I recall Prince saying a while ago he no longer has any real competition. I've believed him for a long time. Even today, anyone "competing" with prince view him as their inspiration and they are realy just updating things he did 30 years ago.

That said, at some point Prince needs to start viewing artists like "Of Montreal" (which sounds like Prince and David Bowie had a baby), C-Lo, White Stripes, and Janelle Monae as "competition" --- even if they use his prior work as inspiration. What these bands/individuals are doing now is surpassing prince in the present moment. They may not each be legends, but the music they are making is relevant. Prince has to redefine what "competition" really means -- no, he won't find another individual to rival his talent and legendary status, but on an album-to-album basis, his current music faces some stiff competition. Thoughts?

Jatrig said:

I recall Prince saying a while ago he no longer has any real competition. I've believed him for a long time. Even today, anyone "competing" with prince view him as their inspiration and they are realy just updating things he did 30 years ago.

That said, at some point Prince needs to start viewing artists like "Of Montreal" (which sounds like Prince and David Bowie had a baby), C-Lo, White Stripes, and Janelle Monae as "competition" --- even if they use his prior work as inspiration. What these bands/individuals are doing now is surpassing prince in the present moment. They may not each be legends, but the music they are making is relevant. Prince has to redefine what "competition" really means -- no, he won't find another individual to rival his talent and legendary status, but on an album-to-album basis, his current music faces some stiff competition. Thoughts?

Dude... The White Stripes split up...

When someone says they 'don't have any competition'...isn't that the same as saying that they think they are better than everyone?

...and since music is subjective with no better or best...doesn't that mean that the person is full of ego or narcissistic?

Just some thoughts.

.

It's always easy for a living legend to have "no competition". Because, the living legend has alot of great material to show off with. But if you compare Prince last records with Cee-Los last records alone and with Danger Mouse. Prince is clearly put in the shadow of these works.

I´ve been thinking similar things for a few years now, and I especially agree with the first part of your post but I totally disagree with the latter part because those people are, in my opinion, no serious competition compared to Prince and his body of work, and I still see them in a totally different league, lightyears away from where Prince was and still is. Besides, none of them interest me even remotely, but of course that is just a matter of personal taste.

This being said, I think there are dozens of new artists and even older, more established artists, who could be regarded as competitors but thing is that the music biz is so spread out and obscure right now that it is very difficult to really follow any specific group or trend or artist casually, without investing some time and asking around, with all those download only albums, blogs, free albums, myspace phenomenon groups, underground artists, club only performers, and whatnot.

And again, what I may find cool or worthy of "competitor status" might be boring and meaningless to you or others. And honestly,the "mainstream" today sucks, so he better not regard anyone in the mainstream as a competitor ( which has led to lukewarm results lately).

Even when there was some serious competition in the mid 90s to late 90s, Prince didn´t really feel challenged, and when he did, the results were much more tame than we all expected.

( His "answer" to Maxwell, D´Angelo, Raphael Saadiq and Erykah Badu were obviously not as strong as they could have been. I mean, the video to Daisy Chain, a mediocre song, had Morris Hayes as a D `Angelo lookalike smoking weed, and he dissed Questlove and D` Angelo at Paisley Park when he would only play unknown songs when they wanted to jam with him, and his song U Make My Sunshine was not really bad, but in no way an appropriate reaction to the success that D´Angelo enjoyed for channeling Prince with his "Untitled" song).

Also, in the past, Prince wasn´t as glamorous and divaesque as he is today. He´s always been in touch with his feminine side and lived up to his primadonna image but come on, do you really see him competing with, say, the White Stripes or the Foo Fighters or any Rock group with his kind of attire and attitude? But that is exactly what he was doing when he crossed over...he was challenging all those rough, raw rockers with his rough, rugged and raw guitar sound in the mid 80s that was at the same time so crystal clear and precise, like Santana´s style, yet with a hard enough edge. Just watch the First Avenue August 1983 concert to see what I´m talking about....that show appealed to so many different and varied groups, like the New Wavers, the rock listeners, the RnB crowd, the Electro Funk crowd....and at the same time it was rough, romantic, sweaty, dirty, clean and, most of all, right from the bottom of his heart and straight in your face.

