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Prince : Mainstream? Underground? "Borderline"? I was wondering how U as fans, define Princey's status in the Music Industry? Do U consider him "mainstream" (or Hollywood as they say?), rather underground artist? or just borderline, flirting with the two sides? Or has he changed throughout his career?
I personnaly think he's borderline, especially back in the 80, there was a transition period, somewhere between "1999" and "Purple Rain", P was an underground artist, cause of his looks, adorned by punks, hipsters, gays and music critics mostly... Ant not much by the general public. But "Purple Rain" made him mainstream, but still, there was something about him that just didn't make him straight "hollywood" (sell-out) à la MJ or Madonna... But since "Diaminds & Pearls", he's kinda of "underground" to me, ever since he left Warner... Whaut's your opinion on his "status"? Do U see him as mainstream? Underground? elitist? borderline? Everybody is somebody, but nobody wants to be themselves. | |
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Good question, Frenchguy.. I have been wondering about the same thing,
Prince is definately not mainstream no more, I wish he still was at least trying to be mainstream, but it seems like he has given up to impress the world with his music. here in Denmark he has been almost invissible the past few years.... did I say: few ? well maybe since the silly name change and war against Warner Bros. in the mid 1990s... The 3 great icons of the 1980s Madonna, Prince and MJ, has been reduced to 2 icons.... the press writes all the time about Madonna and the late MJ, but NEVER ever about Prince. Prince's latest release hasn't been reviewed here becuz it wasn't even released in Denmark. Prince is nowhere.... and it seems to me he has very few ambitions with his career. It seems like he even doesn't care whether his career is successfull or not.... Prince is not reckoned with no more in the media. Is Prince an underground artist then... independant and free..? maybe but it sure is very boring - and it is disappointing that noone seems to be taking him seriously anymore. This is just imo.  Prince 4Ever.  | |
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his 80's image and music: mainstream
his actual image and mid 90's-00's music: underground his personality: borderline  and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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1978-1981: Breaking through
1982-1995: Superstar, mainstream 1996-2009: ???? Maybe free, independant, or isolated - or marginalised..... ? Prince 4Ever. | |
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FrenchGuy said: I was wondering how U as fans, define Princey's status in the Music Industry? Do U consider him "mainstream" (or Hollywood as they say?), rather underground artist? or just borderline, flirting with the two sides? Or has he changed throughout his career?
I personnaly think he's borderline, especially back in the 80, there was a transition period, somewhere between "1999" and "Purple Rain", P was an underground artist, cause of his looks, adorned by punks, hipsters, gays and music critics mostly... Ant not much by the general public. But "Purple Rain" made him mainstream, but still, there was something about him that just didn't make him straight "hollywood" (sell-out) à la MJ or Madonna... But since "Diaminds & Pearls", he's kinda of "underground" to me, ever since he left Warner... Whaut's your opinion on his "status"? Do U see him as mainstream? Underground? elitist? borderline? I would classify him as underground mainstream, a pop artist with a large cult following. He obviously can not truly be underground since he has over 30 years of a rich musical catalog with hits and rarities known to many music fans who follow his work. Also note that with so many high profile moments in his career (Purple Rain movie, performances, name change), the general public is aware of Prince, albeit for different reasons. On that same note, he can not be considered mainstream since he really does not benefit from massive airplay on the radio or TV. Since leaving WB, his musical distribution is more or less controlled by who he wants it to stream through, so if he chooses different media, different gate keepers will accept or promote his work differently. "Old man's gotta be the old man. Fish has got to be the fish." | |
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COMPUTERBLUE1984 said: FrenchGuy said: I was wondering how U as fans, define Princey's status in the Music Industry? Do U consider him "mainstream" (or Hollywood as they say?), rather underground artist? or just borderline, flirting with the two sides? Or has he changed throughout his career?
