Very interesting.
I say Prince has taken these influences and reinvented them in to something that is uniquely Prince.

Now the real question: Is Imago wearing Vera Wang and no panties?
What image forms in your mind when you picture that?
Discuss.

Prince is on a whole different level. Only regret is I think he could have

used/displayed his immense talent better on certain projects in the past.

I think that the nineties and beyond should have produced even better

music given his immense capabilities. But he is hands down the greatest

musical artist of all time.
[Edited 1/24/09 23:31pm]

Uh, yes. He absolutely his, there's no real conversation.

Prince continues to release amazing music, continues to push the envelope and do things his way. His career has spanned longer than any of his influences, and he's remained relevant and continually surprising.

Case in point - dude's got 3 albums coming out this year, he's relaunching his website, he's doing a guitar based album and a digitally manipulated album.

What other artist would do this 30+ years after coming on the scene? No one.

Prince is King, and he knows it. And he's not NEARLY done. I hope he sheds the constraints of his religion sooner rather than later, and the result will be an explosion of creativity and awesomeness that makes Emancipation look like a pebble in the pond.

Or, maybe not. But his music will continue to fucking own me and continue to entertain and delight and keep people talking.