These days, he is still capable of making me feel great for weeks after going to one of his shows, and ALL his recent albums still contain at least three or four strong songs, which is no easy feat after thirty years in the business, but he is, IMO , no longer appealing to a broader audience.

And the general, Average Joe kind of casual mainstream audience that he is aiming at at times is definitely not the kind of crowd that is going to inspire him to aspire to new heights of greatness in terms of creativity and artistic credibility or authenticity.

njin said:

It's always easy for a living legend to have "no competition". Because, the living legend has alot of great material to show off with. But if you compare Prince last records with Cee-Los last records alone and with Danger Mouse. Prince is clearly put in the shadow of these works.

Put them both on stage with an instrument, perhaps an electric bass, and check the exit doors....

Prince has no equal.

Oh, and 20Ten, was SLAMMIN' through and through....CeeLo has a (single) smash hit (Hell yeahs, I like it too) Don't confuse talent with the power of the industry to make anyone (yeah, I meant Bieber) relevent.

Revolution said:

njin said:

It's always easy for a living legend to have "no competition". Because, the living legend has alot of great material to show off with. But if you compare Prince last records with Cee-Los last records alone and with Danger Mouse. Prince is clearly put in the shadow of these works.

Put them both on stage with an instrument, perhaps an electric bass, and check the exit doors....

Prince has no equal.

Oh, and 20Ten, was SLAMMIN' through and through....CeeLo has a (single) smash hit (Hell yeahs, I like it too) Don't confuse talent with the power of the industry to make anyone (yeah, I meant Bieber) relevent.

I'm not talking live, but recent output. Do you think anybody else than Prince fans care about him doing a great concert if it doesnt reach the wide public ear? An actual release says more about being creativly relevant. The ability to play guitar has nothing to do with releasing good material. The strength of an album can't be shown through the knowledge of one man being able to play all instruments. I love the fact that Prince is a multitalent, cause it inspires me. But being a multitaltent doesnt automatically make the whole package good.

Obviously being on this site, it will always be biased answers. To me there's noone above Prince when it comes to his body of work. When it comes to after 2005, there's a bunch releasing better material than Prince does, but I guess that it will always stay the same. People fall in love with one era, and they think that there will never be great music again. People said the same things about the 60s. They said that music died with disco. Prince with som sarcasm and self irony made fun of new wave, and these days we laugh at the hipsters. But there will always be that new new.

I like some new artists and recently saw Of Montreal and Janel Monae on the same stage I thought they were good, real good, but in no way did they surpass Prince.

They were amazing, but in order to see the 'best' perform, Prince would have had to play

Jatrig said:

I recall Prince saying a while ago he no longer has any real competition. I've believed him for a long time. Even today, anyone "competing" with prince view him as their inspiration and they are realy just updating things he did 30 years ago.

That said, at some point Prince needs to start viewing artists like "Of Montreal" (which sounds like Prince and David Bowie had a baby), C-Lo, White Stripes, and Janelle Monae as "competition" --- even if they use his prior work as inspiration. What these bands/individuals are doing now is surpassing prince in the present moment. They may not each be legends, but the music they are making is relevant. Prince has to redefine what "competition" really means -- no, he won't find another individual to rival his talent and legendary status, but on an album-to-album basis, his current music faces some stiff competition. Thoughts?

You do know that Janelle Monae is one of Prince's favorite artists and he's attended many of her shows as far back as 2008. He has also had her on stage with him in December as an opening act in 2010 at MSG, so it's not like he isn't aware of her music or talent or he wouldn't have been praising her music and talent for the past couple of years. He's jammed with her band at Paisley Park as well, not too long ago, when she performed in Minneapolis. C-LO also opened for him on 2/7 at MSG and he performed with C-Lo as well the same night, so it's apparent he appreciates and is aware and embraces both of these artists' creativity in music as well as their talents.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:01am]

Prince is a legend, he has NO COMPETITION. I dont believe he needs to view ceelo green and janelle monae as competition. If there was no Prince there would be no Cee Lo green or Janelle Monae or possibly any of the artists listed. He PAVED the way for these artists to be where they are today. so for someone to suggest he view them as competion is pretty adsurd.

When someone says they have no competition that doesnt mean they think they are better than an another artist. It means they are comfortable working at their own rate, know their worth and dont feel a need to compete because they are confident in what they do and have done.