I personnaly think he's borderline, especially back in the 80, there was a transition period, somewhere between "1999" and "Purple Rain", P was an underground artist, cause of his looks, adorned by punks, hipsters, gays and music critics mostly... Ant not much by the general public. But "Purple Rain" made him mainstream, but still, there was something about him that just didn't make him straight "hollywood" (sell-out) à la MJ or Madonna... But since "Diaminds & Pearls", he's kinda of "underground" to me, ever since he left Warner... Whaut's your opinion on his "status"? Do U see him as mainstream? Underground? elitist? borderline? I would classify him as underground mainstream, a pop artist with a large cult following. He obviously can not truly be underground since he has over 30 years of a rich musical catalog with hits and rarities known to many music fans who follow his work. Also note that with so many high profile moments in his career (Purple Rain movie, performances, name change), the general public is aware of Prince, albeit for different reasons. On that same note, he can not be considered mainstream since he really does not benefit from massive airplay on the radio or TV. Since leaving WB, his musical distribution is more or less controlled by who he wants it to stream through, so if he chooses different media, different gate keepers will accept or promote his work differently. ... Tom Waits has been putting an album every 2 year or so, he's a quite versatile musician (maybe not as talented as Princey), but he's still some obscure/indie/alternative/underground artist to the "average" listener and has a huge cult following too... So lm kind of wondering where the line between "mainstream" and "underground" is, especially for prince, ever since he's a genre-bending musician, had HUGE moments ("PurPle Rain", "Batman"..) and less than indie approach of music ("Black Album", "N.EW.S.")... Does/he ever have a sponsorship from some big brand? advertising? Everybody is somebody, but nobody wants to be themselves. | |
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FrenchGuy said: COMPUTERBLUE1984 said: I would classify him as underground mainstream, a pop artist with a large cult following. He obviously can not truly be underground since he has over 30 years of a rich musical catalog with hits and rarities known to many music fans who follow his work. Also note that with so many high profile moments in his career (Purple Rain movie, performances, name change), the general public is aware of Prince, albeit for different reasons. On that same note, he can not be considered mainstream since he really does not benefit from massive airplay on the radio or TV. Since leaving WB, his musical distribution is more or less controlled by who he wants it to stream through, so if he chooses different media, different gate keepers will accept or promote his work differently. ... Tom Waits has been putting an album every 2 year or so, he's a quite versatile musician (maybe not as talented as Princey), but he's still some obscure/indie/alternative/underground artist to the "average" listener and has a huge cult following too... So lm kind of wondering where the line between "mainstream" and "underground" is, especially for prince, ever since he's a genre-bending musician, had HUGE moments ("PurPle Rain", "Batman"..) and less than indie approach of music ("Black Album", "N.EW.S.")... Does/he ever have a sponsorship from some big brand? advertising? Outside of Target (LotusFlower), I can't really say. I still think he is a pop artist with a cult following. In my opinion, the line exists/created when a mainstream talented artist is no longer the darling of the mainsream media and rely on touring and albums releases to keep their fan base engaged to their music. This in turn creates the notion of being "underground" when in reality, it may be a matter of being less publicized. "Old man's gotta be the old man. Fish has got to be the fish." | |
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For his entire career, Prince has straddled the line between being "mainstream" and "underground". The fact is, he is a musician/artist who is also a popular rock star as well.
He is famous across the globe..how could he be underground? The masses know him, yet he is so prolific and such that only his rabid fan base can keep up with him...very underground. He is both...as impossible as it seems. It is one of THE reasons that I love Prince. He defies categorization. "New Power slide...." |
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I think alot of his fans think and want him to be mainstream but the truth is he's underground, the only people that buy his records and sign up/get ripped off by his websites is us his hardcore fans, sure he has enough clout to do superbowl an the O2 and stuff like that but he's mainly underground.
just my thoughts  She Believed in Fairytales and Princes, He Believed the voices coming from his stereo
If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me? | |
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I'd say he's borderline. Everyone knows Prince, but no one knows what happened to him. "Free URself, B the best that U can B, 3rd Apartment from the Sun, nothing left to fear" Prince Rogers Nelson - Forever in my Life - | |
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