You started this thread as 'The MYTH of Prince's FUNK.'

Now you are saying he does have funk in OK "some" of his music... Oh wait! It is just one song. So now you are contradicting yourself.

I like his style... he explores many genres of music.. No one said he was the "king" of funk...

Btw I don't like funk.

Yes, and i explained what the "myth" was. Not that Prince isn't "funky" but the myth in some of the minds of Prince fans that he's a "funk artist" or "bearer of the funk". I never said he wasn't funky, and i've admitted that he's gotten close on a few occasions the most being "Hide The Bone". But i haven't contradicted myself at all.

And you don't like funk, but are a Prince fan. Understood.

I haven't read most replies here, but Rickey Vincent talks about something called "naked funk" which is a category Prince belongs to...

Now see you got me confused again... so what is it? Is Prince music funk-y or not?

Whatever... I like family affair... now does that mean I like funk? Cos I don't know.. sorry I am :confused:

Exactly Butterscotch! I mean we're on like what...the 9th page of this nonsense! Prince is funky, but not a FUNK artist? Like you said...dude, seriously?

I mean, I can put in a light bulb. Does that mean I'm electric, but not an electrician? You see how dumb that sounds?

According to your argument, Prince isn't a FUNK artist to be mentioned in the same breath as someone like say...Sly, Mr Clinton, or JB. Although I'd aggressively disagree, I'll humor you and roll with that for a second. What you should then point out is how P is far more musically versatile then they were (or continue to be). If you get past the FUNK thing (and yourself) and look at the bigger pictute, it can be argued that these guys couldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Prince in that regard...plain and simple!!

Just my 2 cents...

One who goes 2 EXTREMES 2 prove his point.....had no point at all.

Exactly what I was thinking Gray! I guess FuNkeNsteiN is the kind of person who believes the height of Muhammad Ali's career is his loss to Leon Spinks...

Every artist's catalogue is filled with a little "fat". They all can't be classics. But I guess according you, the only fat George Clinton ever produced was around his midsection...

I stand corrected!

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Keeping a genre alive would mean actually performing that style of music. As far as I know, P is still performing “funk” cuts live as well as recording. I do not see the old funk mob doing too much recording these days and few bands are out on the road but they do not and well not ever have the showmanship that P has therefore, right now, he is the torchbearer for funk.

You do not have to like it but the facts are the facts. The issue is you do not care for his “funk” but the vast majority of music scholars and critics would disagree with you as well as the music buying and listening audience.

The music-heads that agree with you are never going to give P the “funk’ title because he mixes it and delves in other genre which, according to the funk gods is not allowed.

I say more power to Prince for being mulit-talented across many genres and all the haters can claim that he has Purple-Kool-Aid drinkers in his camp but you cannot keep a career going for 30 plus years from a few crazed fans. You have an opinion I have the facts. Deal with it.

I haven't read most replies here, but Rickey Vincent talks about something called "naked funk" which is a category Prince belongs to...

www.allmusic.com says

Named after a slang word for "stink," funk was indeed the rawest, most primal form of R&B, surpassing even Southern soul in terms of earthiness. It was also the least structured, often stretching out into extended jams, and the most Africanized, built on dynamic, highly syncopated polyrhythms. As such, it originally appealed only to hardcore R&B audiences. The groove was the most important musical element of funk — all the instruments of the ensemble played off of one another to create it, and worked it over and over. Deep electric bass lines often served as main riffs, with an interlocking web of short, scratchy guitar chords and blaring horns over the top.

Unlike nearly every form of R&B that had come before it, funk didn't confine itself to the 45-rpm single format and the classic verse/chorus song structure. Funk bands were just as likely to repeat a catchy chant or hook out of the blue, and to give different song sections equal weight, so as not to disrupt the groove by building to a chorus-type climax. In essence, funk allowed for more freedom and improvisation, and in that respect it was similar to what was happening around the same time in blues-rock, psychedelia, and hard rock (in fact, Jimi Hendrix was a major inspiration for funk guitar soloists). The roots of funk lay in James Brown's post-1965 soul hits, particularly "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (1965) and "Cold Sweat" (1967). Sly & the Family Stone, who started out as a soul band influenced by rock and psychedelia, became a full-fledged (albeit pop-savvy) funk outfit with 1969's Stand!.

However, the record that officially ushered in the funk era was James Brown's epochal "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine." The arrangement was spare, the groove hard-hitting, and Brown's lyrics were either stream-of-consciousness slogans or wordless noises. Brown followed it with more records over the course of 1970 that revolutionized R&B, and paved the way for the third artist of funk's holy trinity, George Clinton. Clinton's Parliament and Funkadelic outfits made funk the ultimate party music, not just with their bizarre conceptual humor, but their sheer excess — huge ensembles of musicians and dancers, all jamming on the same groove as long as they possibly could.

Thanks to Sly, Brown, and Clinton, many new and veteran R&B acts adopted funk as a central style during the '70s. Funk gradually became smoother as disco came to prominence in the mid- to late '70s, and lost much of its distinguishing earthiness. However, it had a major impact on jazz (both fusion and soul-jazz), and became the musical foundation of hip-hop. Thanks to the latter, funk enjoyed a renaissance during the '90s, especially among white audiences who rushed to explore its original classics.

Who's Rickey Vincent?

what is obvious to some, is clearly difficult for others to wrap their brain around. Prince isn't a "funk artist" in my mind. Yes, that is different from him being "funky" on occasion. Notice how i said "in my mind" back a few words ago? No one is saying that Prince isn't the more versatile and talented musician OVERALL. but that wasn't the question/discussion. for the millionth time i was trying to get at the root of where some people got the idea that Prince is a "funk artist" when in my mind he's obviously not. he's a pop artist that uses elements of other genres (yes, even funk) in creating his own distinct sound. that is drastically different from him being viewed as a funk artist or even being prolific in the genre. there have been on this thread, a few examples of tracks that are certainly "funky" but as far as the funk genre is concerned may not be considered "funk".

So yes, where Prince cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned funk legends as far as pure funk is concerned, no one is saying that these guys can be mentioned in the same breath as Prince from a pop or even overall musicianship standpoint.

good lord, some of ya'll have your purple panties in a bunch as far as i'm concerned. and i didn't get your little "electrician" example at ALL.

That is so cute!
You told me!!!!
"you have an opinion, and i have FACTS!"


The fact that you think the Prince has "kept the funk going" by "performing funk cuts" is an opinion darlin, not a fact. and is quite debatable, which was the point of this. but again, i don't get why ya'll keep running in here LATE trying to make your points NOW when the convo is over for the most part. Prince isn't "the torchbearer for the funk" and never was.

and a self admitted kool-aid-kid certainly isn't going to concede that Prince isn't the master of any genre of music, so i get where you're coming from.