As far as competition, alot of the artists listed in previous threads 1) dont produce, write, AND perform on their albums in which PRINCE does and has done for YEARS. How can someone be your competition when they cant do all of which you can do? Yes all very talented but in different ways but not on Prince's level.

2elijah said:

Jatrig said:

I recall Prince saying a while ago he no longer has any real competition. I've believed him for a long time. Even today, anyone "competing" with prince view him as their inspiration and they are realy just updating things he did 30 years ago.

That said, at some point Prince needs to start viewing artists like "Of Montreal" (which sounds like Prince and David Bowie had a baby), C-Lo, White Stripes, and Janelle Monae as "competition" --- even if they use his prior work as inspiration. What these bands/individuals are doing now is surpassing prince in the present moment. They may not each be legends, but the music they are making is relevant. Prince has to redefine what "competition" really means -- no, he won't find another individual to rival his talent and legendary status, but on an album-to-album basis, his current music faces some stiff competition. Thoughts?

You do know that Janelle Monae is one of Prince's favorite artists and he's attended many of her shows as far back as 2008. He has also had her on stage with him in December as an opening act in 2010 at MSG, so it's not like he isn't aware of her music or talent or he wouldn't have been praising her music and talent for the past couple of years. He's jammed with her band at Paisley Park as well, not too long ago, when she performed in Minneapolis. C-LO also opened for him on 2/7 at MSG and he performed with C-Lo as well the same night, so it's apparent he appreciates and is aware and embraces both of these artists' creativity in music as well as their talents.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:01am]

I know he embraces them - and has played w/ them live -- but he embraces them because they adore him and are inspired by him and are creating work which he views as really good, albeit still beneath him. My point is that his output would benefit if he'd consider that their latest albums are more fresh and relevant than his -- even if they're inspired by his past body of work. Then, he'd have the incentive to make some amazing new music. I know it's in him - he is head and shoulders above anyone else out there, but he just doesn't have the incentive. I guess my point is that to get that masterpiece album we've all been waiting for, he needs to feel the incentive, which I think for him comes from a sense of needing to prove something vis a vis competition.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:42am]

RumAndRaisin said:

Jatrig said:

I recall Prince saying a while ago he no longer has any real competition. I've believed him for a long time. Even today, anyone "competing" with prince view him as their inspiration and they are realy just updating things he did 30 years ago.

That said, at some point Prince needs to start viewing artists like "Of Montreal" (which sounds like Prince and David Bowie had a baby), C-Lo, White Stripes, and Janelle Monae as "competition" --- even if they use his prior work as inspiration. What these bands/individuals are doing now is surpassing prince in the present moment. They may not each be legends, but the music they are making is relevant. Prince has to redefine what "competition" really means -- no, he won't find another individual to rival his talent and legendary status, but on an album-to-album basis, his current music faces some stiff competition. Thoughts?

Dude... The White Stripes split up...

Dude.....thanks for the insightful response. You added a lot to the post. They disbanded on February 2, 2011 -- 2 months ago. I don't think that fact, especially so recent in history, does anything to negate or alter any of what I said.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:42am]

WisdomNLove said:

Prince is a legend, he has NO COMPETITION. I dont believe he needs to view ceelo green and janelle monae as competition. If there was no Prince there would be no Cee Lo green or Janelle Monae or possibly any of the artists listed. He PAVED the way for these artists to be where they are today. so for someone to suggest he view them as competion is pretty adsurd.

When someone says they have no competition that doesnt mean they think they are better than an another artist. It means they are comfortable working at their own rate, know their worth and dont feel a need to compete because they are confident in what they do and have done.

As far as competition, alot of the artists listed in previous threads 1) dont produce, write, AND perform on their albums in which PRINCE does and has done for YEARS. How can someone be your competition when they cant do all of which you can do? Yes all very talented but in different ways but not on Prince's level.

