I do worry mainly because in 30 years time I think his work (apart from Purple Rain) will be greatly forgotten, You ask most people of my generation and they know only 2 songs by the purple one (usually TMBGIW, Purple Rain in my personal experiences)...and I know some of you will say, what about albums like Sign Of The Times?...well yeah its adored by critics and us...but I can bet most young people (certainley in the uk) wouldnt be able 2 name 1 song of it! (maybe the title track ) I mean its saddens me that soo many of his great works (especially slow-jams)..will be left with dust and moss growing all over them

any1 else feel this way?

I think age plays against him.
He's 50 or 51 now, correct? And even though he still appears relatively young thanks to makeup, a good diet, hair die, lighting, latex, and smoke & mirrors, he's still no spring chicken.

I think he'll pull in young folks by recording first rate, mind-blowing music, and being consistent about it. At the same time, he'll pull in more of EVERYBODY doing that.

It's a hell of a gamble to make "relevant" music and videos at his age. I'm not saying that it's fair--just that it's a gamble.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter that the "disposable income" generation doesn't really know Prince's body of work. His older fan base is large enough to keep dough in his account. Plus, his legacy will live on as he's influenced so many current artists. Much like James Brown sold lots of records as a result of Prince's JB tribute songs.

This has been an ongoing subject. As mentioned before, his age works against him. But that can be overcome by the next 2 things. #1- a major label. If warner had been behind him the last 17 years, and he would have held back a little like they said, instead of saturating the market with his music, he would have been in more demand. The appetite for his music would have been greater. #2- Lay off the "jazzy stuff". His R&B and Rock are his strongest moments. Watch the Alladin Vegas dvd. when are his best reactions? When he performs his crap from the Rainbow Children, or when he tears up Whole Lotta Love? More recently, when he performs Somewhere here on earth, or Beautiful Ones? His R&B and Rock will ALWAYS outshine his Jazz stuff.
Todays generation couldnt care less about Jazz, especially when mixed with Jehovas Witness lingo.
Another thing, is his "girliness". Yea, its ok to have a feminine side. And back in the 80's and early 90's it was greatly accepted. Look at Poison, Motley Crue, etc etc. Now look at todays rockers. Could you Imagine Nickleback in full make up, with eyeliner and lipstick?
I can accept Prince for who he is, cause Ive been a fan since the early 80's. But todays generation dont get it, and most never will.
Prince is Prince. He isnt gonna change his music to suit the public. He isnt gonna dress like the public thinks he should. He's not even gonna record songs we want him to record, or release songs we want him to release. Look at One Night Alone for example. His FIRST live cds and what does he NOT put on there? Purple Rain! Of all his live performances, people crave Purple Rain the most. Then he deliberately neglects to put it on there.
I wish he would do some things differently, but this is what we Love and Hate him for...

ronnwinter said:

hmmm i see what ya mean
[Edited 10/17/09 15:53pm]

Imago said:

good point, even tho his music is rich in variety (which im thankfull for) I do wish hed experiment more these days...and be a bit more dirty
[Edited 10/17/09 15:55pm]

Im sure Prince is gonna pull in his young fans,look at me,I found out about Prince through Michael Jackson.So if people read about Jackson in the 80's,just maybe they'll come across Prince in the discussion.

JarviusLovesexy said:

I think he was trying to do that with MPLSOUND, same as the 90's, by dumbing down his music and pandering down with grandma’s bubblegum funk
It seems like he is talking down to his audience musically , maybe he feels his audience is that unsophisticated (Lolita and Love and everything on MPLSOUND)
When he did that in the 90’s he became a laughingstock to both loyal fans and the new generation, leaving only the drooling fams for consolation.
forget youtube bans, I don’t think you can give away most of his 90’s work, and the same will hold true for stuff like MPLSOUND.

I agree that he will pull in today’s generation as well as generations to come by not pandering down. We know he has the talent, I think he just has to forget about focus groups and demographics.
He has an awesome back catalog that should keep him clothed in silk and cashmere at the Kingdom Hall, and needn’t need to worry about the next generation, they will come seek him out if his music moves them.

.
[Edited 10/17/09 16:51pm]

Legend's live forever...If Heaven and Earth don't pass away, neither will a Prince vocal in some music archive a billion years from now.

I don't know how or why he should try harder. I love his work. He is who he is. After working successfully in this business for 30 years he most definitely knows what he is doing. However just because you don't hear him on the radio does not mean he is not a good artist. The radios and magazines are owned by corporations who pay big money to keep their artists in the spot light and generate sales, does not mean that artist is good. It just may mean he is a sellout.

Prince is an independent. I love him for that for not sucking up to corporate bull. I am very much like that when it comes to my work. I rather work from the heart than have it distilled by corporations just to generate more sales.

If he tries to go after another audience he may lose what he currently has. One bird in hand is worth two in the bush?
[Edited 10/18/09 6:17am]

Imo, the younger generation will not be pulled in no matter what.
Why should Prince turn hip-hop, rap or whatever the rage is amongst the youth.
The current youth in 10 years time will generally not be listening to the same music they are now. They might stay locked into some music that "rocked their youth," but their ears will mature and who knows, it's then that they'll find Prince's music somewhere along the road. Only then will they appreciate it, because it will be different that what they had been listening to.

There are very few young people who listen to jazz. But as people mature from the age of 15 to their 40s, their tastes will change and these very often go back to the roots of music. Soul, jazz the classic genres, including classical never die. In today's youthful rage music, where guys call girls every name under the sun and women pretty much do the same thing...one awful song comes to mind.. "if you like it then you better put a ring on it." While it might sound funky to them in their 20s, I doubt it will be the only thing they will ever listen to as they age. By the time this youthful generation will have grown up, they will be faced with new music from their "new generation."

