Simple yes and you know it!!!!

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

So true, as far as Funk live performance/interpretation he is right up there with JB. I think his live work on the parade SOTT tours is worth considering because a lot of stuff that isnt meant to be funky on record was transformed into JB styled funk workouts. What he did production wise in the early-mid 80's was taking what was supposed to be cold and lifeless and giving it funk and warmth. DMSR was arguably his funkiest song at that time and it was all techno. Clinton said it best when he said Prince can do by himself what me and James need a band to do.

"Funk is whatever it needs to be at the time that it is"
- George Clinton.

Therefore, Prince is funky. A major contributor -- cause how we gon' know what we want if he never gives us what we need?

dreamshaman32 said:

Prince is equal to James Brown as far as funk goes.
Yeah, i'm done with this thread.

again! KISS was a blues song that his band made funky ... not prince
prince made black album as answer to critics who say he lost his funk
... lost while with revolution .. his funkiest band

when prince say time to get funky ... its not funky
when james brown say time to get funky ... it funky

prince can play funk but prince is not funky
prince is like black vanilla ice

prince is pop ... king of pop! not funk
mountains was funky but not a prince groove

sad but true

sometimes he get funk rite such as we can funk chocolate box version
sometimes he get funk alll wrong and u all know it
in fact it is attempted funk that is soooo not funky that one can no longer consider prince funky ... just merely adept at copying funk moves ... on the one
good god .. gimme some of that chicken grease ... i got the butter for ur muffin
all homage to funkmastas ... copycat but not in his blood

TrevorAyer said:

TrevorAyer said:

go see a shrink

squirrelgrease said:

But--- Prince never covered 777 9311 did he? Correct me it I am wrong.

Yes....he created the MINNEAPOLIS SOUND..come on fam..come on....

How many others have copied him after in the name of funk? Even his peers have from Morris, Jimmy and Terry to Jesse Johnson all incorporated something from the man's creations and the children like The Neptunes, Missy & Timbaland afterwards.

hollywooddove said:

777-9311 is written and played by Prince... with Morris on vocals.

ButterscotchPimp said:

Prince's live interpretation of his work in his peak years mirrored and often equaled that of james. America and other jams were given a different life when performed live, were they not?. Prince is not a Funk Artist and James is on the Funk Mount Rushmore no one is arguing that but if there was a Funk Hall of Fame you could not enshrine 2 classes of musicians without considering Prince's contribution to the genre. Is it me or do funkateers on the org seem quicker to dismiss prince in this regard and even more disturbingly so reduce the discussion with well placed subtle insults to those with opposing views.I would suggest to those who feel they need to defend prince in any way musically, dont, the body of work speaks for itself.

If you think that an influential funk musician had to have his peak in the 70s and needed a large band with a horn section, then no, Prince is not a major contributor to funk.

If you think that an influential funk musician also might have pushed the envelope by mixing elements of funk which other styles which are far beyond funk alone, then yes, he is a major contributor.

Prince contributed to funk by making it clear that his musical interests go much further than just funk. He mixed funk aspects such as a funk bass with new wave and electronica in the early 80s. In the mid-to-late 80s, he changed to a quite stripped-down sound with more pop elements mixed in, and "Kiss", for instance, is a great example of a radio friendly pop tune layed over a sparse funk arrangement.

So yes, he's a contributor imo.

There is also this underlying message that, because Prince plays rock music, that his funk is somehow less powerful/valid or watered down. Which is, of course, bullshit.
[Edited 5/27/10 5:33am]

the time were kinda funky but they would out funk prince at his own shows ... the band was tight and funky ... not prince prince write music but prince very unfunky execution ... modern funk ... nooo ... many rap artists understand funk much better than prince that why prince try to copy them hell even red hot chili peppers are funkier and they can be embarassingly bad

fishbone another very funky band that also plays rock and punk but know what funk is ... even talking heads understood funk ... they got many musicians to help but still made very very funky music at times ... see crosseyed and painless ... i disagree with comparrisons to james brown ... james brown is funk ... prince was influenced by funk but did not contribute on the level that james brown did ... not even close