I think I mostly agree with you -- as an artist and regarding their careers -- Prince has no equal and they dont' compare. I also agree with you about what not having competition means. I guess i'm just saying that's the problem. If he felt he couldn't be comfortable working at his own rate, and being so confident in his output - that it'd improve. It's sorta human nature - doing something great requires pain, discomfort, hard work. We can argue Prince paid his dues and is entitled to enjoy the fruit of all his work now -- but as a fan, I'm just saying his new music would be better if he'd not be so comfortable. That's a selfish view for me to take - but it's a music fan's perspective. If he were my best friend, or someone I knew personally, I'd probably tell him to kick back, play his hits, and enjoy the rest of his life since he's worked so hard. I'm not his friend though - I'm his fan - and I want a new groundbreaking album!! That makes me GUILTY for what goes on in my mind.....u know the rest

Jatrig said:

WisdomNLove said:

Prince is a legend, he has NO COMPETITION. I dont believe he needs to view ceelo green and janelle monae as competition. If there was no Prince there would be no Cee Lo green or Janelle Monae or possibly any of the artists listed. He PAVED the way for these artists to be where they are today. so for someone to suggest he view them as competion is pretty adsurd.

When someone says they have no competition that doesnt mean they think they are better than an another artist. It means they are comfortable working at their own rate, know their worth and dont feel a need to compete because they are confident in what they do and have done.

As far as competition, alot of the artists listed in previous threads 1) dont produce, write, AND perform on their albums in which PRINCE does and has done for YEARS. How can someone be your competition when they cant do all of which you can do? Yes all very talented but in different ways but not on Prince's level.

I think I mostly agree with you -- as an artist and regarding their careers -- Prince has no equal and they dont' compare. I also agree with you about what not having competition means. I guess i'm just saying that's the problem. If he felt he couldn't be comfortable working at his own rate, and being so confident in his output - that it'd improve. It's sorta human nature - doing something great requires pain, discomfort, hard work. We can argue Prince paid his dues and is entitled to enjoy the fruit of all his work now -- but as a fan, I'm just saying his new music would be better if he'd not be so comfortable. That's a selfish view for me to take - but it's a music fan's perspective. If he were my best friend, or someone I knew personally, I'd probably tell him to kick back, play his hits, and enjoy the rest of his life since he's worked so hard. I'm not his friend though - I'm his fan - and I want a new groundbreaking album!! That makes me GUILTY for what goes on in my mind.....u know the rest

You´re raising some interesting (and often discussed) points there when you talk about him being "too comfortable" these days to make his music sound stronger or more urgent. While I agree that many times great discomfort and pain and suffering and personal tragedies have led to some masterpieces in the history of arts or popular culture, I think there are just as many examples for the opposite, i.e artists who were just as creative when they were living a happier phase in their lives, and I bet there are tons of great Prince songs that he probably wrote when he felt happy, too. We probably just don´t know whether he was or wasn´t happy. But we know of certain songs that he wrote when he was either sad, angry or trying to prove a point.

However, we both seem to agree that we don´t want anything to happen to him just so he can come up with some interesting songs, and I´m happy that you don´t really want that seriously,as you clearly stated in your post above. There´s always the music aficionado in us who probably misses the days of songs like The Beautiful Ones or some of his sad break up songs ( like when he wrote I Hate U after Carmen cheated on him with Tony M.) but then there´s the person in us who´d rather see Prince happy and relaxed, still doing his thing, instead of going through misery but writing strong songs.

I know I am still very happy with most of his live shows (sure, I would change some things about his current tour but I digress).

One thing though.....he went through a lot of personal drama in the years between Emancipation and TRC but that drama and discomfort on all levels didn´t really lead to great music, did it?

lead/led typo edit

[Edited 3/16/11 10:10am]

Every year that Prince decides to release a CD, he instantly has the record of the year.

Now, whether the public decides to acknowledge it as such, that's on them....I acknowlege it and

am certainly rewarded.

The live stuff is bonus man....the pretty-man is bonus man....the dancing is bonus man....the suits are bonus man....the core of this motha fucka is laid down music.

I see the OP's point though. Besides Michael whatever, Prince made his own competition with The Time, The Family, Vanity, etc etc, but mainly The Time out of musical output and sport. But of course, they were ones that he could easily disembowel instantly.

But do you think that Prince is bored now, now that he has no mice to play "cat and mouse" with? But maybe his competition is the world or even himself, mostly. Hmmm, great thoughts.

