It's been speculated that some of what is called "Prince's genius" was actually the uncredited work of others (i.e., the alleged claims by Wendy & Lisa that they, in fact, wrote Purple Rain; or by Rick James that Prince stole the idea of Vanity 6). How much truth do you think there are to these sort of claims?

I do believe, as it is mentioned a few times in DMSR, that Prince got a few "ideas" straight from Morris and Andre Cymone. Of course, it could be argued from a few points of view. A person could hear a simple riff or chord progression and turn that into a whole song. However, it has been noted that mostly-complete songs were practically pulled from under the feet of the creators by Prince. I don't know, but there is a lot of speculation behind it all.

HoHO
he stole vrom "Every" 1 he's worked with.. and he's proud of it in a cynical funny kind of way. Hes fast!

it's not just from the early days. they the book doesn't explicitly state it, there's some implication that he stole from a few people in the recent 90's. most notably Tony M. and Levi not getting paid royalties. but additionally, a few others... can't think of her name, but she sings the operatic parts on "MPLS" uncredited... in fact, if i remember correctly, it was actually her song.

I think he stole shoes from the following people:

Wendy
Lisa
Vanity
Appolonia
Sheena Easton
Not Mayte (her feet are bigger than his)
Ingrid Chavez
Kim Bassinger
Madonna
Rosie Gaines
and Little Richard

Maybe stole is the wrong word here...
Taken an idea and made it funky would be better!

Also I believe that he's changing people alot to 'learn' new things, and improve his skills.