... that Hip Hop in the nineties tripped Prince up a bit?

I mean, it seemed (and still does to some degree), that he couldn't handle the juggernaut that it became. He started playing catch-up, and hasn't quite recovered.

Your thoughts?

he tried to have some rap/hip hop stuff going on....was kinda funny! prince is NOT a great rapper! i think he's over it now.

kimrachell said:

Too true regarding his MC'ing skills, or lack thereof. And for everybody's sake, I hope he is over it. But something (Mr. Goodnight) tells me he isn't.

But my querie had more to do with how it affected his output.

i would like to hear the songs he recorded at that time but where
put in the vault because they sounded to 80's or vintage.

he must have recorded many more "classic" songs but decided 2 put
more hip/rap songs on his discs to shift the overall feel.

diamonds and pearls could be a completely different, timeless cd
is you take off about 5 songs and if you were able to replace them
with real band songs and a pretty melody or two.

i love it when prince throws a rap into a song, even if it's just
some hilarious bit of fluff. what i don't like is songs like the
ones on Diamonds & Pearls or Symbol that sounded dated about two
months after the albums dropped. He should have kept them for the
bsides of singles but he should have been able to look ahead into
the future far enough to see that those songs would weigh down an
otherwise perfectly healthy album.

either that or if he wanted to do those songs get someone in for
them who could produce them. someone who really knew rap and who
could have merged their own sound with prince's to come up with
something unique.

IstenSzek said:

Don't tell me yer not feeling Tony Mosley?

But seriously, he really should have gotten a real MC in there with him if he wanted to go that route. And he should have also resisted the temptation to release the songs he did.

To be honest, I don't know. I remember that when Hip-Hop was growing in popularity in around 1990, I was hoping that Prince would do some kind of hip-hop just to show that he could do it. The next year when Diamonds and Pearls came out, I was happy because to me, it showed that he could not only adapt with the times but that he could still do it his way, not like M.C. Hammer or N.W.A. or whoever was big in Hop-Hop in 1991. Looking back, I do think that he went a little bit overboard with it and some of it does sound kinda like he was trying a little too hard but yet I still like some of those songs. In some songs, Prince had a nice kind of flow going on. In the end, I'm glad he tried it out. Whether it was good or bad, it showed he had even more versatility with his music and that's not a bad thing in my eyes.

I don't think it tripped him up, but I do know what you mean cause it kinda took over the airwaves. I like his version of MY NAME IS PRINCE and all his other Efforts,but I really Like Prince for his own brand of music and that is basiclly R and B. And he's more into the slow jams of like the quiet storm lovemaking from say WBLS. I am Happy that he has SHOWN his MUSICIAN CHOPS on the GUITAR and has covered alot of NEW WAVE and PUNK music. I think he should listen to college radio for new bands. I always did. WNYU and WSOU and WLIR were the ones I listened to. I'm sure LA and Minnie have their own College stations.

I think Prince is a great rapper. It took him awhile to get into his groove, but he did.

I can actually understand what he says during his raps - and that's pretty badass. Plus, he has like 6 rapping voices, and I find them all interesting.

Probably because I'm not a big fan of rap in general. I dunno. I'm sure if i like 'real rap' I'd feel different. But I find most of it not to my tastes.

I like Prince's rapping for the same reason I like Lupe Fiasco's - it's about something, it's smooth, clean, and understandable, and doesn't feel the need to put in lots of words about nothing just to keep the cadence in check.

Edit: Case in point, I love his rap on NOW in particular, but it's totally different than his rap on MR. GOODNIGHT or even Pussy Control.

And I like it all.
[Edited 1/14/09 12:42pm]

I think it's embarrasing to hear him rap to tell you the truth. You know how an older parent or relative starts to rap whether they are good or not but just the effort of doing so makes you turn red and look the other way....then you start giving away his/her status as being a relative like telling your brother-that's your uncle not mine... LOL!

Angelic1302 said:

x 1,000

And now uncle Eddie will do his rendition of White Lines!!! Drumroll pls.

I Absolutely Disagree.

"Rap," is so limited...It's a dying genre...truly...more will come along with maturity of the music world and it's revene.
Leaving Prince out of a scale for a moment as I usually do because Prince is a genre in a way...ya know what I mean? Rock, Classical, Country, R&B, and Prince...And SugarHillGang...leave them out of it 2...because they are the leader's in the genre.

Put EarthWind&Fire at one end of a musical scale and basic talk 2 beats at the other...

Who's gonna fall off one end with time?

IstenSzek said:

I love his rap in 'Gett Off'.

His rapping is the funniest thing i've heard.. and he is trying to be serious..


horribly gave into it, and he doesn't wear that color well..

purplecam said:

I hear you on the adaptability and versatitlity tip, but the best "rap" he ever put down was on "Girls and Boys'. Everything else is just cringe inducing.

MRGee said:

Save for it not tripping him up, I agree 100%. Prince is (was) his own genre, and that's the way I like it.

bleutuna said:

That in itself says you can't have an informed opinion on the matter. That'd be like me saying I like Garth Brooks' style of country less than Kenny Chesney's, when in fact I've only heard snippets of each. There are plenty of brilliant MC's who enunciate, and Prince ain't one of 'em.

And comparing Prince to Lupe Fiasco? Laughable at best.

Tame said:

U think!