Prince is not "just" a funk musician, but his contributions to funk and his standing as a funk musician are well documented and cannot seriously be disputed other than by fan boy rantings.
It has nothing to do with liking Prince or not, that's just what it is.
Now if people want to back-track and use try semantics that's cool too. I mean people claim the President Of The United States is not a "real" President....such is life, everything is subjective. Live and let live.
[Edited 5/27/10 7:11am]

yeah but the president IS NOT A REAL PRESIDENT ... we have no real elections .. the guy with the most friends of big business wins every time and the people who actually care about people dont have a chance due to big business controlling our country ... thats pharms ... weapons contractors .. junk food manufacturers .. this is why we are perpetually at war and sick and addicted to media and pills ... (well not me but look around) ... so to say we have a real president is a joke ... the dude did not even repeal TORTURE .. he signed the PATRIOT ACT a piece of legistlation that is UNCONSTITUTIONAL ... hello!! the constitution .. anybody remember that??? it is what separates us from living in a dictatorship ... HELLO??? anybody out there with a clue .. this is not a democracy ... our government is designed to sedate the masses into believing we have choice .. u live in voluntary slavery ... la la la ... wonder whats on tv?? LIES thats what is on tv LIES ... ALL OF IT ... newpapers LIES .. prince fans should know better ... guess u dont listen to lyrics ... artists like prince are the only ones out there speaking any truth ... its the only way truth gets thru the bombardment of plastic prepaged media over exposure mind manipulation brain washing ...

Prince meets St Peter at the Holy Heavenly gates.

St Peter says to him: "Just a few questions, Sir, before I let you in."

Prince glares at St Pete impatiently.

St Peter continues: "Did you make the world a better place in your lifetime as a musician?"

Prince glares at St Pete impatiently.

St Peter clears his throat, looks back down at his clipboard and continues: "What was your greatest accomplishment?"

Prince glares at St Pete impatiently and starts tapping his pimp-cane on the ground.

St Peter doesnt want to upset Prince because the last thing he needs is for all Hell to break loose at Heaven's Gates, so he quickly continues:

"OK. Let's get to the point then shall we? Did you contribute to Funk?"

Prince throws his head back laughing and says:

"Change one letter and that's what I contributed to. It aint funk music, it's fuck music. I invented a whole new genre. Now are you gonna let me in or what?"

Saint Peter replies: "I'm sorry, Sir, unfortunately we cant allow inventors into Heaven. Especially not inventors of Fuck Music. James is here and you know how he is. Please would you kindly return to Earth for one more incarnation during which time you are required to read all the comments in the 'Is he a major contributor to FUNK' thread, and forgive them their sins, as they forgive you for sinning against them.

Prince's eyeballs pop out of his head: "My Sins??"

"Yes" Saint Peter calmly replies. "You should have know better than to play music no human on earth can label or categorize or barely even understand. And before you find yourself so awesomely clever for doing so, find it in your heart to contribute to Funk Music, just once."

"Why should I bother?" asks Prince.

"Because, Sir, if you do, they will all see that is exactly what you have been doing all along, but you call it Fuck Music, and so do they, because none of you can hear the truth."

"Well if that's what I've been doing all along then why wont you let me in to Heaven!" Prince is getting very peaved now.

Saint Peter smiles, places his hand warmly on Prince's shoulder and says:

"You swore"


[Edited 5/27/10 7:30am]

TrevorAyer said:

lol
i love it! are you serious tho'?
I think you have proven my point better than i ever could. case closed.
Are you related to butterschotchpimp?
[Edited 5/27/10 9:04am]

skywalker said:

George Clinton based the whole Parliament vibe on the rock bands of the era, Boosty Colins was attracted to the free form do what the fuck u want spirit and gladly became a funkateer, never looking back on JB who also refused to pay a brotha lol. I say what i sense fom these cats because it reminds me of the conflict i had with older cousins who were funksters, they hated prince and resented him when he blew up. Yet, the real guys who could play and exemplified funk dug prince. Only Rick hated Prince and lets face it that was all about pussy and money, but conversly George thought Rick was a weak ass rip off artist and respected prince cus he was doing his own funk. Funk is first and foremost your own shit and Prince had his own approach that included elements of rock and techno and tru originals like Clinton can dig it-boxed in jealous mothafucka's like Rick couldnt.My older cousins resented Princes funk because it sounded different and more importantly represented a passing of their youth, it was my time, my funk and although i'll always know the root of pure funk is JB and Bootsy (all over my ipod lol) my funk is purple.When i got into hip hop and managed a group the 2 models we used were Digital Underground and Parliament Funkadelic, yet it was my vast collection of unreleased Prince that blew my producers away and resulted in some of our best samples/tracks. The opening bluesy piano on Princes Lovesexy Strange Relationship was the bottom of one of our funkiest tracks. The guys i worked with were reared on George and JB like any other Hip Hop producer of the late 80's early 90's, they thought prince was a fag who did rock music..until they met me. They found just as much funky samples from Prince as they did JB and it seperated them from rival producers in Minneapolis at the time. If Prince were not "funky" how did that occur? was i dreaming? lol.
[Edited 5/27/10 10:21am]
[Edited 5/27/10 10:28am]