Cus its known that he needs stimulation to perform and create, but he gets that from himself most of the time. But I think it's richer when he's actually trying to acheive something. With making that statement, that probably aids to the belief that his best output was early 80s, when he was trying to establish himself as an artist and create his own sound. Now that he long did that after Purple Rain, he relaxed and did his own thing, what he really wanted to experiment on (Parade) and do (SOTT). So now it's just his stuff. What he feels like putting out perhaps. Whatever comes to mind creatively

I end my rant

He see's anyone and everyone in pop music at the time as competition I think, even back in the For You days he was seen listening to a Chaka Khan album and when Bobby Z asked (i think it was him anyway) "Why do you do that?" Prince replied "I'm checking the competition, I'm always checking them" & I think he still does to this day. He would not have gotten to the level of proficiency on all those instruments and recorded prolifically if he didn't have a strong sense of competition. From the beggining I think he set out to be the absolute best and he wouldn't stop until he got there

Jatrig said:

WisdomNLove said:

Prince is a legend, he has NO COMPETITION. I dont believe he needs to view ceelo green and janelle monae as competition. If there was no Prince there would be no Cee Lo green or Janelle Monae or possibly any of the artists listed. He PAVED the way for these artists to be where they are today. so for someone to suggest he view them as competion is pretty adsurd.

When someone says they have no competition that doesnt mean they think they are better than an another artist. It means they are comfortable working at their own rate, know their worth and dont feel a need to compete because they are confident in what they do and have done.

As far as competition, alot of the artists listed in previous threads 1) dont produce, write, AND perform on their albums in which PRINCE does and has done for YEARS. How can someone be your competition when they cant do all of which you can do? Yes all very talented but in different ways but not on Prince's level.

I think I mostly agree with you -- as an artist and regarding their careers -- Prince has no equal and they dont' compare. I also agree with you about what not having competition means. I guess i'm just saying that's the problem. If he felt he couldn't be comfortable working at his own rate, and being so confident in his output - that it'd improve. It's sorta human nature - doing something great requires pain, discomfort, hard work. We can argue Prince paid his dues and is entitled to enjoy the fruit of all his work now -- but as a fan, I'm just saying his new music would be better if he'd not be so comfortable. That's a selfish view for me to take - but it's a music fan's perspective. If he were my best friend, or someone I knew personally, I'd probably tell him to kick back, play his hits, and enjoy the rest of his life since he's worked so hard. I'm not his friend though - I'm his fan - and I want a new groundbreaking album!! That makes me GUILTY for what goes on in my mind.....u know the rest

I strongly feel just because a group of people feel an artist's particular body of work isnt "great", it DOESNT mean the artist didnt put in a solid effort. In some cases this is true but not all.

Alot of fans didnt like Planet Earth however when you listen to each song closely it was a solid effort put in lyrically, melodically and production wise from top to bottom.

WisdomNLove said:

Jatrig said:

I think I mostly agree with you -- as an artist and regarding their careers -- Prince has no equal and they dont' compare. I also agree with you about what not having competition means. I guess i'm just saying that's the problem. If he felt he couldn't be comfortable working at his own rate, and being so confident in his output - that it'd improve. It's sorta human nature - doing something great requires pain, discomfort, hard work. We can argue Prince paid his dues and is entitled to enjoy the fruit of all his work now -- but as a fan, I'm just saying his new music would be better if he'd not be so comfortable. That's a selfish view for me to take - but it's a music fan's perspective. If he were my best friend, or someone I knew personally, I'd probably tell him to kick back, play his hits, and enjoy the rest of his life since he's worked so hard. I'm not his friend though - I'm his fan - and I want a new groundbreaking album!! That makes me GUILTY for what goes on in my mind.....u know the rest

I strongly feel just because a group of people feel an artist's particular body of work isnt "great", it DOESNT mean the artist didnt put in a solid effort. In some cases this is true but not all.

Alot of fans didnt like Planet Earth however when you listen to each song closely it was a solid effort put in lyrically, melodically and production wise from top to bottom.

Prince has no competition y'all say...others say he needs competition to improve...who would win the competition? How would they know they've won?

Do we rate artists on how many instruments they play and whether they can 'sing and dance and do it all?'.

Or on the spirit of an artist and how they make us feel?

