Many of us ask "why can't prince make music like he used too? Interesting, cutting-edge, good music."

Many of us respond with some variation of "give the guy a break, he did it for 25+ years, he's allowed to lame if he wants, it's his journey, not ours." That's B.S. in my opinion - we're "fans" on a "fan site" and this is where we can ask those types of questions. We're not really casting judgment on him or his development as a human being. That's a tangent though.

The answer to the first question is, in my opinion, that Prince has not had ANY perceived competition since the early 1990's. The key word is "perceived." He does not see Pop music today as competition - and indeed, the most interesting bands and acts out there today admit to having Prince as an inspiration, not as a competitor (e.g. The Roots, Common, of Montreal, Alicia Keys, etc....) The closest we got was Justin Timberlake trying to make competition - but failing. Prince didn't buy it, and neither did most people - it was clear JT's album ripped off vintage Prince.

Rewind to the 1980's -- Michael Jackson and Madonna never admitted to getting "inspiration" from Prince - they were his contemporaries, his competitors, and when they put out an album, prince tried to out-do them.

Nowadays, who is he trying to outdo? Just himself perhaps, but certainly he doesn't see himself needing to outdo any contemporary pop/r&b acts today. He sees himself as FAR superior than anything out right now.

Whether he's right or not is another questions. I don't think he is, but the important part, for Prince's musical output anyway, is that he does not PERCEIVE that there is competition.

I agree with Prince!

I don't see anyone out there as competition for Prince.


The man stands alone...
and he is in good company!!