WHY doesnt he perform this song live anymore? afterall his name is PRINCE and he use to be funky?this was his best song 91-95 era along with billy jack.what do u think?

kidmelody2012 said:

WHY doesnt he perform this song live anymore? afterall his name is PRINCE and he use to be funky?this was his best song 91-95 era along with billy jack.what do u think?

what do i think? i think you thought long and hard about a way to rattle some cages 'round here.

Have you ever heard this song live!!??

I really like this song because of the arrangement and production, and the lyrics are just comic book braggart, but.... his live rendition and staging of it in concert were really BAD! I was so disappointed by that '93 Arsenio appearance compared to the year before (or was that two years before?).

I like the energy of this song,but idk....the song isn't one of his more convincing hip-hop tracks.I only like certain parts of this song.

kidmelody2012 said:

WHY doesnt he perform this song live anymore? afterall his name is PRINCE and he use to be funky?this was his best song 91-95 era along with billy jack.what do u think?

Often wonder the same thing. Love the alternate versions!

I have always liked this song and the music video!!


Great funky track...... the bass is fantastic..

Act II, the tour opener was My Name Is Prince, back in 1993... pure dope...



And to much surprise it wasn't Prince arriving at the stage during My Name Is Prince,

It turned out to be Mayte, in the MNIP outfit including the great chain hat....

Great memories, I saw the Act II tour both in Stockholm and Göteborg (or was it Malmø):

He wasn't touring Denmark much back then.....

I've always liked this...it's frantic and fully of wild energy. I'm probably not as critical as I could/should be about the rapping etc., but I just go with the flow!

It's such an egomaniac song, only Prince could get away with such a track. Ironic that he changed his name soon afterwards.. lol

I really liked it when I was 14. It's sort of unintentionally funny to me now.

Definitely a product of that era with the aggressive overall sound and the reliance on sampled sounds that do not have much of a harmonic function. While I can still enjoy some of the early 90s tracks I'm glad he want back to his older style with the successive releases.

Definitely one of his worst tracks!

Scotsman1999 said:

I've always liked this...it's frantic and fully of wild energy. I'm probably not as critical as I could/should be about the rapping etc., but I just go with the flow!

It's such an egomaniac song, only Prince could get away with such a track. Ironic that he changed his name soon afterwards.. lol

Agreed. I've always loved it. Killer bass, sonically full of mad energy and cartoon braggadocio, clearly not meant to be taken too seriously. Ain't comparing this song with Hendrix's Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) , but lyrically, both share similar bluesman-like boasting about each man's supposed supernatural origins/ powers, sexual prowess and generally being 'the man' .

Sonically, it sounds to me like he was taking on the Bomb Squad/ Public Enemy sound, while commenting on hip hoppers 'stealing his samples' by sampling himself to death.

Seriously, the following verse could almost be Prince's manifesto -

My name is Prince, I don't wanna be king
Cuz I've seen the top and it's just a dream
Big cars and women and fancy clothes
Will save your face but it won't save your soul
I'm here to tell you that there's a better way
Would our Lord be happy if He came 2 day?
I ain't sayin' I'm better, no better than u
But if u want 2 play with me, u better learn the rules

And now witness the awesome street poetry of Mr Anthony Mosley later in the track -

The funkier I be
The funkier I get, oh shit
Lickety split on the lyric
A new jack in the pulpit
Watch it deacon, your track is leakin'
What is this u're seekin'?
The syncopated rhymes are at their peak
When you jumped on my D.I.C.K.
That's the one thing that I don't play
The jock strap was 2 big 4 u anyway
U're just a simpleton
I'll bust u like a pimple, son
My star is 2 bright
Boy, I'll sink u like the ship Poseidon Adventure
U're bumpin' dentures 2 be cocksure
There must be more coming from
Your mouth than manure.
So with a flow and a spray, I say hey
U must become a prince before u're king anyway

What's not to love?

Love the album version, but it didn't translate live too well.

thedance said:

Always loved it but I remember how bad a choice for a single it was back then. No catchy melody and it wasn't really rap either but even badder was the fact that in non-English countries people totally missed the point because they didn't get the lyrics. In France all the poeple I knew understood only "MNIP and I am funky, MNIP the one and only" and they totally missed the rest (the reflexions about God, money and fame, etc.) and just believed it to be a lame ego-trip. I remember how every one hated it while I was totally in love with it and lonely

.

One thing I didn't get (and it didn't help people to like the track) was the fighting scenes in the video, it gave many people the idea that was endorsing violence and even though I knew he didn't, I failed to get his point there. Anyone ever got it? I'd like to hear your opinions.

databank said:

Always loved it but I remember how bad a choice for a single it was back then. No catchy melody and it wasn't really rap either but even badder was the fact that in non-English countries people totally missed the point because they didn't get the lyrics. In France all the poeple I knew understood only "MNIP and I am funky, MNIP the one and only" and they totally missed the rest (the reflexions about God, money and fame, etc.) and just believed it to be a lame ego-trip. I remember how every one hated it while I was totally in love with it and lonely

.

