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Thread started 08/01/09 9:40am

SlyStoneBio

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Read What Teena Marie Has to Say about Prince and Rick James

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Reply #1 posted 08/01/09 9:48am

GNS

Cool bit. Thanks.

Teena has always seemed down like four flat tires to me.

Had to laugh at the "Prince just isn’t that kind of guy" part though.
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Reply #2 posted 08/01/09 9:50am

zaza

That part about stealing Prince's programmed synths is cool B-)
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Reply #3 posted 08/01/09 10:24am

prime

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Thanks for the post..... great article
Prime aka The Kid

"I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur lil' ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
And give me what I need while we listen to PRINCE"
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Reply #4 posted 08/01/09 12:45pm

KoolEaze

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So, does that mean that some parts of the Street Songs album were actually programmed or composed by Prince? Why didn´t he sue him then, and ,if that was really the case, why hasn´t anyone noticed similarities between that album´s sound and Prince´s sound from the Dirty Mind tour...because in essence, that would mean that Rick James used some synthesizer parts that Prince used during that tour,right ?

Rick James was a very cunning and clever man...and he had some nerve to do that. lol May he rest in peace.
" I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?"
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Reply #5 posted 08/01/09 6:54pm

HonestMan13

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Nice article. I never knew the connections between them all (Rick,Teena,Prince & Jill) went so far back or so deep.
When eye go 2 a Prince concert or related event it's all heart up in the house but when eye log onto this site and the miasma of bitchiness is completely overwhelming!
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Reply #6 posted 08/01/09 7:12pm

fms

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The late Steve Fargnoli? I had no idea he died! I have to google that one. Thanks for the article, great read.
Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths...(Jeremiah 6:16) www.ancientfaithradio.com

dezinonac eb lliw noitulove ehT
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Reply #7 posted 08/01/09 7:22pm

cheesecakequee
n

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Thanks for posting, love to hear about my girl Teena
YES! I SAID IT!
[You know how long I been on ya? Since Prince was on Apollonia.]
R.I.P Michael! Sad, the only time he was in peace, was when he wasn't alive.
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Reply #8 posted 08/01/09 7:41pm

prime

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fms said:

The late Steve Fargnoli? I had no idea he died! I have to google that one. Thanks for the article, great read.


I think he died of cancer around 2000 maybe....hmmmm
Prime aka The Kid

"I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur lil' ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
And give me what I need while we listen to PRINCE"
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Reply #9 posted 08/01/09 8:28pm

muleFunk

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Rick was a G.O.A.T. and so is Prince.
I would have loved to be around them at that time .

The stories... eek cool
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Reply #10 posted 08/01/09 9:05pm

Genesia

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prime said:

fms said:

The late Steve Fargnoli? I had no idea he died! I have to google that one. Thanks for the article, great read.


I think he died of cancer around 2000 maybe....hmmmm


He died September 10, 2001 - the day before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #11 posted 08/01/09 9:14pm

blackguitarist
z

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Nice article...I've always adored Teena Marie. One of my all time fave female vocalists. And she's a great songwriter and musician as well. I've always been in love with Teena's vocals. Like I actually had a crush on her singing! Two things I ALWAYS found interesting...One, that Jill didn't work with Rick before Jill had ever met Prince. The way Jill met P was because Jill sung back up in Teena's band when she opened for Prince on the Dirty Mind tour. Jill already had known Rick...Two, I ALWAYS wondered why P and Teena never worked together. I always kept expecting, especially in the mid 80's, for P to turn up on Teena's new album. Her "Emerald City" album was HEAVILY influenced by Prince, musically and visually. It was a rumor in 86 that P actually wrote "Lips 2 Find U" and that he was going under the name of "Bendrix"....The pre-chorus in the song sounds dead on like Brown Mark on the bass too! But, besides the Prince like spelling in the title and the overall vibe of the song, I don't believe P had anything to do with it. Teena was just showing her love for Prince on that album. Teena spoke in the article about that she wished P and Rick would have gotten together BUT what I always wished was that P and Teena had done an album together. They were both hella talented and both could sing their asses off...I KNOW P wouldn't have wanted to fuck with that cuz of Teena's association with Rick so because of that, I think that killed it off. Hell, Rick might had even thought P was "Bendrix" and was on some of Emerald City. wink But like I said, I don't believe P is on it and Bendrix was a blackguitarist, oops, I mean a guitarist that had played with Teena and wrote with Teena BEFORE Emerald City was released so....
[Edited 8/1/09 21:18pm]
SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him."
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Reply #12 posted 08/01/09 10:23pm

Smittyrock70

blackguitaristz said:

Nice article...I've always adored Teena Marie. One of my all time fave female vocalists. And she's a great songwriter and musician as well. I've always been in love with Teena's vocals. Like I actually had a crush on her singing! Two things I ALWAYS found interesting...One, that Jill didn't work with Rick before Jill had ever met Prince. The way Jill met P was because Jill sung back up in Teena's band when she opened for Prince on the Dirty Mind tour. Jill already had known Rick...Two, I ALWAYS wondered why P and Teena never worked together. I always kept expecting, especially in the mid 80's, for P to turn up on Teena's new album. Her "Emerald City" album was HEAVILY influenced by Prince, musically and visually. It was a rumor in 86 that P actually wrote "Lips 2 Find U" and that he was going under the name of "Bendrix"....The pre-chorus in the song sounds dead on like Brown Mark on the bass too! But, besides the Prince like spelling in the title and the overall vibe of the song, I don't believe P had anything to do with it. Teena was just showing her love for Prince on that album. Teena spoke in the article about that she wished P and Rick would have gotten together BUT what I always wished was that P and Teena had done an album together. They were both hella talented and both could sing their asses off...I KNOW P wouldn't have wanted to fuck with that cuz of Teena's association with Rick so because of that, I think that killed it off. Hell, Rick might had even thought P was "Bendrix" and was on some of Emerald City. wink But like I said, I don't believe P is on it and Bendrix was a blackguitarist, oops, I mean a guitarist that had played with Teena and wrote with Teena BEFORE Emerald City was released so....
[Edited 8/1/09 21:18pm]


Yeah that Would've been cool if T and P got 2gether. Who knows they're both still alive, kicking and doing their thang. Anything's possible.
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Reply #13 posted 08/01/09 10:31pm

benjaminira

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Smittyrock70 said:

blackguitaristz said:

Nice article...I've always adored Teena Marie. One of my all time fave female vocalists. And she's a great songwriter and musician as well. I've always been in love with Teena's vocals. Like I actually had a crush on her singing! Two things I ALWAYS found interesting...One, that Jill didn't work with Rick before Jill had ever met Prince. The way Jill met P was because Jill sung back up in Teena's band when she opened for Prince on the Dirty Mind tour. Jill already had known Rick...Two, I ALWAYS wondered why P and Teena never worked together. I always kept expecting, especially in the mid 80's, for P to turn up on Teena's new album. Her "Emerald City" album was HEAVILY influenced by Prince, musically and visually. It was a rumor in 86 that P actually wrote "Lips 2 Find U" and that he was going under the name of "Bendrix"....The pre-chorus in the song sounds dead on like Brown Mark on the bass too! But, besides the Prince like spelling in the title and the overall vibe of the song, I don't believe P had anything to do with it. Teena was just showing her love for Prince on that album. Teena spoke in the article about that she wished P and Rick would have gotten together BUT what I always wished was that P and Teena had done an album together. They were both hella talented and both could sing their asses off...I KNOW P wouldn't have wanted to fuck with that cuz of Teena's association with Rick so because of that, I think that killed it off. Hell, Rick might had even thought P was "Bendrix" and was on some of Emerald City. wink But like I said, I don't believe P is on it and Bendrix was a blackguitarist, oops, I mean a guitarist that had played with Teena and wrote with Teena BEFORE Emerald City was released so....
[Edited 8/1/09 21:18pm]


Yeah that Would've been cool if T and P got 2gether. Who knows they're both still alive, kicking and doing their thang. Anything's possible.


