Onthereal said:

2elijah said:

I mean I'm sure Prince is no more perfect than the next human being, but what I don't get about what some people are saying here is, by saying he doesn't have the right to tell others to get their house in order or give advice, when don't you think some of you guys are doing exactly what you're saying he shouldn't do? So when someone becomes "enlightened" so-to-speak at a specific time in their lives about their culture, oh let's say, for example, like how Malcolm X did, when he was living a life of violence, partying with all kinds of women, getting in fights, doing drugs, ending up in jail, and when he became "enlightened", and went out and started preaching to folks who were living their lives like he previously did, before he went to jail, then was it too late for him to be "accepted" by those he was trying to reach as well? How much does one have to prove to those within their race or ethnic group about how "enlightened" and "informed" they are before being accepted and embraced by members of their own group, once they become....."enlightened?"

Secondly, how black does one have to be to prove how "enlightened" they are about their culture, when the majority of the black race don't even display an enormous amount of unity and respect for those within their own culture, as well as many not being knowledgeable about the various ethnic groups that exists within the black culture as a whole or embracing and respecting those variations? Really...please feel free to "enlighten " me.

[Edited 6/12/10 13:27pm]

Prince is 52 and a member of an organization founded in 1876 by some Bible students. This speaks volumes to me about how "enlightened" he is. I'm not out here trying to tell people what they should believe is truth. I think people who do this aren't certain of it themselves so they need to try to convert people but Prince doesn't act fully converted to the JW organization. I wish Prince would have a discussion about the world, religion, love, and the Truth with me. I think he's confused and hiding some things. I'll always love and respect him as an artist and human being.

Point is, regardless of how any of us feel about the religion he chose and whether or not how "close" he follows it, none of us can walk in another person's (adults) path and make the choices for them. I'm sure he has his own personal reasons why he chose to take that path. Some fans need to stop blaming others, for a man's decision who they know usually controls his own life, and makes his own decisions, so why constantly put the blame on one of his friends, for a decision he made on his own? What will insulting, calling him names, and disrespecting him for his religious choicesl do? Enlighten him? Not in that way.

All we can do is look from the outside and give our opinions, advice, criticize or judge, but like it or not, it's still the individual's choice. Some feel his JW beliefs hinders his creativity in music, because he's no longer writing the type of music he wrote back in the 80s or collaborating with artists, some fans wish he could again, because they believe he has no future without those particular artists no longer at his side, but one would think, that if that's what he wanted, then there would have been a reunion by now. Who knows if it can't happen, but that still doesn't mean it will change his religious beliefs or how he views the world. It seems Prince moved on with his life, but many of his longtime fans haven't.

[Edited 6/13/10 8:28am]

ThreadBare said:

Not that it's in itself a litmus test, but at what arguably was the height of his domestic popularity, Prince contributed enough to warrant a special shout-out (in "Purple Rain" font and all) at the end of the King Holiday tribute video.

Maybe some specifics about this alleged self-hate will clear up our confusion...

I think they are referring to the time when a brotha was trying to get paid. Racial ambiguity = crossover success and all that jazz. IIRC, a lot of black folk were not amused and he got a lot of criticism for being a "sell out" to the man.

He's still trying to get paid. He became "enlightened" when he learned racial ambiguity was no longer profitable. Now he's being compared to Malcolm X but he won't stand next to a dark-skinned woman in his video unless he makes funny faces. Why is Prince qualified to give his opinion as truth, advise, criticize, and judge the world?I know he's from Minnesota but his mother and father were Black when he signed those contracts and did all of his movies. Has Prince really changed on the inside? I don't think so.

sro100 said:

Btw, don't know if this has been mentioned but funny that he said he'd play Little Richard in a biopic. That could work if he'd follow through, but I think it's more of a Princely notion.

[Edited 6/11/10 17:58pm]

Leon played Little Richard already.

Read it while waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store. Yeah, it was a long wait.

I didn't feel the need to buy the magazine, because it was much of the same ol' same ol'

I didn't expect to learn anything new about Prince and it didn't disappoint in that sense.

Onthereal said:

He's still trying to get paid. He became "enlightened" when he learned racial ambiguity was no longer profitable. Now he's being compared to Malcolm X but he won't stand next to a dark-skinned woman in his video unless he makes funny faces. Why is Prince qualified to give his opinion as truth, advise, criticize, and judge the world?I know he's from Minnesota but his mother and father were Black when he signed those contracts and did all of his movies. Has Prince really changed on the inside? I don't think so.

Really? What about Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Iced-T, 50 cent, Ludacris, Dr. Dre and others who started off "hard" and had a large, dedicated black fan base, at the beginning of their careers, but have crossed over , so-to-speak and have been collaborating with non-blacks, later in their careers. Are they sellouts too? Do they get a pass or is that limited to a few artists?

He's been on stage with darker-skinned black female singers, for the longest, calls them out and gives them props during the performances, and has promoted a darker-skinned female singer. What's the crime? I think you're reading too much into the "Black Sweat" video and looking for reasons to find something to complain about. So how much of his blood does he have to draw for some black fans in order to be accepted as one of their own?

When he was promoting Tamar, a darker-skinned sista, did you see the vile and hate spewed from many of his non-black fans, because he was promoting a darker-skinned, female singer? Did you see the posts on here from Prince fans, mostly female, non-black fans, on other unofficial sites, stating "She is not his type" or "Why would he promote her?" or worse yet, degrading her looks, because of who she was, not to mention, unnecessary racial comment, and disgusting and hateful remarks about her, that came from the mouths of some so-called fans. You'd thought Prince had committed the most heinous crime promoting a darker-skinned female singer. You can google it, it's all there. So you tell me, how can he win, when so many seem to wish he would lose?

Then you have some non-black fans that have a fit when he plays r&b, and less rock. Then when he makes a song to raise awareness or express his feelings about a social or political situation, some fans whine "Just play the music and leave the socio/political lyrics out of it" or accuse him of having some conspiracy theory. It's one thing to comment on a track, cd, but some comments do go way overboard sometimes and into unnecessary territory.

I am beginning to think some fans believe Prince wakes up and wait for their instructions and permission on how he should begin his day, what he should believe in, who he should be, and what music to play to their satisfaction. He makes a comment on how black artists are treated by the music industry labels, in the past and present day, and I had a feeling some fans were not going to take his statements too lightly, and the fact that he granted "Ebony" magazine an interview.

[Edited 6/12/10 20:03pm]

2elijah said:

Onthereal said:

He's still trying to get paid. He became "enlightened" when he learned racial ambiguity was no longer profitable. Now he's being compared to Malcolm X but he won't stand next to a dark-skinned woman in his video unless he makes funny faces. Why is Prince qualified to give his opinion as truth, advise, criticize, and judge the world?I know he's from Minnesota but his mother and father were Black when he signed those contracts and did all of his movies. Has Prince really changed on the inside? I don't think so.

Really? What about Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Iced-T, 50 cent, Ludacris, Dr. Dre and others who started off "hard" and had a large, dedicated black fan base, at the beginning of their careers, but have crossed over , so-to-speak and have been collaborating with non-blacks, later in their careers. Are they sellouts too? Do they get a pass or is that limited to a few artists?

He's been on stage with darker-skinned black female singers, for the longest, calls them out and gives them props during the performances, and has promoted a darker-skinned female singer. What's the crime? I think you're reading too much into the "Black Sweat" video and looking for reasons to find something to complain about. So how much of his blood does he have to draw for some black fans in order to be accepted as one of their own?

When he was promoting Tamar, a darker-skinned sista, did you see the vile and hate spewed from many of his non-black fans, because he was promoting a darker-skinned, female singer. Did you see the posts on here from Prince fans, mostly female, non-black fans, on other unofficial sites, stating "She is not his type" or "Why would he promote her?" or worse yet, degrading her looks, because of who she was? Not to mention the disgusting and hateful remarks that came from the mouths of some gay, black male Prince fans here. You can google it, it's all there. So you tell me, how can he win, when so many pray for him to lose?

Then you have some non-black fans that have a fit when he plays r&b, and less rock. Then when he makes a song to raise awareness or express his feelings about a social or political situation, some fans whine "Just play the music and leave the socio/political lyrics out of it" or accuse him of having some conspiracy theory. It's one thing to comment on a track, cd, but some comments go way overboard and into unnecessary territory. I am beginning to think some fans believe Prince wakes up and wait for their instructions and permission on how he should begin his day, what he should believe in, and what music to play.

[Edited 6/12/10 18:41pm]

Prince had 20 years of self hate, and now he just trying really hard to make up for it. Plain and simple.

Alamine said:

2elijah said:

Really? What about Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Iced-T, 50 cent, Ludacris, Dr. Dre and others who started off "hard" and had a large, dedicated black fan base, at the beginning of their careers, but have crossed over , so-to-speak and have been collaborating with non-blacks, later in their careers. Are they sellouts too? Do they get a pass or is that limited to a few artists?

He's been on stage with darker-skinned black female singers, for the longest, calls them out and gives them props during the performances, and has promoted a darker-skinned female singer. What's the crime? I think you're reading too much into the "Black Sweat" video and looking for reasons to find something to complain about. So how much of his blood does he have to draw for some black fans in order to be accepted as one of their own?