One thing I didn't get (and it didn't help people to like the track) was the fighting scenes in the video, it gave many people the idea that was endorsing violence and even though I knew he didn't, I failed to get his point there. Anyone ever got it? I'd like to hear your opinions.

Probably just some impressionistic way of being "street" hard without too much logic.

Ppenguin said:

thedance said:

I have always liked this song and the music video!!


Great funky track...... the bass is fantastic..

Act II, the tour opener was My Name Is Prince, back in 1993... pure dope...



And to much surprise it wasn't Prince arriving at the stage during My Name Is Prince,

It turned out to be Mayte, in the MNIP outfit including the great chain hat....

Great memories, I saw the Act II tour both in Stockholm and Göteborg (or was it Malmø):

He wasn't touring Denmark much back then.....

Unless of course you were at Wembley stadium where Prince was clearly standing just off stage singing whilst "mayte-prince" did her thing :-)

^ ok, but 1993 was 3 or 4 years before my first use of the internet,

I did not have any info from the Wembley show at all. I was so surprised there in Stockholm, about the Mayte-Prince thing.. people were "shocked" at the end of My Name Is Prince... to see Prince suddenly standing in a pink bikini, and there... it was not him, but Mayte.. funny..

But cool to hear you was at Wembley, wasn't you surprised there..? when you experienced this little "stunt"?

edit, did I misunderstand you? Were you watching Prince while Mayte were "singing" "My Name Is Prince"? Did he ruin his own.. gimmick?

[Edited 7/24/14 11:38am]

thedance said:

thedance said:

robertgeorgeakabob said:

thedance said:

^ ok, but 1993 was 3 or 4 years before my first use of the internet,

I did not have any info from the Wembley show at all. I was so surprised there in Stockholm, about the Mayte-Prince thing.. people were "shocked" at the end of My Name Is Prince... to see Prince suddenly standing in a pink bikini, and there... it was not him, but Mayte.. funny..

But cool to hear you was at Wembley, wasn't you surprised there..? when you experienced this little "stunt"?

edit, did I misunderstand you? Were you watching Prince while Mayte were "singing" "My Name Is Prince"? Did he ruin his own.. gimmick?

[Edited 7/24/14 11:38am]

I was at the Meadowbank show when Mayte fell off the swing. Hilarious!

.

Now, Id pay money to see THAT!!!

callimnate said:

robertgeorgeakabob said:

thedance said: I was at the Meadowbank show when Mayte fell off the swing. Hilarious!

.

Now, Id pay money to see THAT!!!

I saw that too, and also on the 1st date of the European tour at Birmingham she fell again when the swing went over our heads and eventually reached the stage..

I remember saying to my friend, "No way does Prince fall...something's weird here!". For a dancer, she was awfully clumsy getting off that swing.

[Edited 7/25/14 7:16am]

yall have to admit the video was cool tho

As soon as Tony M started rapping, the song took a huge nosedive. And when Tony M became the first rapper in history to rap about "Manure," it got even worse. Not a bad song before Tony ruins it, but not exactly a great song either. It was a minor hit, but "7" obviously was the big winner. The symbol album has it's moments, but didn't really have much for singles. "The Morning Papers" might have had more of a chance if it was the second single, and "7" had been the lead single, but that's a lot of what ifs. Just thinking about Tony M, Damon D, and Kirk J all wearing those damn Star Trek Next Generation outfits is about as cringe worthy as it gets.

I read a fantastic comparison recently of MNIP vs Michael Jackson's "Bad", and how the latter is a failure on all fronts, whereas MNIP is just out there nuts and while not a great song still a worthwhile listen. But I can't remember where I've read that... Was a great piece, though.

when I heard this I truly knew it was THE end of the artist/leader...i put Jughead down to a blip [!] BUT this confirmed my worst fears. to this day I detest the song..the symbol album is still very, very likeable BUT this?.....meh!

It's a superb album but I think they screwed up on choosing some of the singles."The Morning Papers" is a decent song,but I would have chosen the brilliant "And God Created Woman" instead."The Continental" definitely should have been a single,as well.

stillwaiting said:

The symbol album has it's moments, but didn't really have much for singles. "The Morning Papers" might have had more of a chance if it was the second single, and "7" had been the lead single, but that's a lot of what ifs.

SoulAlive said:

It's a superb album but I think they screwed up on choosing some of the singles."The Morning Papers" is a decent song,but I would have chosen the brilliant "And God Created Woman" instead."The Continental" definitely should have been a single,as well.

stillwaiting said:

The symbol album has it's moments, but didn't really have much for singles. "The Morning Papers" might have had more of a chance if it was the second single, and "7" had been the lead single, but that's a lot of what ifs.

God Created Woman is a great song, but great songs make terrible singles in some cases. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" anyone? "Blue Light" is a lesser song, but had elements of a hit in it, provided there was a good video. You have to remember that with 9 consecutive years of album releases, that Prince had oversaturated the market, so a lot of stars had to align for anything that wasn't "7" on this album to be a hit. "Continental" had too repetitive a guitar part, and the wacky tempo change was probably too much for the ever dumbing down at Top 40 radio.

Miles said: