oh yah, I almost forgot to add something:

prince is the king of everything!why cause hes prince,and i said so!

kenlacam - don't call me "son" - you sure ain't my father !!!
P can be as heavy as he wants - maybe he just likes to vary it up a bit, eh? Have you and your un-plugged ears thought of that? Ya know, he got a few different gears he likes to move in and out of, rather than literally being stuck in a groove.
I think I've already mentioned, but just in case - I like George - way out there, funky and hugely influential.
Now I'm gonna listen to some tunes, how 'bout you take your 'tude and trombipulate it !
Dear Lord - I've just seen that you're an MJ and Britney fan - and you call Prince "lite" - now, THAT, is frickin' funny !!!
[Edited 8/6/09 11:19am]

FunkDr said:

FunkDr, of which you are NOT a dr of funk by any means, unless you stink, the term "son" which you have obviously never heard, is a SLANG term. I thank GOD I am not your father, cause I'd have to kick you out of my house the dday you were born if that was the case. So what I like MJ and Britney. It just means I have diverse taste, and not sitting in front of the tv watching sesame street. so you can go

minneapolisFunq said:

I agree, give him king of THEMPLSOUND...because it covers many territories, such as r n b, funk, rock, pop, jazz , new wave, etc. Give MJ the king of pop. Prince is much more than that.

Nope Rick James is...

King, well NO
Prince of true funk, YUP

Chic35 said:

PEJ said:

he-he

kenlacam - son is slang for what, exactly? or were you just using the word to be condescending?
No you're not my father - with all that pent up aggression you seem to have, I doubt you've ever even had sex ! Chill, SON, go take it easy with a Cadbury's caramel or something... man !
No need to hit me baby, one more time.
now let's sing together "Oh, happy days...."

I'm going to say no on this.

I enjoy many artists and songs its hard to say who better then who. One day I like this song by that artist and another day this song by another. I like variety so its hard to choose and say.

Some people on here are too objective (Prince is not King of funk it's Clinton,Prince is not King of guitar it's Hendrix, prince is not King of soul its Marvin Gaye) But why do people do that. Isn't it the point that prince can do all the above and can even do this within one song let alone an album. What I would say tho is that when peoplpe go on a bout funk and Prince not being tha master I think its more that he doesnt get down and dirty with it and I think thats because Prince is not just musically but within himself too sophisticated to do this. And thank God for it. Yeh pure funk is great but as someone has said earlier on this 3 albums of Funkadelic would be a mental stretch

Lets get this straight: Without JB there wouldnt be something like funk music at all! You could say, that he basically invented the whole thing all by himself. JB's albums are the basis for all the "funky" things that came later on - including Prince!

Just my 2 cents...
[Edited 8/7/09 3:42am]

prince uses musical genre almost as an instrument in its own right. I dont think he is trying to be boss of the field it's just part of a bigger thing

I was watching 'Black To The Future' yesterday on VH1 and came to the realization - Prince was never really as funky as he's been made out to be. True funk lived and reigned in the 70s and early 80s.

Prince's funk couldn't really hold a candle to those guys (Parliament, EWF, Chic etc). And they could never do what he does.

He is not a THE most important or greatest funk-artist, but who IS?

I mean, most well known funkateers have always mixed their funk with other styles and didn't limit themselves to playing 'pure funk' only, whatever that might be.

Sly and the Family Stone did throw a lot of soul, gospel and rock into their 'mix'.

George Clinton (and Parliament and Funkadelic) used jazz-elements and 'peppered' his music with psychedelic rock.

Maybe the godfather himself, James Brown, was the one who stayed closest to the 'pure' uncut funk, but hey, he invented it... lol
But also, dont forget he started as a soul / traditional R&B singer.

About Prince, he might have went into all kind of directions stylewise during his career (from pop to rock, from folk to blues, from techno to hip-hip): during his early years in MPLS (1978 - 1984) funk was a main ingredient of his style, and he has done A LOT in reinventing the and redefining the sound of funk in the eighties.
Also after 1984 he has regularly gone back to playing funk-based music (the Camille album, the Black album, parts of the Batdance and Symbol album, several individual songs later on) and with that he created, IMO, some of the greatest funk-tracks of the last 20 - 25 years.

People here who say he can't 'reach' artists like Chic, Kool and the Gang and Earth, wind and fire, at least when it comes to FUNK, need there ears checked:
Those bands might haved use some funk-elements in their music, but they were disco and soulbands in the first place: EWF was a disco show-revue in the first place, not a funk-band.

To conclude, its hard to say who is the real 'king of funk', because, what i said, funk has often been a mix-genre, so its hard to decide who is more 'funkier'...lol
But when i look at the history and the development of funk music these are really the BIG 4 IMO:
James Brown - Sly Stone - George Clinton - Prince

FunkDr said:

I'd go with that comment.

He's not the King of Funk, nor is he the King of Pop or any other genre. He is just the King.
[Edited 8/7/09 7:56am]

The whole discussion reminds me of this thread here (The Myth of Prince's Funk) http://prince.org/msg/7/279744
[Edited 8/7/09 8:02am]

Something i would like to ad:

Allthough i consider George Clinton the one who is keeping the funk-music and vibe alive, I have never been really fond of his recordings / albums.

Dont get me wrong: he is great during his live-jams, but his (and his bands)albums have always been very uneven: maybe 2 or 3 great tracks on each album, the rest often being formless jams or 'interesting' idea's not worked out very well.
When he plays live he also relies heavily on his classics from the seventies and early eighties. They are still great songs, but its like he has stopped writing really great funk-songs after the Computer Games album.

When i look at Princes albums, how stylistically diverse they might have been, i can compile a funk-collection from them that is IMO far stronger then any individual album by George Clinton in the last 20 years.
To me Prince as a RECORDING 'funk' artist BY FAR outshines George Clinton.

To illustrate that, i made the following chronological tracklist.

Prince - The best of funk

CD 1:
1. Party Up
2. Controversy
3. Lets Work
4. Automatic
5. Lady Cab Driver
6. Erotic City
7. New Position
8. Girls and Boys
9. Kiss
10. Mountains (extended version)

CD 2:
1. Housequake
2. Hot Thing
3. Shockedelica
4. Le Grind
5. Superfunkycalifragisexy
6. Lovesexy
7. The Future
8. Party Man
9. S.E.X.
10 We Can Funk

CD 3:
1. Sexy MF
2. Sacrifice
3. Pussy Control
4. Billy Jack Bitch
5. I Rock, Therefore I am
6. Hide the Bone
7. 2045
8. The everlasting now (Live at the Alladin)
9. Musicology (live at Jay Leno)
10. F.U.N.K.
[Edited 8/7/09 8:22am]

Lovesexy, I Rock Therfore I Am, Pussy Control ???

I wouldnt call these songs funk music

Lovesexy = funky !!! I'd add Head, Rock Hard in a Funky Place, Days of Wild (live), Lovesign, Come On, 3121, Alphabet St.

Nice compilation and comments too, Riverpoet !

Riverpoet31 said:

Ok, you've got to be kidding me with this list. You have got to be joking. This is not great funk. Some of them are not even good Prince songs.

I disagree with you... lol

These song might contain elements from several other musical styles, but when you look at their basic-structure, especially the beatdepartment, it are funk-songs IMO.

Before Lovesexy starts to move in all kind of directions compositionwise (a gospel-like segment, a bridge with guitar-soloing, up-and downspeeded vocals) it sounds like a hi-tech take on a Sly Stone song (the verse-chorus part) and the drummachine and synth-bass that hold the entire composition together owes a lot to George Clinton during his Computer Games-era.

I rock, therefore I am seems to be one of the most 'pissed on' songs on the org.
Something i really dont get.
Okay, those rap and toasting-parts may not be everybodys taste, but IMO its one of THE best funk(-rock) tracks he released in the nineties.
The beat is like One nation under a groove by Parliament, but then like 10 times harder. The way Princes and rosies vocals and his guitar and the horns 'interact' is just brutal and 'in your face'.
Despite the window-dressing with Scrap D and Shabba whatshisname, its classic Prince 'hard-funk'.

Prince might rap and not sing on Pussy Control, it doesnt mean this song isn't funk.
In fact, its like stripped down JB / Kiss-like funk 'mutated' into a somewhat t ironic take on nineties dance-pop. The sound may be more 'techno', but the composition underneath is classic funk (just listen to the bridge right after he sings 'breakdown...' or the synths at the end).

No way am I kidding with these songs.

Maybe you tell me what GREAT funk is so i understand you better.

Thanks for the additions!

I especially forgot about Head and Rockhard in a funky place.

Lovesign I would rather call R&B, Come on drones along a bit too much i think.

I thought about Alphabet Street, but it SO multi-styled i did exclude it from my list... lol

FunkDr said:

some people shouldn't have a keyboard and a 4 real

L4OA - because.....???? actually, hold it - I ain't interested !

Riverpoet - Come On - the beat is just so phat! gotta be in there !

Soulstar77A said:

i dont think he knows what funk is.

How could anyone with a sane mind call Prince the King of Funk?
First of all, Prince is not even a Funk artist. Prince has created a decent catalog of funky songs, but that doesn't make him a Funk artist. He has not devoted his career to creating Funk.

Second, which Funk songs that Prince created set new standards of Funk or could be considered part of the catalog of important Funk songs? Prince is mainly known for his pop material. Pretty much all of his successful chart hits were pop songs, not Funk songs. When did Prince ever have a #1 Funk hit?

Third, James Brown created Funk. If anyone deserves the title King of Funk, it would be Brown. Not that he even needs a title (or anyone, for that matter).

This is a funny thread.

FunkDr said:

"Rockhard in a funky place" may have the word "funky" in its title, but that doesnt mean that it is a funk song. It's some sort fo jazz, rock, pop fusion. But no true funk song in traditional sense.
[Edited 8/7/09 13:20pm]