Sometimes I need Prince other times I need MJ, Metallica (Master Of Puppets album only) James Brown, Stevie, Funkadelic, Bjork, Tori A, Tchaikovsky, Dizzy, Philip Glass, Swami (Militant's band)....and so on...

You have Revolution's (and others) view that Prince can do no wrong and is pretty much God incarnate (paraphrasing OK?)...yet if he's so comfortable in his music why can't he collaborate?...except on his own terms?..isn't that a weakness?...what is he afraid of? It's music, not something life threatening.

A 'god' who reigns supreme doesn't need to 'check the competition' or criticise them. Has Prince commented negatively on any artist?...I can think of a few.

Regarding MJ...did he or didn't he say MJ called his album Bad, because he couldn't fit the word 'pathetic' on the cover?...can someone debunk that rumour thoroughly please?

.

.

If Prince's only competition is him in the past.... he's currently losing.

NouveauDance said:

If Prince's only competition is him in the past.... he's currently losing.

Right. An apt line from 'Don't Play Me'...

.

njin said:

I'm not talking live, but recent output. Do you think anybody else than Prince fans care about him doing a great concert if it doesnt reach the wide public ear? An actual release says more about being creativly relevant. The ability to play guitar has nothing to do with releasing good material. The strength of an album can't be shown through the knowledge of one man being able to play all instruments. I love the fact that Prince is a multitalent, cause it inspires me. But being a multitaltent doesnt automatically make the whole package good.

Ding ding ding!

Too many Prince fans equate his remarkable musicanship with good music, and think the fact that Prince can outplay an artist means he's producing better music. At one point it was true that Prince was both a better musician and a better songwriter then the rest of the field, but that was a long time ago now.

NouveauDance said:

If Prince's only competition is him in the past.... he's currently losing.

Sadly, he's not even playing the same game.

Jatrig said:

2elijah said:

You do know that Janelle Monae is one of Prince's favorite artists and he's attended many of her shows as far back as 2008. He has also had her on stage with him in December as an opening act in 2010 at MSG, so it's not like he isn't aware of her music or talent or he wouldn't have been praising her music and talent for the past couple of years. He's jammed with her band at Paisley Park as well, not too long ago, when she performed in Minneapolis. C-LO also opened for him on 2/7 at MSG and he performed with C-Lo as well the same night, so it's apparent he appreciates and is aware and embraces both of these artists' creativity in music as well as their talents.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:01am]

I know he embraces them - and has played w/ them live -- but he embraces them because they adore him and are inspired by him and are creating work which he views as really good, albeit still beneath him. My point is that his output would benefit if he'd consider that their latest albums are more fresh and relevant than his -- even if they're inspired by his past body of work. Then, he'd have the incentive to make some amazing new music. I know it's in him - he is head and shoulders above anyone else out there, but he just doesn't have the incentive. I guess my point is that to get that masterpiece album we've all been waiting for, he needs to feel the incentive, which I think for him comes from a sense of needing to prove something vis a vis competition.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:42am]

Oh okay, I see what you mean, but I actually got the feeling that artists like Janelle and Esperanza brought inspiration to him , as well as incentive o him by the way he's been showing support and admiration/embracing their creative skills musically. However, you or I may see those two artists as beneath him creatively, not sure that is how he sees it, because we don't know him personally.

Another thing, is let's say, by your view he puts out the amazing music you've been waiting for, but other fans may not see it on that same level. He's put out so many different styles of music, that you can't lock him into one category. For example, when I heard the "C-Note" album that I purchased online when he had the NPGMC club, which has the "Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Copenhagen" tracks on it, I was surprised that was the Prince of the 80s that sang "Raspberry Beret" and "Darling Nikki". Many of my friends who are casual Prince fans would have no idea that was Prince if I suddenly played those tracks for them. However, I always wondered why "Empty Room" was on there, because it didn't fit in. It was more of the rock-based Prince. Now there's a plethora of his music I have never heard,--some I like--some I didn't, but for the most part, didn't mean I didn't appreciate his musicianship. I've always appreciated that he never allowed himself to be locked into one type of music or limited his ability to play various forms of music.

You have the R&B Prince;Rock Prince;Funk Prince;Pop Prince;Rockabilly Prince: Blue light in the Basement Slow Jams/Love songs Prince; Jazz Prince;Spiritual Prince;So I do agree that he is an amazing musician, one you cannot put on one category and definitely not predictable, music-wise, which is a good thing. So yes, who is out there that he can compete with on that level?