That would be a dream! My two absolute favorites! If they were to ever work together I could die a happy man!
If it breaks when it bends, U better not put it in!
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Reply #14 posted 08/01/09 10:33pm

benjaminira

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I'm also curious as to what parts of the programmed were Prince's. I love "Street Songs" but I don't recall anything remotely sounding like Prince on it! Maybe I have to give it another listen!
If it breaks when it bends, U better not put it in!
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Reply #15 posted 08/01/09 11:10pm

bellanoche

zaza said:

That part about stealing Prince's programmed synths is cool B-)


Rick talked about this incident in the entire chapter of his book that he wrote about Prince. lol Teena's right, it definitely seemed like a one-way obsession. I recommend reading Rick's book for the Prince chapter alone.
perfection is a fallacy of the imagination...
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Reply #16 posted 08/01/09 11:49pm

benjaminira

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bellanoche said:

zaza said:

That part about stealing Prince's programmed synths is cool B-)


Rick talked about this incident in the entire chapter of his book that he wrote about Prince. lol Teena's right, it definitely seemed like a one-way obsession. I recommend reading Rick's book for the Prince chapter alone.

He wrote a book? What's the title?
If it breaks when it bends, U better not put it in!
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Reply #17 posted 08/02/09 1:59am

jackson35

rick and prince actually did record a few tracks together during the fire it up tour.
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Reply #18 posted 08/02/09 2:08am

blackguitarist
z

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benjaminira said:

bellanoche said:



Rick talked about this incident in the entire chapter of his book that he wrote about Prince. lol Teena's right, it definitely seemed like a one-way obsession. I recommend reading Rick's book for the Prince chapter alone.

He wrote a book? What's the title?

The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of A Super Freak
It's a good read. Rick copped to the fact that he was jealous of P to a certain degree although Rick had a point about P lifting some of Rick's stage movements. I can definately see that. It wasn't blatant to where it was identical of course but anyone who was around back then and knew how P was before and after and who had ever seen Rick in the late 70's, it was there.
[Edited 8/2/09 2:13am]
SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him."
http://ccoshea19.googlepa...ssanctuary
http://ccoshea19.googlepages.com
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Reply #19 posted 08/02/09 2:13am

blackguitarist
z

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jackson35 said:

rick and prince actually did record a few tracks together during the fire it up tour.

Yep.
SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him."
http://ccoshea19.googlepa...ssanctuary
http://ccoshea19.googlepages.com
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Reply #20 posted 08/02/09 2:15am

zaza

bellanoche said:

zaza said:

That part about stealing Prince's programmed synths is cool B-)


Rick talked about this incident in the entire chapter of his book that he wrote about Prince. lol Teena's right, it definitely seemed like a one-way obsession. I recommend reading Rick's book for the Prince chapter alone.

I guess that book isn't available in the Middle Europe, huh? hmmm sad
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Reply #21 posted 08/02/09 2:18am

blackguitarist
z

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benjaminira said:

I'm also curious as to what parts of the programmed were Prince's. I love "Street Songs" but I don't recall anything remotely sounding like Prince on it! Maybe I have to give it another listen!

I agree withcha...I read in Rick's book to where he stated that happened BUT like u, I never heard any of the keys that was used on Street Songs that sound anything like P's "sound". Not at all. Rick, IF that shit is true, no doubt adjusted P's sound and modified it to Rick's liking. I can also see Rick saying that shit as a way of just saying that he just flat out dug P's sounds on the keys. That was a way of complimenting Prince, I think. He probably did take P's keys but he tweeked them to where Rick dug it.
SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him."
http://ccoshea19.googlepa...ssanctuary
http://ccoshea19.googlepages.com
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Reply #22 posted 08/02/09 2:24am

zaza

blackguitaristz said:

benjaminira said:

I'm also curious as to what parts of the programmed were Prince's. I love "Street Songs" but I don't recall anything remotely sounding like Prince on it! Maybe I have to give it another listen!

I agree withcha...I read in Rick's book to where he stated that happened BUT like u, I never heard any of the keys that was used on Street Songs that sound anything like P's "sound". Not at all. Rick, IF that shit is true, no doubt adjusted P's sound and modified it to Rick's liking. I can also see Rick saying that shit as a way of just saying that he just flat out dug P's sounds on the keys. That was a way of complimenting Prince, I think. He probably did take P's keys but he tweeked them to where Rick dug it.

yeahthat I can't hear any similarities too, so Rick definitely tweaked it a little.
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Reply #23 posted 08/02/09 7:23am

kaptainkrunk

rick was always a asshole i never dug his attitude and he sacred the hell out of me as a child i never touched his music 4 some reason
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Reply #24 posted 08/02/09 9:23am

Alexandernvrmi
nd

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SlyStoneBio said:



Very cool read and not just the Prince parts... love both Tina and Rick

thanks for posting
Dance... Let me see you dance
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Reply #25 posted 08/02/09 11:06am

Giovanni777

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In 1980, Prince opened for James on the Fire It Up tour. James complained that Prince stole his stage moves and according to Marie, Rick paid Prince back by stealing his gear. “Back then people weren’t really programming their own synthesizers,” says Teena. “Prince - you know – he’s a genius... he was one of the only one’s who could really do that – probably him and Stevie [Wonder] were the only one’s really doing it…[Prince] was programming all his synthesizers and setting the presets with his own sound and …at the end of the tour [Rick] took [Prince’s] synthesizers.” Teena cannot help but chuckle as she recounts the story. “He took them to Sausalito and he actually used them on the Street Songs album and then he sent them back to [Prince] with a thank you card. He was a piece of work…and a brilliant genius, too!”

Teena later found herself wedged between the two future legends when she went on the road with Prince. “We were on the Dirty Mind tour together… [Prince and I] never had a problem. We would kick it…neither one of us drank so after the concerts we’d go and sit and have our little orange juice or whatever. He had a lot of respect for me. There were some nights that I would come on stage and I would kick his butt, you know, and [afterwards] he’d walk by me and go “Whew! I have to work hard tonight’ and there were some nights that he would come by and say ‘I whooped you! I whooped you tonight!’ so it was really awesome and he’s always been really wonderful to me.”

For James, however, it was a different story. “I don’t think Rick really liked the fact that [Prince and I] were friends but you know….The rivalry to me as I look back on it - it was really Rick. It wasn’t really Prince. It was more Rick than anything. I never really saw Prince feeding into it too much. It really actually saddened me because I think the two of them would have made some amazing music together. It would have been ridiculous…but you know…it was what it was…I’m not really sure why it started. Rick always said it was because Prince snubbed his mother.” Indeed, James claimed that Prince had insulted his mother at the 1982 American Music Awards by refusing to give her an autograph. The mood should have been celebratory - Teena was nominated for Favorite Soul R&B Female Artist and Rick won Best Soul/R&B Album for Street Songs - but Rick was having none of it. Backstage, Prince’s manager at the time (the late Steve Fargnoli) hastily arranged for Prince to apologize but James ignored him. Even today, Teena views the story skeptically. “I really find that hard to believe and if it did happen, I don’t think it was intentional because Prince just isn’t that kind of guy. So it could have just been unintentional where she was around and he didn’t see her, you know what I’m saying? And Rick really knew how to take stuff and run with it…but from everything that I know [Rick] really, really did like [Prince’s] music….” Laughing, Teena adds one more caveat: “Although he would never admit to it. He would never admit to that.”



One word: WOW.
"He's a musician's musician..."
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Reply #26 posted 08/02/09 11:45am

fms

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blackguitaristz said:

benjaminira said:


He wrote a book? What's the title?

The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of A Super Freak
It's a good read. Rick copped to the fact that he was jealous of P to a certain degree although Rick had a point about P lifting some of Rick's stage movements. I can definately see that. It wasn't blatant to where it was identical of course but anyone who was around back then and knew how P was before and after and who had ever seen Rick in the late 70's, it was there.
[Edited 8/2/09 2:13am]

Interesting that Rick admits being jealous a bit. As for me, I have to admit that around 1981-82 I was really getting into Rick James and loved Street Songs. I was just beginning to delve into his music more when I heard Prince's Dirty Mind and Controversy. And that was it. I kind of jumped mothership, so to speak, and Prince was the man from that point forward. I still enjoyed Rick and followed his work, but not like I loved Prince. Perhaps that experience holds true for much of the record buying public too - Rick James lays the groundwork, and then Prince picks up on it and takes off running. Prince would go on to have one of the most successful albums of all time (Purple Rain) and has arguably maintained the status of musical superstar for most of his career. Rick James, by contrast, was complaing in 1985 (and rightly so) that he couldn't get on MTV because he wasn't white enough for them. Rick would also never have success on the level of Street Songs again.
If Prince is our modern day Mozart, does that make Rick James his Saliere?
Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths...(Jeremiah 6:16) www.ancientfaithradio.com

dezinonac eb lliw noitulove ehT
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Reply #27 posted 08/02/09 2:23pm

bellanoche

Alexandernvrmind said:

SlyStoneBio said:



Very cool read and not just the Prince parts... love both Tina and Rick

thanks for posting

I enjoyed reading it all as well. Berry Gordy and Motown should have been tarred and feathered for the contract they gave Tina. One hundred dollars a week!!! Are you kidding me? eek I am glad she was able to forgive and move one - after the settlement. lol
perfection is a fallacy of the imagination...
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Reply #28 posted 08/02/09 2:36pm

bellanoche

fms said:

Interesting that Rick admits being jealous a bit. As for me, I have to admit that around 1981-82 I was really getting into Rick James and loved Street Songs. I was just beginning to delve into his music more when I heard Prince's Dirty Mind and Controversy. And that was it. I kind of jumped mothership, so to speak, and Prince was the man from that point forward. I still enjoyed Rick and followed his work, but not like I loved Prince. Perhaps that experience holds true for much of the record buying public too - Rick James lays the groundwork, and then Prince picks up on it and takes off running. Prince would go on to have one of the most successful albums of all time (Purple Rain) and has arguably maintained the status of musical superstar for most of his career. Rick James, by contrast, was complaing in 1985 (and rightly so) that he couldn't get on MTV because he wasn't white enough for them. Rick would also never have success on the level of Street Songs again.
If Prince is our modern day Mozart, does that make Rick James his Saliere?


Rick was obsessed with Prince's success. I think at heart Rick wanted to be a rocker and hated that he was pigeonholed to funk/R&B. The fact that Prince was freely traversing different genres including rock, seemed to really affect Rick, among other things.

It's funny that you mentioned Purple Rain because in the book he talks about how he was so fixated on Prince's success with PR that he couldn't even enjoy a party that was being thrown in his honor. He said even Daisy Duke (can't think of her real name now) told him at the party that he was so focused on Prince that he couldn't even get his own thing together. It's very telling. Until I read that book and saw the chapter devoted to Prince, I had no idea how obsessed Rick was with Prince.

One other thing that is funny is that in the book, Rick doesn't mention that Prince had programmed his sounds in the synth. He just stated that it was a new synth that no one else had, so he took it. He really just did not want to give Prince credit for anything. He even talks about how he was so much better than Prince on the tour that he felt sorry for Prince. lol So, it doesn't surprise me that, as Teena said in the interview, Rick wouldn't admit to liking Prince's music. It's funny and pathetic at the same time.
perfection is a fallacy of the imagination...
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Reply #29 posted 08/02/09 2:44pm

prime

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blackguitaristz said:

jackson35 said:

rick and prince actually did record a few tracks together during the fire it up tour.

Yep.


For real? I have never heard that...interesting. What's up, Black? I haven't seen you around the org in a minute.
Prime aka The Kid

"I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur lil' ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
And give me what I need while we listen to PRINCE"
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