I have a (non-Prince fan) friend who heard my Black Sweat ringtone and downloaded the song for himself, and said it's one of his favorite workout songs. He asked me recently if there were any Prince songs that were similar that he could seek out, and shockingly, I found myself unable to provide any.

I thought it would be worth it to ask on here: are there any songs that you find to be similar to Black Sweat that I could recommend to my friend?

For some reason, I'm thinking of the extended version of Kiss, although I'm not really sure why...

Yes, regarding Kiss (Extended). I would also throw a slight curveball and include something like 100MPH.

A short but sweet setlist might look like this:

The Work Pt. 1

Musicology

Black Sweat

Ol Skool Company

Bob George

D.M.S.R.

100MPH

Kiss

And personally, I would throw another curveball or two by closing with Blue Limousine and Violet Blue.

Email from Emancipation

Interesting regarding Email. Also, very different, but kinda similar... Joint 2 Joint.

SpiritOtter said:

Interesting regarding Email. Also, very different, but kinda similar... Joint 2 Joint.

I guess when I heard Black Sweat it reminded me of stuff from Emancipation because of the high pitched synth line, even if Sweat is a bit more up tempo sort of.

Yes, I agree, Meloh9. I just never pieced the two together, but that Dre-esque synth line is definitely there. I wonder if Love Sign might count, too, although it is a stretch...

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

Some great suggestions on here - thanks, y'all!

Regarding the high-pitched synth line being reiminscent of parts of Emancipation, I'm now considering including some of my favorite "techno dance" jams from that set, such as "Human Body" and "New World." Thoughts?

SuperSoulFighter, I think "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance" is a great suggestion as well. Marco81, "Ain't Gonna Miss U..." might fit quite well on the mix that I'm apparently now going to make for him. Thanks! And Meloh9, "Email" is another great suggestion...for many of my music-loving friends, I might be hesitant just due to its ultra-cheesy lyrics (even for Prince), but my friend is a Disney-loving cheesehead, so that might be right up his alley! Plus, he's a big Kate Bush fan, and although she's sadly buried in the mix, it's a nice bit of trivia for him.

Spirit-Otter, a special thanks to you for reminding me how much I love "Blue Limousine" and how it's been such a criminally long time since I've heard it! Also, "D.M.S.R." and "Musicology" seem like good additions to this mix as well.

Cool.

If he's a "Disney cheesehead", why not slip in "Be My Mirror", just to mess up the flow? On the funk side, y'know, you could go deeper with Dance On, Tambourine, Irresistible B and Tricky. In fact, on the mainstream side When Doves Cry would be the cut, especially if a big single like Kiss is there, too.

Good luck!!!

PopcornFetus said:

P Control has the squealy synths as well. Days Of Wild, too. Lots on TGE has that sound (to me, at least).

SpiritOtter said:

Cool.

If he's a "Disney cheesehead", why not slip in "Be My Mirror", just to mess up the flow? On the funk side, y'know, you could go deeper with Dance On, Tambourine, Irresistible B and Tricky. In fact, on the mainstream side When Doves Cry would be the cut, especially if a big single like Kiss is there, too.

Good luck!!!

Y'know, I might end up doing a whole other mix for him with some of the more "cheesy" Prince songs on there (please don't think by cheesy I mean bad, because I love extra cheese) ... Be My Mirror is a great one for that mix. I'll call it "The Disney Mix" and will probably end up putting a lot of the songs from the "Do Anything" sessions on there...

Definitely going to add Dance On and Irresistible Bitch, though. And probably Tambourine, if only because I love it so much!

PurpleSullivan, thanks for the heads up on Pussy Control and even Days of Wild. I agree that The Gold Experience definitely does have a lot of great squealy synths!!

PopcornFetus: Fuschia Light is a great example, but the copy I have just doesn't sound clear enough to work in a mix. Pheromone, on the other hand, is definitely going to be included!

SpiritOtter said:

Yes, regarding Kiss (Extended). I would also throw a slight curveball and include something like 100MPH.

A short but sweet setlist might look like this:

The Work Pt. 1

Musicology

Black Sweat

Ol Skool Company

Bob George

D.M.S.R.

100MPH

Kiss

And personally, I would throw another curveball or two by closing with Blue Limousine and Violet Blue.

you would give somebody blue limousine ?????

on a work out cd??!!

what are the working out with? cotton wool?

Baby Go-Go has similar minimal production and Linn drum arrangements.

Also, Black Sweat is a tune that successfully ushered his mpls-funk into modern times, i actually still think it sounds ahead of time. He hasn't repeated this since. He's released fantastic, similar tracks since, but none have the unique kick that Black Sweat has.

I'd say 3121 and Black Sweat are forward thinking, completely new sounding funk tracks that haven't been expanded on since.

319

More production than Black Sweat but it should amp you up.

IDK about Prince songs but ur friend should like Snoop Dogg's Drop It Like It's Hot: Black Sweet sounds a lot like it

Well...this song borrows heavily from Andre Cymone's Neon Pussycat...check it out, the beat is identical!

If it's for a workout mix, include "Work That Fat" - then make sure you're there when he hears it for the first time.

Genesia said:

If it's for a workout mix, include "Work That Fat" - then make sure you're there when he hears it for the first time.

Haha, I love it...one of my favorite "silly" bootlegs, anyway! I'll include it.

And CharlieRise and kenkamken, thanks for the "319" suggestion...I think that works quite well. Also, kenkamken, "Sex" will be on there for sure. I love it's funky safe sex message. And "Loose" is a perfect workout song, indeed.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

Well...this song borrows heavily from Andre Cymone's Neon Pussycat...check it out, the beat is identical!

Off topic - as tight as Prince is with sampling his music. It appears he is ok with sampling and not giving credit

^ Not off topic at all, seeing as it is the basis of the whole song. I'm sure you can agree, it is similar to Black Sweat. I don't think he sampled it though, he just copied it! You're not a moderator either.

[Edited 7/9/13 12:32pm]

I found that non-fans that like Black Sweat tend to like Valentina too.