[Edited 3/16/11 13:37pm]

No one, 2elijah can compete with him on that very distinct specific level...of course that's not the only level that exists...can some super Prince fan comment on my questions?

Prince has no competition y'all say...others say he needs competition to improve...who would win the competition? How would they know they've won?

Do we rate artists on how many instruments they play and whether they can 'sing and dance and do it all?'.

Or on the spirit of an artist and how they make us feel?

Sometimes I need Prince other times I need MJ, Metallica (Master Of Puppets album only) James Brown, Stevie, Funkadelic, Bjork, Tori A, Tchaikovsky, Dizzy, Philip Glass, Swami (Militant's band)....and so on...

You have Revolution's (and others) view that Prince can do no wrong and is pretty much God incarnate (paraphrasing OK?)...yet if he's so comfortable in his music why can't he collaborate?...except on his own terms?..isn't that a weakness?...what is he afraid of? It's music, not something life threatening.

A 'god' who reigns supreme doesn't need to 'check the competition' or criticise them. Has Prince commented negatively on any artist?...I can think of a few.

Regarding MJ...did he or didn't he say MJ called his album Bad, because he couldn't fit the word 'pathetic' on the cover?...can someone debunk that rumour thoroughly please?

.

funkyandy said:

No one, 2elijah can compete with him on that very distinct specific level...of course that's not the only level that exists...can some super Prince fan comment on my questions?

Prince has no competition y'all say...others say he needs competition to improve...who would win the competition? How would they know they've won?

Do we rate artists on how many instruments they play and whether they can 'sing and dance and do it all?'.

Or on the spirit of an artist and how they make us feel?

Sometimes I need Prince other times I need MJ, Metallica (Master Of Puppets album only) James Brown, Stevie, Funkadelic, Bjork, Tori A, Tchaikovsky, Dizzy, Philip Glass, Swami (Militant's band)....and so on...

You have Revolution's (and others) view that Prince can do no wrong and is pretty much God incarnate (paraphrasing OK?)...yet if he's so comfortable in his music why can't he collaborate?...except on his own terms?..isn't that a weakness?...what is he afraid of? It's music, not something life threatening.

A 'god' who reigns supreme doesn't need to 'check the competition' or criticise them. Has Prince commented negatively on any artist?...I can think of a few.

Regarding MJ...did he or didn't he say MJ called his album Bad, because he couldn't fit the word 'pathetic' on the cover?...can someone debunk that rumour thoroughly please?

.

Well, I specifically mean a musician/artist that is not "predictable" and can perform various styles of music. At times, people can hear a song, and can tell which artist the song belongs to, based on the familiarity of their music. I have to say though, in the 80s was the only time I can say Prince's music was sort of "predictable" to the point where I used to think other artists' songs were his. Like the "Oh Sheila" record. I actually used to think Prince sang it or wrote it, not sure if he did or not, but it seems other artists was adopting his sound at that time. Nothing wrong with that. In my opinion, from the 90s on, that's when it seemed his music wasn't as predictable, like the music he's been putting out over the past 6 years. I'm no expert on this of course, just my two cents.

I like artists who are not afraid to take risks with their music and not sound like everyone else. Prince fits that category, as well as newcomers like Janelle, and others I can't name right now.

[Edited 3/16/11 13:58pm]

^^^

What risks is Prince taking with his recent music? Attempting to recreate his classic sound with 20Ten (which I actually enjoyed) and MplSound isn't exactly a risk, is it? LotusFlower wasn't particularly groundbreaking either (though it may be the first time he's let his guitar loose quite so freely for an entire album). What am I missing?

Also: Prince's diversity is not, in itself, an argument in his favour. Just because he handles a number of different styles doesn't mean he does them well, or in any particularly fresh fashion.

funkyandy said:

WisdomNLove said:

I strongly feel just because a group of people feel an artist's particular body of work isnt "great", it DOESNT mean the artist didnt put in a solid effort. In some cases this is true but not all.

Alot of fans didnt like Planet Earth however when you listen to each song closely it was a solid effort put in lyrically, melodically and production wise from top to bottom.