This argument is somewhat similar to the argument of who was the better guitarist: Prince or Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi is an immortal when it comes to his craft and that was his exclusive focus. Prince is a variation of the HEndrix and there are some orgers/fams/music lovers who swear that the student (Prince) has surpassed the teacher (Hendrix). Its subjective.

Ditto for the funk, as I stated before, I don't think he is necessarily defined by it but took what he defined as funk and carried it in another direction. Some people will vouch for Prince as being funky (if not funkier than JB). Once again, its subjective.

As it relates to the funk forefathers of the 1970s: the music had much more "meat" to it. Its hard to describe it but when u hear it, u know its funky. But look at the landscape then too. It was a byproduct of the soul/RnB/social scene and sound of the 1960s and 1970s where if you couldn't write, perform, and or play an instrument, you were not worthy of being a musician.

Prince is a byproduct of this era, but also of a musical landscape that had just left the disco/new wave/punk eras. MTV was on the horizon and extended funk jams were dying off. To merge his vision to the new era, he took a much more minimalist approach to the funk with the studio technology at his disposal, giving it a pop sensibility. Yes he could play, write and perform his own music, but having an ear for the scene at the time, he morphed "funk" with his other influences to create a sound that is uniquely his own.

It would be wrong to completely write him off as not being a contributor to the funk. As George Clinton said of him one time "He's a positive nuisance" which I think is the highest compliment Prince can get from a funk forefather. I think it would be also safe to say that the collaborations with Larry Graham (Sly & the Family Stone), Maceo Parker(who worked with JB) and others would not have happened if they didn't share at least some of the same musical DNA.

Just an opinion,

much respect to James Brown and George Clinton, but they couldn't lay down a funk track on their own! (they needed amazing musicians)

Prince can do a one man band, and would be in better company with Sly/Stevie/Junie Morrison/Shuggie Otis.

But he can also funk it up as a band leader like JB and George, so in many ways he is the ultimate chameleon of funk.

he can also rip the hell out of a guitar like Hendrix or Santana.

or play a plaintive piano ballad like Joni Mitchell.

so he is Funk and much more besides....

No Doubt, he did but as Prince is fond of saying:"If you can describe it, it ain't funky. IMHO people seem to get confused or tongue-tied when trying to label Prince. He has influenced nearly everything or all that is relevent to music.

jackson35 said:

prince is not in the same class as james brown . fyi prince does not play all the notes on his records. all of you known thats been disputed by people in his own circle.

Shit. Prince is better than James. When did James ever play a killer guitar solo?

skywalker said:

jackson35 said:

prince is not in the same class as james brown . fyi prince does not play all the notes on his records. all of you known thats been disputed by people in his own circle.

Shit. Prince is better than James. When did James ever play a killer guitar solo?

I only remember James having one song I can remember........ and MC Hammer touched it.

jackson35 said:

james brown has been on a roll dropping hits since 1957 up until 1988. james brown destroyed the rolling stone live in concert. james brown funk stopped the young kids from tearing up boston when dr king was killed. what do you got?

but you a talking about cultural impact/popularity - which is off topic. we are talking about funk, and if Prince is a major contributor (not who's better!).

My feelings are that if Prince had concentrated solely on Funk, then he would have been quite successful, but wouldn't be in the top 10 funk artists of all time - the fact that he crossed over from soul/r&b/funk into pop/rock gave him a freedom to play with the funk and create a new funk of his own.

so yes he is a major contributor, but only because he became successful as a pop artist.