Okay, I forgot about Ani DeFranco) If there were artist, they really didn't have the powerful to attract attention to the issues of the music industry. The boy is an innovator, plain and simple and his music has to continue, whether you like what he is talking about or not...I just look forward to how he will reinvent himself with every new compilation.

June7 said:

That is no kind of lie. Prince will NEVER win for trying. NEVER.