Prince has no competition y'all say...others say he needs competition to improve...who would win the competition? How would they know they've won?

Do we rate artists on how many instruments they play and whether they can 'sing and dance and do it all?'.

Or on the spirit of an artist and how they make us feel?

Sometimes I need Prince other times I need MJ, Metallica (Master Of Puppets album only) James Brown, Stevie, Funkadelic, Bjork, Tori A, Tchaikovsky, Dizzy, Philip Glass, Swami (Militant's band)....and so on...

You have Revolution's (and others) view that Prince can do no wrong and is pretty much God incarnate (paraphrasing OK?)...yet if he's so comfortable in his music why can't he collaborate?...except on his own terms?..isn't that a weakness?...what is he afraid of? It's music, not something life threatening.

A 'god' who reigns supreme doesn't need to 'check the competition' or criticise them. Has Prince commented negatively on any artist?...I can think of a few.

Regarding MJ...did he or didn't he say MJ called his album Bad, because he couldn't fit the word 'pathetic' on the cover?...can someone debunk that rumour thoroughly please?

.

.

Prince is not a God....

However, he is one of the chosen few who have been blessed by God and has brought his gifts to fruitation.

IMO...Prince is the BEST, hands down, musician/composer to ever walk this earth. EVA

He is better at music than Jordan is at basketball, Tiger is at golf or Ali is at boxing...and, he's probably the most underrated of them all.

So, yeah, respect paid.

Oh if it's a competition
P. is getting his ass whipped and has been for many years

I could put a list together who have whipped him.

right now: Janelle Monae / David Byrne
recently (and for some years): Ani Difranco

Before that: Stevie Wonder


I can't think of any artist who can put his foot in his own mouth as often as P. does

2elijah said:

Jatrig said:

I know he embraces them - and has played w/ them live -- but he embraces them because they adore him and are inspired by him and are creating work which he views as really good, albeit still beneath him. My point is that his output would benefit if he'd consider that their latest albums are more fresh and relevant than his -- even if they're inspired by his past body of work. Then, he'd have the incentive to make some amazing new music. I know it's in him - he is head and shoulders above anyone else out there, but he just doesn't have the incentive. I guess my point is that to get that masterpiece album we've all been waiting for, he needs to feel the incentive, which I think for him comes from a sense of needing to prove something vis a vis competition.

[Edited 3/16/11 9:42am]

Oh okay, I see what you mean, but I actually got the feeling that artists like Janelle and Esperanza brought inspiration to him , as well as incentive o him by the way he's been showing support and admiration/embracing their creative skills musically. However, you or I may see those two artists as beneath him creatively, not sure that is how he sees it, because we don't know him personally.

Another thing, is let's say, by your view he puts out the amazing music you've been waiting for, but other fans may not see it on that same level. He's put out so many different styles of music, that you can't lock him into one category. For example, when I heard the "C-Note" album that I purchased online when he had the NPGMC club, which has the "Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Copenhagen" tracks on it, I was surprised that was the Prince of the 80s that sang "Raspberry Beret" and "Darling Nikki". Many of my friends who are casual Prince fans would have no idea that was Prince if I suddenly played those tracks for them. However, I always wondered why "Empty Room" was on there, because it didn't fit in. It was more of the rock-based Prince. Now there's a plethora of his music I have never heard,--some I like--some I didn't, but for the most part, didn't mean I didn't appreciate his musicianship. I've always appreciated that he never allowed himself to be locked into one type of music or limited his ability to play various forms of music.

You have the R&B Prince;Rock Prince;Funk Prince;Pop Prince;Rockabilly Prince: Blue light in the Basement Slow Jams/Love songs Prince; Jazz Prince;Spiritual Prince;So I do agree that he is an amazing musician, one you cannot put on one category and definitely not predictable, music-wise, which is a good thing. So yes, who is out there that he can compete with on that level?

[Edited 3/16/11 13:37pm]

See, thats just it. Once upon a time, he was able to put albums together that attested to most if not all of those 'Princes' at the same time. Am I wrong? He could simply just be 'over' trying to prove to himself or anyone else that he can succeed at bending the masses and critics to his sound. I couldn't hate on him for that. I just wish the folks who missed the moment(s) had an opportunity to see someone put it all together like that in a single package.