When he was promoting Tamar, a darker-skinned sista, did you see the vile and hate spewed from many of his non-black fans, because he was promoting a darker-skinned, female singer. Did you see the posts on here from Prince fans, mostly female, non-black fans, on other unofficial sites, stating "She is not his type" or "Why would he promote her?" or worse yet, degrading her looks, because of who she was? Not to mention the disgusting and hateful remarks that came from the mouths of some gay, black male Prince fans here. You can google it, it's all there. So you tell me, how can he win, when so many pray for him to lose?

Then you have some non-black fans that have a fit when he plays r&b, and less rock. Then when he makes a song to raise awareness or express his feelings about a social or political situation, some fans whine "Just play the music and leave the socio/political lyrics out of it" or accuse him of having some conspiracy theory. It's one thing to comment on a track, cd, but some comments go way overboard and into unnecessary territory. I am beginning to think some fans believe Prince wakes up and wait for their instructions and permission on how he should begin his day, what he should believe in, and what music to play.

[Edited 6/12/10 18:41pm]

Prince had 20 years of self hate, and now he just trying really hard to make up for it. Plain and simple.

So I guess you've been holding 20 years of anger against that. That's a whole lot of frown lines.

But you know what, one doesn't have to sound or act like the actor in this video, to prove how "black" they are, but it seems even that won't satisfy some. My point is, you can't tell someone how "Black" they should be, especially when there's so many flavors involved:

[Edited 6/12/10 19:34pm]

Spinlight said:

Prince can liken himself to Ike Turner all he wants. Ike Turner was, amongst many things, a talented man whose troubles surmounted his creativity and his business savvy - thus ruining not only his music career, but his marriages. Do we, as fans with a bit of insight into Prince, consider him of the same troubled calibre? Maybe. He's spiritually conflicted, to say the least, but whether or not his spiritual eccentricities owe to his malformed vision of slavery and CONtracts is - i guess - interpreted by the reader. Thus, some people will excuse him for his outlandish claims and take them as gospel because... Why? He's black and has been repeatedly shunned from the music industry either by the companies themselves or the music buying public (who just doesn't want his current music)?

Prince was given multiple opportunities to rule the music industry with an iron fist and every single time he was given this opportunity, he squandered it in greed, naivete, and professional onanism. He could not bear the burden of really contributing to artists under his control because his ego and his deranged sense of entitlement is extremely off-putting. Humility is something decades-lost on Prince. It is because of this arrogance that has many people have succumbed to the Bizarro World Midas Touch (aka, when he touches their career, it dies). It is also because of this that he has suffered so much in the music industry.

Exec after exec has come forward, producers, engineers, agents, bandmembers, dancers, and other people attached to his entourage at one time or another have all said the same thing. Prince is a genius when it comes to crafting songs, but he is willfully negligent when it comes to his own career and the interests of those he employs, much less his posterity or his dreadfully loyal fanbase.

Stop giving him excuses to rely on. His assertion that Yes Men are toxic is laughable at best. In fact, he has surrounded himself with nothing but Yes Men for the better part of 20 years now and it has slowly eroded his legacy. He will, eventually (if not already) dissipate into the annals of rock history as a genius-gone-wrong who had the world in his hands for a good 10 years and proceeded to pluck the petals away one by one until there was nothing left but his own distorted kingdom of sand.

You can praise him for his humble status at the moment all you want. He isn't humble, though. His spirituality is vanity. His studies of history and henceforth his retelling of it is ironic and hollow. For someone who recites black history like a copy editor at News of the World, he certainly raked in the cash hand over fist while those White Men Who Enslaved Him bent over backwards to accommodate his greedy demands and outlandish threats.

All the while, in his house he lays dreaming of being a paragon of black enterprise as his back catalog rots in antiquity. A fresh, rejuvenated SOTT? Never. A deluxe edition of LoveSexy? Not on his watch. Without his superfluous and insipid remixes and remakes of his torch songs, Prince will have nothing to do with those albums... That is, unless he can entice you to go to his concerts (which become more and more vaudeville as the years go by), by saying this is the last time he will perform them. Or he will hum, plink on the piano, or strum a few bars of a song that is entirely incongruous with his current "religion" just so the hair on your arms stand up in anticipation before chugging into a full version of "Pass the Peas" or "The Christ".... Barf.

Thanks for the interview with Ebony, P. No, really. We needed another dissertation on black poverty and how black people are/were/will be/can be/should be/would be from the mouth of someone who can give away a half assed album for free with a newspaper and still make 2 million dollars while the US government forecloses on the houses of artists like T-Boz (you know, your favorite band, right?) and others.

Physician, heal thyself.

I'd like to nominate this as the best post of the year.

2elijah said:

Alamine said:

Prince had 20 years of self hate, and now he just trying really hard to make up for it. Plain and simple.

So I guess you've been holding 20 years of anger against that. That's a whole lot of frown lines.

[Edited 6/12/10 19:03pm]

I just came in and started look at the computer the first thing i saw is Ebony magazine. People are going to have thier opinion and coverting someone believes are against/ I say this is when you find someone that is truthful you can't see it. And remember who here are believers, you will get this responds.(negative) It's scarey when you don't know the unknown, so being said 20years of Prince and any fan holding anything sound crazy. I tried to stop listening to negative talk i know when it starts up with Bria or the magazine is to go to youtube or go outside. Basic is funny then it's harilous i like that word, People can't even laugh and be happy that and artist of Prince statue can be happy with Bria. The thing is that some of Prince fans can't let go of the past they read more into things that are not there'. (old things and tell someone to look at the future).

I read on some other thread that someone can give others Karma lesson and thats against the universe. Because if someone comes in with the truth wow so thats why i hope that Prince is

happy and proud and free whoever he is with. (least to my stand point)

I don't know really (sometimes i don't scarey though )

Because you don't look at color when someone is in sheep clothing you just look at the individual.

I could think back 20 years and i was sleeping no lie just sleeping

No popcorn here

[Edited 6/12/10 20:26pm]

2elijah said:

You complain about Prince complaining about WB yet you spend a considerable amount of your time complaining about Prince. So really, which one of you has the other in the palm of their hands? Something for you to think about.

Secondly, it was obvious his focus in the conversation with the Ebony interviewer was about black musicians/artists in particular, who he apparently feels that some are often or have been screwed over by the music industry. There was no crime in his focus on that particular group, and nowhere during the conversation did he say other artists, outside that group have not been affected by that. It's no surprise that since the WB situation, that he has attempted to make other artists aware of educating themselves about the industry before signing on the dotted line..

It seems he's learned his lessons about the music industry and ownership along the way, and just trying to reach out to other artists about it. Prince is already an established, successful artist with a 30-plus year music career, who managed to cross racial lines with his music, which is why he still has a large following today, including you Bart, who spends a considerable amount of your life complaining and insulting Prince, regarding his music/business practices.

BartVanHemelen said:

[Edited 6/12/10 7:23am]

2elijah, you have articulated this article quite well imo. I would not waste another precious moment on my time on these idiots...i.e Bart and others that seem to want to make this something that it is Not. They are simply not worth it. You are intelligent and it's obvious they were waiting to create negativity no matter what.

2elijah said:

Alamine said:

Prince had 20 years of self hate, and now he just trying really hard to make up for it. Plain and simple.

So I guess you've been holding 20 years of anger against that. That's a whole lot of frown lines.

But you know what, one doesn't have to sound or act like the actor in this video, to prove how "black" they are, but it seems even that won't satisfy some. My point is, you can't tell someone how "Black" they should be, especially when there's so many flavors involved:

[Edited 6/12/10 19:34pm]

Know thats what i' m talking about alot humor

4bjb said:

2elijah said:

You complain about Prince complaining about WB yet you spend a considerable amount of your time complaining about Prince. So really, which one of you has the other in the palm of their hands? Something for you to think about.

Secondly, it was obvious his focus in the conversation with the Ebony interviewer was about black musicians/artists in particular, who he apparently feels that some are often or have been screwed over by the music industry. There was no crime in his focus on that particular group, and nowhere during the conversation did he say other artists, outside that group have not been affected by that. It's no surprise that since the WB situation, that he has attempted to make other artists aware of educating themselves about the industry before signing on the dotted line..

It seems he's learned his lessons about the music industry and ownership along the way, and just trying to reach out to other artists about it. Prince is already an established, successful artist with a 30-plus year music career, who managed to cross racial lines with his music, which is why he still has a large following today, including you Bart, who spends a considerable amount of your life complaining and insulting Prince, regarding his music/business practices.

[Edited 6/12/10 7:23am]

2elijah, you have articulated this article quite well imo. I would not waste another precious moment on my time on these idiots...i.e Bart and others that seem to want to make this something that it is Not. They are simply not worth it. You are intelligent and it's obvious they were waiting to create negativity no matter what.

2elija is a very smart person very on point with her topics i hope she keeps getting her view point. I was just saying some of his fans (fammy) are not looking at the whole picture. 2elija gives out history and it doesn't seem negative. I was being funny with mixer of the truth. People are going to have their opinion and if you have any love for people you will respect it.

[Edited 6/12/10 20:13pm]

alright so i bought the copy on thursday and i read it and i have a few complaints(?) about it...

i reread the interview and the thing before it to see if Prince actually did say about Bria being his gf but nothing...so how come the ebony ppl assumed that Bria was his gf if he didn't say anything about it...i mean sure maybe the way they acted when they were sitting down at dinner time could've clued them in to their (Brias and Princes) relationship but they didn't say anything about it...

and the interview is that he wrote his answers...but when he writes GOOGLE IT it says after that (laughs)...how could they have know if he laughed if they weren't in the same room as he was at the time that he was writing it...he could've written LOL or HA HA. something to that effect...:/

[Edited 6/12/10 20:15pm]

4bjb said:

2elijah said:

You complain about Prince complaining about WB yet you spend a considerable amount of your time complaining about Prince. So really, which one of you has the other in the palm of their hands? Something for you to think about.

Secondly, it was obvious his focus in the conversation with the Ebony interviewer was about black musicians/artists in particular, who he apparently feels that some are often or have been screwed over by the music industry. There was no crime in his focus on that particular group, and nowhere during the conversation did he say other artists, outside that group have not been affected by that. It's no surprise that since the WB situation, that he has attempted to make other artists aware of educating themselves about the industry before signing on the dotted line..

It seems he's learned his lessons about the music industry and ownership along the way, and just trying to reach out to other artists about it. Prince is already an established, successful artist with a 30-plus year music career, who managed to cross racial lines with his music, which is why he still has a large following today, including you Bart, who spends a considerable amount of your life complaining and insulting Prince, regarding his music/business practices.

[Edited 6/12/10 7:23am]

2elijah, you have articulated this article quite well imo. I would not waste another precious moment on my time on these idiots...i.e Bart and others that seem to want to make this something that it is Not. They are simply not worth it. You are intelligent and it's obvious they were waiting to create negativity no matter what.

Thank you and I'm quite aware of certain personalities around here. I knew when a particular part of that interview was read, how it may be taken by some fans here and pulled out of context. It was no surprise as well, when some ranted as to why he granted "Ebony" magazine an interview, before the article came out, and accused Ebony of racial divisiveness, yet those that made that complaint knew nothing about Ebony magazine before they found out Prince would be in it.

It is sad that people choose to wait in the bushes, frothing at the mouth, waiting for that moment when they could pounce on the "negative" and drown in it. Holding a 20-plus year grudge against someone you don't know, seems not to be the problem with the one the grudge is held against, but the problem of the one holding the grudge against someone they never personally met. I rest my case.

2elijah said:

4bjb said:

2elijah, you have articulated this article quite well imo. I would not waste another precious moment on my time on these idiots...i.e Bart and others that seem to want to make this something that it is Not. They are simply not worth it. You are intelligent and it's obvious they were waiting to create negativity no matter what.

Thank you and I'm quite aware of certain personalities around here. I knew when a particular part of that interview was read, how it may be taken by some fans here and pulled out of context. It was no surprise as well, when some ranted as to why he granted "Ebony" magazine an interview, before the article came out, and accused Ebony of racial divisiveness, yet those that made that complaint knew nothing about Ebony magazine before they found out Prince would be in it.

It is sad that people choose to wait in the bushes, frothing at the mouth, waiting for that moment when they could pounce on the "negative" and drown in it. Holding a 20-plus year grudge against someone you don't know, seems not to be the problem with the one the grudge is held against, but the problem of the one holding the grudge against someone they never personally met. I rest my case.

What case thats sounds crazy we are on a fansite. Come on get that together. you're smart!!

[Edited 6/12/10 20:41pm]

SomewhereHereOnEarth said:

alright so i bought the copy on thursday and i read it and i have a few complaints(?) about it...

i reread the interview and the thing before it to see if Prince actually did say about Bria being his gf but nothing...so how come the ebony ppl assumed that Bria was his gf if he didn't say anything about it...i mean sure maybe the way they acted when they were sitting down at dinner time could've clued them in to their (Brias and Princes) relationship but they didn't say anything about it...

and the interview is that he wrote his answers...but when he writes GOOGLE IT it says after that (laughs)...how could they have know if he laughed if they weren't in the same room as he was at the time that he was writing it...he could've written LOL or HA HA. something to that effect...:/

[Edited 6/12/10 20:15pm]

I think you read it wrong. It was Prince that inserted (laughs) in that part of his response, not the Ebony staff..

2elijah said:

Prince was born Black and he's going to die Black. No matter how hard he tries to avoid the sun or a Black girlfriend. I never called him a sell out. Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, etc live in the real world and speak in the same voice as always. How many voices does Prince use? I think Prince lives in his own weird world. I hope he is happy but he seems bored and in trouble to me.

Onthereal said:

2elijah said:

Really? What about Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Iced-T, 50 cent, Ludacris, Dr. Dre and others who started off "hard" and had a large, dedicated black fan base, at the beginning of their careers, but have crossed over , so-to-speak and have been collaborating with non-blacks, later in their careers. Are they sellouts too? Do they get a pass or is that limited to a few artists?

He's been on stage with darker-skinned black female singers, for the longest, calls them out and gives them props during the performances, and has promoted a darker-skinned female singer. What's the crime? I think you're reading too much into the "Black Sweat" video and looking for reasons to find something to complain about. So how much of his blood does he have to draw for some black fans in order to be accepted as one of their own?

When he was promoting Tamar, a darker-skinned sista, did you see the vile and hate spewed from many of his non-black fans, because he was promoting a darker-skinned, female singer? Did you see the posts on here from Prince fans, mostly female, non-black fans, on other unofficial sites, stating "She is not his type" or "Why would he promote her?" or worse yet, degrading her looks, because of who she was, not to mention, unnecessary racial comment, and disgusting and hateful remarks about her, that came from the mouths of some so-called fans. You'd thought Prince had committed the most heinous crime promoting a darker-skinned female singer. You can google it, it's all there. So you tell me, how can he win, when so many seem to wish he would lose?

Then you have some non-black fans that have a fit when he plays r&b, and less rock. Then when he makes a song to raise awareness or express his feelings about a social or political situation, some fans whine "Just play the music and leave the socio/political lyrics out of it" or accuse him of having some conspiracy theory. It's one thing to comment on a track, cd, but some comments do go way overboard sometimes and into unnecessary territory.

I am beginning to think some fans believe Prince wakes up and wait for their instructions and permission on how he should begin his day, what he should believe in, who he should be, and what music to play to their satisfaction. He makes a comment on how black artists are treated by the music industry labels, in the past and present day, and I had a feeling some fans were not going to take his statements too lightly, and the fact that he granted "Ebony" magazine an interview.

[Edited 6/12/10 20:03pm]

Prince was born Black and he's going to die Black. No matter how hard he tries to avoid the sun or a Black girlfriend. I never called him a sell out. Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, etc live in the real world and speak in the same voice as always. How many voices does Prince use? I think Prince lives in his own weird world. I hope he is happy but he seems bored and in trouble to me.

I haven't agreed with most of what you said but I do get and understand the sentiment. However, that right there gets a from me because I agree with that part...wholeheartedly!

Onthereal said:

2elijah said:

Really? What about Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, Iced-T, 50 cent, Ludacris, Dr. Dre and others who started off "hard" and had a large, dedicated black fan base, at the beginning of their careers, but have crossed over , so-to-speak and have been collaborating with non-blacks, later in their careers. Are they sellouts too? Do they get a pass or is that limited to a few artists?

He's been on stage with darker-skinned black female singers, for the longest, calls them out and gives them props during the performances, and has promoted a darker-skinned female singer. What's the crime? I think you're reading too much into the "Black Sweat" video and looking for reasons to find something to complain about. So how much of his blood does he have to draw for some black fans in order to be accepted as one of their own?

When he was promoting Tamar, a darker-skinned sista, did you see the vile and hate spewed from many of his non-black fans, because he was promoting a darker-skinned, female singer? Did you see the posts on here from Prince fans, mostly female, non-black fans, on other unofficial sites, stating "She is not his type" or "Why would he promote her?" or worse yet, degrading her looks, because of who she was, not to mention, unnecessary racial comment, and disgusting and hateful remarks about her, that came from the mouths of some so-called fans. You'd thought Prince had committed the most heinous crime promoting a darker-skinned female singer. You can google it, it's all there. So you tell me, how can he win, when so many seem to wish he would lose?

Then you have some non-black fans that have a fit when he plays r&b, and less rock. Then when he makes a song to raise awareness or express his feelings about a social or political situation, some fans whine "Just play the music and leave the socio/political lyrics out of it" or accuse him of having some conspiracy theory. It's one thing to comment on a track, cd, but some comments do go way overboard sometimes and into unnecessary territory.

I am beginning to think some fans believe Prince wakes up and wait for their instructions and permission on how he should begin his day, what he should believe in, who he should be, and what music to play to their satisfaction. He makes a comment on how black artists are treated by the music industry labels, in the past and present day, and I had a feeling some fans were not going to take his statements too lightly, and the fact that he granted "Ebony" magazine an interview.

[Edited 6/12/10 20:03pm]

Prince was born Black and he's going to die Black. No matter how hard he tries to avoid the sun or a Black girlfriend. I never called him a sell out. Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, etc live in the real world and speak in the same voice as always. How many voices does Prince use? I think Prince lives in his own weird world. I hope he is happy but he seems bored and in trouble to me.

How would you know he avoid the sun i had the read that twice. You are so right Prince doesn't have to have a black girlfriend to make him Black thats his choice But you make me laugh at the statement he avoid the sun... I don't know how many he used 1 voice. No disrespect but i'm glad you said you think. we don't know. I have compassion and i pray alot and if you feel like this pray for him...

Cause i pray\but hopefully his happy:-)

I know this might come accross simplistic but can't we all just be "Human" ?

The Aura of a soul is made of all the colors of the rainbow so why are we wasting life on something that is nothing but a "shell" ?

inspireof said:

I know this might come accross simplistic but can't we all just be "Human" ?

The Aura of a soul is made of all the colors of the rainbow so why are we wasting life on something that is nothing but a "shell" ?

Beautiful

errant said:

2elijah said:

He does mention that he does not favor "Yes" people and pretty much respect those who are honest in their opinions.

YouOughtaUnderstand said:

Spinlight said:

Prince can liken himself to Ike Turner all he wants. Ike Turner was, amongst many things, a talented man whose troubles surmounted his creativity and his business savvy - thus ruining not only his music career, but his marriages. Do we, as fans with a bit of insight into Prince, consider him of the same troubled calibre? Maybe. He's spiritually conflicted, to say the least, but whether or not his spiritual eccentricities owe to his malformed vision of slavery and CONtracts is - i guess - interpreted by the reader. Thus, some people will excuse him for his outlandish claims and take them as gospel because... Why? He's black and has been repeatedly shunned from the music industry either by the companies themselves or the music buying public (who just doesn't want his current music)?

Prince was given multiple opportunities to rule the music industry with an iron fist and every single time he was given this opportunity, he squandered it in greed, naivete, and professional onanism. He could not bear the burden of really contributing to artists under his control because his ego and his deranged sense of entitlement is extremely off-putting. Humility is something decades-lost on Prince. It is because of this arrogance that has many people have succumbed to the Bizarro World Midas Touch (aka, when he touches their career, it dies). It is also because of this that he has suffered so much in the music industry.

Exec after exec has come forward, producers, engineers, agents, bandmembers, dancers, and other people attached to his entourage at one time or another have all said the same thing. Prince is a genius when it comes to crafting songs, but he is willfully negligent when it comes to his own career and the interests of those he employs, much less his posterity or his dreadfully loyal fanbase.

Stop giving him excuses to rely on. His assertion that Yes Men are toxic is laughable at best. In fact, he has surrounded himself with nothing but Yes Men for the better part of 20 years now and it has slowly eroded his legacy. He will, eventually (if not already) dissipate into the annals of rock history as a genius-gone-wrong who had the world in his hands for a good 10 years and proceeded to pluck the petals away one by one until there was nothing left but his own distorted kingdom of sand.

You can praise him for his humble status at the moment all you want. He isn't humble, though. His spirituality is vanity. His studies of history and henceforth his retelling of it is ironic and hollow. For someone who recites black history like a copy editor at News of the World, he certainly raked in the cash hand over fist while those White Men Who Enslaved Him bent over backwards to accommodate his greedy demands and outlandish threats.

All the while, in his house he lays dreaming of being a paragon of black enterprise as his back catalog rots in antiquity. A fresh, rejuvenated SOTT? Never. A deluxe edition of LoveSexy? Not on his watch. Without his superfluous and insipid remixes and remakes of his torch songs, Prince will have nothing to do with those albums... That is, unless he can entice you to go to his concerts (which become more and more vaudeville as the years go by), by saying this is the last time he will perform them. Or he will hum, plink on the piano, or strum a few bars of a song that is entirely incongruous with his current "religion" just so the hair on your arms stand up in anticipation before chugging into a full version of "Pass the Peas" or "The Christ".... Barf.

Thanks for the interview with Ebony, P. No, really. We needed another dissertation on black poverty and how black people are/were/will be/can be/should be/would be from the mouth of someone who can give away a half assed album for free with a newspaper and still make 2 million dollars while the US government forecloses on the houses of artists like T-Boz (you know, your favorite band, right?) and others.

Physician, heal thyself.

I'd like to nominate this as the best post of the year.

And. How. Man, I've been lurking for a few years now and that is by the far the most spot-on post I've ever read here. Brilliant assessment!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Onthereal said:

2elijah said: Prince was born Black and he's going to die Black. No matter how hard he tries to avoid the sun or a Black girlfriend. I never called him a sell out. Queen Latifah, Ice Cube, etc live in the real world and speak in the same voice as always. How many voices does Prince use? I think Prince lives in his own weird world. I hope he is happy but he seems bored and in trouble to me.

I haven't agreed with most of what you said but I do get and understand the sentiment. However, that right there gets a from me because I agree with that part...wholeheartedly!

How so, please elaborate...

2elijah said:

So how did some of you who read the article feel about him stating in so many words about the long-term "white monopoly ownership of black music" needing to be abolished? Also, stating that "localized music distribution" needs to come back.

Do you agree with him and why? Express yourselves.

Don't be shy with your responses.

[Edited 6/11/10 17:32pm]

TRANSLATIONS: Prince & Larry are not fanatics of Elitism within the music industry.

THIS is very interesting from an artist that still use symbolism like he has been doing throughout his music career.

TonyVanDam said:

2elijah said:

So how did some of you who read the article feel about him stating in so many words about the long-term "white monopoly ownership of black music" needing to be abolished? Also, stating that "localized music distribution" needs to come back.

Do you agree with him and why? Express yourselves.

Don't be shy with your responses.

[Edited 6/11/10 17:32pm]

TRANSLATIONS: Prince & Larry are not fanatics of Elitism within the music industry.

THIS is very interesting from an artist that still use symbolism like he has been doing throughout his music career.

for crying out loud. everyone in the other forum stopped paying attention to your Illuminati nonsense so now you have to bring it in here?

errant said:

TonyVanDam said:

TRANSLATIONS: Prince & Larry are not fanatics of Elitism within the music industry.

THIS is very interesting from an artist that still use symbolism like he has been doing throughout his music career.

for crying out loud. everyone in the other forum stopped paying attention to your Illuminati nonsense so now you have to bring it in here?

Please You're not my parent. You're not a mod. And I do NOT really give a damn anymore about what you think to be dead honest. And besides, I was responsing to 2elijah.

And I did NOT say anything about "illuminati", YOU DID. So piss off.

NouveauDance said:

Spinlight said:

Prince can liken himself to Ike Turner all he wants. Ike Turner was, amongst many things, a talented man whose troubles surmounted his creativity and his business savvy - thus ruining not only his music career, but his marriages. Do we, as fans with a bit of insight into Prince, consider him of the same troubled calibre? Maybe. He's spiritually conflicted, to say the least, but whether or not his spiritual eccentricities owe to his malformed vision of slavery and CONtracts is - i guess - interpreted by the reader. Thus, some people will excuse him for his outlandish claims and take them as gospel because... Why? He's black and has been repeatedly shunned from the music industry either by the companies themselves or the music buying public (who just doesn't want his current music)?

Prince was given multiple opportunities to rule the music industry with an iron fist and every single time he was given this opportunity, he squandered it in greed, naivete, and professional onanism. He could not bear the burden of really contributing to artists under his control because his ego and his deranged sense of entitlement is extremely off-putting. Humility is something decades-lost on Prince. It is because of this arrogance that has many people have succumbed to the Bizarro World Midas Touch (aka, when he touches their career, it dies). It is also because of this that he has suffered so much in the music industry.

Exec after exec has come forward, producers, engineers, agents, bandmembers, dancers, and other people attached to his entourage at one time or another have all said the same thing. Prince is a genius when it comes to crafting songs, but he is willfully negligent when it comes to his own career and the interests of those he employs, much less his posterity or his dreadfully loyal fanbase.

Stop giving him excuses to rely on. His assertion that Yes Men are toxic is laughable at best. In fact, he has surrounded himself with nothing but Yes Men for the better part of 20 years now and it has slowly eroded his legacy. He will, eventually (if not already) dissipate into the annals of rock history as a genius-gone-wrong who had the world in his hands for a good 10 years and proceeded to pluck the petals away one by one until there was nothing left but his own distorted kingdom of sand.

You can praise him for his humble status at the moment all you want. He isn't humble, though. His spirituality is vanity. His studies of history and henceforth his retelling of it is ironic and hollow. For someone who recites black history like a copy editor at News of the World, he certainly raked in the cash hand over fist while those White Men Who Enslaved Him bent over backwards to accommodate his greedy demands and outlandish threats.

All the while, in his house he lays dreaming of being a paragon of black enterprise as his back catalog rots in antiquity. A fresh, rejuvenated SOTT? Never. A deluxe edition of LoveSexy? Not on his watch. Without his superfluous and insipid remixes and remakes of his torch songs, Prince will have nothing to do with those albums... That is, unless he can entice you to go to his concerts (which become more and more vaudeville as the years go by), by saying this is the last time he will perform them. Or he will hum, plink on the piano, or strum a few bars of a song that is entirely incongruous with his current "religion" just so the hair on your arms stand up in anticipation before chugging into a full version of "Pass the Peas" or "The Christ".... Barf.

Thanks for the interview with Ebony, P. No, really. We needed another dissertation on black poverty and how black people are/were/will be/can be/should be/would be from the mouth of someone who can give away a half assed album for free with a newspaper and still make 2 million dollars while the US government forecloses on the houses of artists like T-Boz (you know, your favorite band, right?) and others.

Physician, heal thyself.

Fucking hell, can we have this framed?!

Yeah. This post is on the money.

SPINLIGHT.........................

best post ever-EVER

should be on page 1

i read the interview and

P comes off like an overexcited child-just told something he thinks the world needs to know

only-they kinda already know-and don't really care

cuz we're too busy in the REAL world

not the fake plastic ideal world inside a millionaires tacky pad

where-sadly-his FRIENDS (or mostly paid employees) 'hang out' to support their 'friend' (boss)

now-i need to rush off to the bank-and pay my mates for watching the footy with me last night-oh lord-it was satureay-buggers will want time n a half;-)