Bottom line, Prince should make music that makes him happy, nothing else.

He tried with a 3 CD crap-fest called Emancipation and again with Rave Un2 The Craptastic. All of it slick polished bullshit.

therat said:

I think Emancipation cd 3 is brilliant.

I know alot of people hate alot of his albums simply cause theyre not good from beginning to end. Emancipation actually had enough good songs to make ONE great album/cd, but it was drowned in a sea of "not so great" stuff. Same with Crystal Ball and Lotus. In my opinion the only full album that was great from start to finish since Sign O the Times, was The Gold Experience.
Most artists release an album every 3 years or so. If you were to take the best songs from Prince each 3 year period from 1992 to present, the man would have had some KILLER albums!

Ah, I think we 'younger music lovers' will always seek out good music, and it's so easy to do so now because of the internet; most people I know that hold music as an essential pillar in their lives don't listen to the radio or watch MTV (and some even enjoy jazz!!!!). Prince's golden material speaks for itself, and was at least played on the radio when I was a young kid. His work is all the more noted when more contemporary acts like Beck and of Montreal cite him as a major influence and cover his songs.

no i like who he is but, i do think he should work harder in making the classic stuff available to youngsters. Remastering, shows on vh1, a youtube channel with crazy volume of postings would be a start. Young listeners who want to be sophisticated will find older material naturally, technology brought my 20 year old daughter to etta james not etta james.

As much as it pains me to say this, once Prince is gone, he'll be remembered for two things in the mainstream consciousness. 1) Purple Rain 2) The name change.

I think a lot of folks are quite sheltered on the org and have a distorted view of how the 'general' public see him.

optimus said:

No because they're broke.

TyphoonTip said:

All one can really speak on is how they and those in their life see Prince. Right?

That's like me saying...all people remember Michael Jackson for is Thriller and molestation accusations. It's a broad generalization from one person's viewpoint. Not necessarily accurate and true for the rest of the world.

skywalker said:

nicely put skywalker.my memories of Mike r the dance @the end of the black or white video and the spin he did while per4ming man in the mirror LIVE. i dig purple rain but i do believe it stifled P's growth.(publicly) around the world in a day was FIRE! SOTT was the BOMB! Parade was BRILLIANT! and 4 the record, Under The Cherry Moon, More acurately portrays Prince' personality. according 2 J.B. My favorite Prince movie by far.

Anyone under 25 is scary Prince don't need them

No

nurseV said:

Umm unless you don't wanna have him have a long and prosperous legacy then your absolutely correct.

Whether or not some like it, P is touching the younger generation though his music. Good music is GOOD MUSIC. There ain't no age limit.

I was at an AC/DC concert earlier this year. Everywhere i looked around I saw a little kid with his/her mom or dad rocking out having one hell of a good time.
They are 1 of the many bands that are grateful for their younger audience. I'm downright positive P is aswell.

JesusFreak said:

He's already a legend and yeah they are scary

Not just no, but hell to the fucking naw! He's already doing too much to try to pull them in already with sellout shit hop sounding songs like "Ol Skool Company", "Mr. Goodnight", "Incense and Candles", etc. and the horrible "singing a rap" type style on "Box Of Chocolate" like so many of these so-called artists are doing today. Not to mention using rediculous sickening shit hop slang words like "shawty".

I've tolerated a lot of style changes over the years from Prince such as changing from a badass funk/rocker to artsy fartsy and grew to love artsy fartsy but shit hop is something that I don't tolerate and never will tolerate. Yeah, it's been limited to maybe one track on each of the later albums but "MPLShit" had a sellout vibe to it in damn near the entire album. I've bought damn near every album on the day of it's release but next time I'm going to wait until I either hear some samples or until I hear some reviews from orgers who know what I like and dislike. If Prince wants the shit hop crowd, they can have him. But let's just see how long they keep him.
.
.
.
[Edited 10/20/09 7:50am]

Honestly, yeah I wish he would do more to bring in the not just the youth but people in general. When it comes to his music, being independant has done more harm than good IMHO. Yeah he's making more money than in the 80's but he's losing so much more money by not putting his music out in EVERY form of media out there. Prince is busy losing money trying to get money, but that's another story. He's lazy as hell when it comes to promotion and without proper promotion, who gonna know about a new album, let alone buy it?

I am one of those fans who thinks Prince has done great music since he left WB but WB brought his music out to the masses and on his own, he's doing a terrible job doing this, mainly because he's not gifted in this area. That's why it bugs me so much to see him reject youtube the way that he does because he needs it BADLY. He needs remind people of how great he was and how great he still is. He has to let EVERYONE know he's doing something new and then people can decide if they want it or not. I knew a lot of people who didn't even know about Lotusflow3r/MPLSound/Elixer until I told them. It shouldn't be like this. Going on Jay Leno for 3 nights in a row and that's it won't cut it either. The music is cool, he just needs to put it in peoples faces. SOMEONE other than us will enjoy it.

Prince is too busy trying to contrtol everything and is too ready to expect his ego to be stroked that he can't see where he's headed.

Yeah, i think there is a lot of things prince could do but these days he is not bothered, look at his releases he chose, they are not going to ender him to the younger generation, i live in Ireland and honestly its hard to find real fans of prince, when prince is mentioned its always" yeah he is great, i loved kiss and purple rain", but very few people have a notion about the 3121, gold experience, chaos and disorder albums, he is just so irrelevant here, maybe that's why people like myself love his music, but yeah it would be nice for him to have another big number 1 commercial, hit to wake a lot of people up.