So I'm sitting here at work, and '18 & Over' comes up in my iTunes, and I start thinking about how I've read people on this board talking about Prince being a "bad" rapper.

But as I listen to this song, I'm sort of at a lost to figure out what's particularly bad about his rap. I think back on Pussy Control, on Now and other songs, and I realized that on some songs, yeah, Prince's rap choices are bad. And on other, they're great. It seems to all fit the song.

So on 'My Name is Prince' maybe his rapping isn't the greatest, but that rap-style is totally different than that on Mr. Goodnight or Undisputed.

What exactly about Prince's rapping makes people hate it so much? Which songs do you think he does a good job rapping on and a bad job rapping on, or are they either ALL GOOD or ALL BAD to you?

I'm trying to figure this out.

I like his rap on 'Pussy Control'. What I don't like is when he sounds like he's trying really hard to sound like a rapper.

PS; Lol @ thread title. He never said that in a song did he?

i consider P's rapping more of a spoken word-type style.

what would you prefer? something spoken and catchy like Sugar Hill Gang or someone rhyming about guns, death, bit***s, and every expletive that sounds "cool" to a mindless twelve year old?

extreme view? perhaps...but then i used to listen to that stuff, then i grew up and started listening to Prince

smiler69 said:

QFTW!

It depends on the style.. that soft spoken stuff isn't bad.. it has to be limited on an album for me though.. 2 or more and it's just junk.. That Mr. Goodnight is one of the worst tracks i've ever heard from prince.

When he tries to hardcore rap? Funniest shit ever..

Sdldawn said:

I dug Mr goodnight. My name is Prince was funny as all get out tho.

Prince may talk 2 his music, however Prince's music has so much more going 4 it than a typical rap record.

Prince is a singer that has pieces of rap occasionally...not the other way around.

There's definitely a Dichotomy with Prince's rapping that goes all the way back to the early 80's with "Irresistible Bitch", which is an example of great rapping. Other good examples are "Days of Wild", "Sexy MF", "Lady Cab Driver" and "Muse 2 the Pharoah", ect.

The bad rapping comes from one of two reasons; Either his lyrical content goes awry and sounds corny (the second part of "Acknowledge Me", "18 and Over", "Mr. Goodnight") or he incorporates it into inappropriate songs, such as "2 the 9's" (I still haven't gotten over how he killed that song with rap).
[Edited 1/17/09 23:51pm]

I Loved MY NAME IS PRINCE and his CHAIN HAT. That video was cool! I don't think his Rapping was bad at all. It worked. Fans just couldn't stand THE GAME BOYZ and now they can't stand Larry Graham. They just like PRINCE to be either 1999 or Purple Rain style forever and he's NOT about SAMENESS. He's EXPERIMENTAL and he tries all different types of Music and he's into what is HIP at the MOMENT like FASHION. Prince will never be the SAME or STAGNENT and that is why he's the BEST. He's a TRUE GEMINI and he'll always TRY SOMETHING NEW, FUNKY and FRESH. He's a VERY EXCITING MUSICIAN... I can Never Gush ENOUGH about him. He takes my BREATH AWAY with his CREATIVITY which NEVER EVER DISAPPOINTS OR BORES ME. I Love Him FOREVER 4 This.

Some good, some mediocre, some bad

I never hated Prince rapping, but he never had to lower himself to that. I'm glad that phase didn't last.

xpertluva said:

I like that rap in Love2the9's.
I really like his rap at the end of SunMoon&Stars...2.

'Acknowledge Me' is a song where his rap is...um...the opposite of good :p

I love the Acknowledge Me rap.

xpertluva said:

I like, totally disagree with you.

The SECOND HALF of 'Acknowledge Me' is *far* better than the first half. He's on the beat, he's flowing.

In the first half, it's particularly painful. But you say it's the lyrical content, so maybe that's your problem more than rapping style?

And I love 2 the 9s, but the rap portion bothers me. A lot. But, I prefer Prince's rapping over that of Tony M.

Tony M. is just some MC Hammer/Freedom Williams wannabe. Very dated, very poor, and his stuff hurts MOST amazing songs Prince had. Particularly on 0(+>