thinking back, it's been 15 years since prince first introduced to us the concept of 'new power generation' on the lovesexy album. in 1990 when a song by that name appeared on graffiti bridge, and then the following year, when he named his band new power generation - a name that has remained constant when individual players have not, it seemed as if prince was onto something big. NPG records, npgmc, it goes on and on...
but, what does 'new power generation' really mean?
in the song, when he says, 'your old fashioned music/your old ideas', who or what do you suppose he is referring to? what is old fashioned music?
think about this: lately prince has, admitedly, drawn inspiration almost solely from the bible - talk about your old-fashioned ideas!
and, remember his vision of what WNPG would sound like from the current tour? would led zeppelin, sly and the family stone, the delfonics be considered 'old fashioned music'?
if prince's vision has been consistent, then i am perhaps misreading the song. but if i am not, has prince really changed that much in the past 12 years?
how do you understand 'we are the new power generation'?

what he means by oldfashined music and ideas, are like conservative people who can't get with the picture. Prine and the people he talks about are revolutionaries, it's not that prince doens't like old music, but old-fashioned music. like boring, meaning less crap. I doubt anyone thinks led seppelin, or sly fit under the term old-fashioned, old maybe, but not old-fashioned.

NPG is a new way of thinking, listening, feeling, living in a new generation.

And we sick and tired of them telling us what 2 do

Good pondering.

There have been sometimes when I think the NPG thing is a little tired.

I just wish he'd just be Prince or a new band name or something.

When New Power Soul came outl, it was taken from the Lovesexy era concepts. Yet the cover and music and feeling of that 1998 album and era, just did NOT match the Lovesexy feeling. It was ALL wrong! That's why I still haven't bought the NPS album!

In a way, Rave Un2 of 1999 had more of a Lovesexy feel. Like a continuation of that era. Everything from Diamonds through NPS was alternate era...???

Anyway, I always felt the New Power Generation took on TWO motives and meanings since the Lovesexy album.

On the Lovesexy album, I understood it to be a positive, personal conquest over negative things or personal state. And he was sharing that with a new generation, and stating that then and there, things were going to be positive etc. With a healthy influence from James Brown's Soul Power thrown in.

Then, when he released Emancipation and took the New Power Generation to a record company kind of thing and especially when he created the New Power Generation Music Club, that this "New Power" was a shift in gaining personal freedom.

In his case from record contracts and music industry "slavery". And thus, reflected on a new generation of music lovers taking back the music from the record companies via various "liberating" movements.

Such as the whole internet thing where an artist of whatever field, music, painter, cook, fashion creators, etc., where empowered. Thus a NEW New Power Generation who had a the power shifted towards them via technology, you know, website making, peer to peer music and media sharing, information sharing etc...power to the people.

Well, that's what my interpretation is anyway. But I bet it's pretty close.

Prince is talking about new things, not the same way of doing business, not the same way of writing and recording music. (The song When doves Cry didn't have a Bass Line which is a New power Generation Idea, and it worked, all the experts said in order for a song to be a hit it has to have a strong bass line, well prince said, who said that? and then proved them wrong. The Old way of doing things is to spend hours and hours in the studio which costs lots of $$$Dollars, Prince said why? And records his music very quickly, and which saves those dollars. In the song he says Can I borrow some of your Air. Some people's nose is so high up in the sky that they think they own the Air. He is just saying things are changing and he is not buying their way of doing things.