Hey everyone Im doing a research term paper on how Prince has influenced music and other musicians. My teacher didnt want to let me do it on Prince but I finally convinced her when I promised it would be the best paper I've ever written! I would really appreciate any ideas, links, quotes, etc. Thanks!!

fUnKyNpG said:

Hmmm...

I think by letting peeps listen 2 some clips of th ealbum...going in2 how he has changed so much. Songs he written 4 other artists. Um..mixing "Nasty Girl" with "Im A Slave 4 U". but I have 2 agree with the teacher, it is a hard subject...how did he influence other artists?

There simply aren't enough out in the "TRL" world right now that actually show it..other than Maxwell / D'Angelo / Raphel Saddiq...

Check out July's post on the AEC. Or go to their site at
http://www.artistsempower...ition.org/

I do believe Prince was an influence in this movement, which will hopefully have a profound change on the industry, or at least change how recording artists view their rights.

Also, you could research how many musicians and artists from all the different genres of music he has influenced. Or maybe look at cover sites, to see how many people have done covers of his songs.
http://www.coversproject....ist.php/28

fUnKyNpG said:

So you want us to do your research?! I don't think so.

I’m not sure if looking at cover versions by artists is the best way to go to show prince’s influence. Looking at artists (they’ll probably have to be high profile to be sure that they mean something to ur audience) who have been influence musically by him would be a good idea – musicians from prince’s own generation (i.e. people he worked with/wrote for) and from the new generation (there seem to be loads of artists coming up who have been hugely influenced like Alicia Keys, Maxwell, D’Angelo, Tricky, Lewis Taylor, Beck).

But I think the best way to show his influence isn’t through music directly but through the changes he’s influenced in the business, like letting an individual artist have real control over his music and career (Beck, D’Angelo), and with pioneering the relationship between music and the internet (along with David Bowie as the only high profile artists to look at new ways of getting music to the fans). And there is political stuff you can talk about – one of the first black artists to get mainstream airtime, just about the only black artist to play around with gender and sexuality, and his links to other ‘political’ figures and artists (mostly because they’re fans of his) like Spike Lee and Cornel West.

You need to track down some non-Prince fan books to get a better picture of his impact on society (Per Nilsen might know everything about every song and concert, but that’s going to bore non-artists to tears. Liz Jones’ SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM is a bit tabloidy, but it has a good bit on gender and sexuality. Read Cornel West for some stuff on race.

Good luck – that’s a hard topic to write for non-fans (post it on the org or wherever when ur done!)

peace

The progression of funk:

James Brown
George Clinton
Sly and the Family Stone
Prince


Prince carried on Sly's work and brought funk to the mainstream. He's probably more influential now than he's ever been, and doesn't get the credit for it. D'Angelo, Basement Jaxx, Musiq, Alicia Keys, Maxwell, Neptunes, Outkast, Cee-Lo Goodie etc.

I read an interview with Tricky a while back and he said that if it wasn't for Prince's flamboyant cross-dressing, then he (Tricky) would never have done the same.

Then there was the whole Tipper Gore thing with Darling Nikki and the Parental Advisory lyrics stickers.

Thanks for the help! I appreciate it!

fUnKyNpG said:

I have a video of Lenny Kravitz talking about what an influence Prince was on his career. When he started off he was basically a Prince wannabe and used a different name (Can't remember what it was)
Lenny's come a long way since and created his own sound! He rocks!

Tony Rich gives credit where credit is due in his liner notes.

If U look in the Musicians hang out U'll see many influenced fams.




Good Luck... be cool if U could post the assignment when it's done!

Also... get a copy of DMSR by Per Nilsen

Here are some ideas:

• Prince incorporates sex and religion in his music, which paved the way for today's pop stars by shattering taboos

• He was one of the original black artists on MTV (after MJ) and the 1999/Purple Rain videos ruled MTV for years.

• He had a Number One album, movie, and concert tour at the same time (and received an Oscar for the PR soundtrack)

• He released an album a year (except for '83, when he was filming a movie) -- he continues this pace even now.

• He had a distinctly different sound on every album from 1978 until 1990. Nowadays, the pop bands latch onto ONE sound and play it out album-after-album-after-album . . .

• He was one of the pioneers of Internet music sites (second only to David Bowie)

• He fought his record label for creative freedom and Master Recording ownership. Now, it seems like everyone is fighting for these same rights.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

JimmyNothing said:

It was Romeo Blue

Be sure to read and use (with proper reference of course) what Miles Davis says about Prince in Davis' autobiography.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 16 18:19:23 PST 2002 by rdhull]

Get your hands on the book FUNK, The MUSIC, the PEOPLE, and the RHYTHM of THE ONE.

By Rickey Vincent




[This message was edited Sun Nov 17 0:13:40 PST 2002 by Supernova]

rdhull said:

On a more superficial note, you could mention his impact on the misspelling of song titles today. Check out the MTV article that's linked here on the .org a few days ago.

The other tie you could make is along the lines of what Se7ev mentioned about breaking taboos. This would be a bit harder to prove, but back in '82 - '83 it was unheard of to hear songs on the radio that had blatant sexual references in them. Along came Prince with Erotic City, Darling Nikki (although I don't think that got a lot of radio play exactly), and contrast that to the explicit lyrical content of artists today.

You could also discuss the rise of the artist/producer/one-man-band genre started by Stevie Wonder and blown up by Prince, followed by a host of others.

Good luck!

I think the way Prince influenced others was when he explained how the royalties are actually paid to the artist who performs the song. Take Mariah Carey, he said she sold over 10 million but really only got paid for 1 mil. He explained how the music industry really is and if you read the info on the "news from npg" you would see how others are starting to look into their music careers. He's experienced the industries greed which caused him to change his name to ( )... Society gave him the name TAFKA...

Now what you could do is ask the fams right here how he influenced them...Don't just base your report on other artists...We are his fams and he's done alot for us.

He influenced me by continuing to want to teach MYSELF how to play my guitar...My brother passed away a few years back which is the one who really influenced me...

paisleypark4 said:

I agree. Choose some good examples of Prince's most influential music for say, each Prince 'era.' For instance, briefly explain the concept of Lovesexy, Grafitti Bridge, Controversy, etc.