I can hear Prince say Rick James but I can make out the context. What is he saying abot Rick?

I think it was a reference to Rick James' appearance on Soul Train that recently re-aired where Rick was acting up with Don.

No one else has any insight on this? There must be some story behind it -yall know everything else

All i can make out is "something something something RICK JAMES!"....lol

This is the episode I think P is referring to

http://www.kewego.fr/vide...fYkpu.html

Militant said:

He says "B like Don Cornelius and Rick James".

daPrettyman said:

What that is he saying there will never be another Prince , like there will never be another Rick James and Don Cornelius ???

LondonStyle said:

Look at the video link above and you might get a clearer understanding of what P meant. Rick was being conceited in his interview with Don.

I doubt that's what he meant but that's what he should have meant.

vainandy said:

Yeah. I agree.

Looking at the video, you can see that Rick has told Don what to say and how to refer to him. Saying he was "prolific" and other adjectives. He also mentioned about Rick's outfit. I think that is what the reference is about how there will only be Rick James and only one Prince.

You know I dont think Prince ever held the same animosity that Rick did about him. I think Prince always understood that it was jealousy. They were my two favs in the 80s. To me, it was Prince vs Rick back then; not Prince vs Micheal Jackson like most people thought.
[Edited 3/30/09 10:16am]

Brofie said:

It was Prince vs. Rick pre-1999. After 1999 hit big, it became a Prince vs. MJ thing in the media.

daPrettyman said:

OK - as usual - great insight of commonly known information

Brofie said:

Well thought0out questions always lead to common answers.

daPrettyman said:

I dont get it - there was nothing to that

Brofie said:

U didn't catch how Don and Rick were playing off of each other. Don was checking to make sure he said the correct things about Rick and how Don was commenting on his outfit? That was funny, yet very conceited/arrogant/and all of the things that can be said about Prince. In essence, "There'll Never Be Another Like" Rick James or Prince.
[Edited 3/30/09 19:08pm]

interesting..

SoulAlive said:

not really - guess you have to be a punk to see something in that
[Edited 4/7/09 13:22pm]

Lawdy, My Lawdy! The music and outfits back then. Oh how I miss those times. I agree that Prince isn't slamming James Don longer could do Soul Train, Shalamar was hosting and it wasn't the same

Brofie said:

There's a lot of truth in that. Musically it was Prince vs. Rick. On the charts and record sales and "how high can they get?" is was MJ vs. Prince. MJ had a 2 year lead on Prince in the regard that Thriller and Purple Rain were those stratosphere albums for each of them. The MJ momentum kept on with Victory, despite it not having any BIG hits. "Torture" was out there, but MJ wasn't even in the video. He wasn't in "Body" either. I forget if there was even a video for "State of Shock", although the song was all over the radio. The Victory Tour and Purple Rain tours were going hand in hand in 1984. One then the other.

I remember reading that Prince and a few Revolution folks were at one of the Victory shows. A lot of stars came out for that. Springsteen. Eddie Van Halen was on stage once for "Beat It". etc etc.

Who knows why P gives shout-outs to folks -- especially when he and the folks have conflicted histories. My impression was it was a revisionist shout-out: Rick James has enjoyed a resurgence among Americans (in part because of his passing and the Chappelle sketches).

On a song that invokes the period during which he and Rick were perhaps their most contentious, maybe he seeks to erase the negativity and replace it with the appearance of friendship. To him, if this is the case, it might be a gracious gesture.

Sounds like he's saying "it's gonna be a scene" if they don't have his new song. So the "scene" is going to be like Don & Rick?

I'm quoting myself from the other thread that asks the same question.
I just like my theory better, that's all.


I think he's referring to Rick's reputation (thanks to Charlie Murphy's True hollywood stories) for being crazy and tearing things up, and then last year (?) Don Cornelius was arrested for some sort of public or domestic disturbance.

The line before says:
'what that boy doin?
why he makin' that face?
Don't he know I got crazy friends
Ready to tear up this place?'


Then he says '(it?)be like Don Cornelius and Rick James!'


I doubt he knew of a Soul Train feud or whatever, as it isn't really highly publicized enough to reference it. At least that's my take on the whole thing.