honer said:

What the fuck do you people want seriously!

Is this a Prince fan site or Prince bitch site? I liked it, great way to use autotune by also proving you can sing on the same track unlike all the new artists who use it to mask the fact that they cant sing.

We want a fucking great song, Ho(h)ner. Or just a SONG would be nice.

The autotune is irrelevant.

honer said:

I really like it. From the inital feedback i saw on the board i wasn't expecting to. Goodness knows, when i saw someone compare it to 'incense and candles' i was filled with dread. Yes, it sounds contemporary, but not in a chasing trends type of way (like the aforementioned song) and certainly retains the Prince strange vibe (e.g. the backwards music).

This isn't the 80s, he's not that man anymore, and the music is going to be different. This is good. I think i might really enjoy this lp

honer said:

What the fuck do you people want seriously!

Is this a Prince fan site or Prince bitch site? I liked it, great way to use autotune by also proving you can sing on the same track unlike all the new artists who use it to mask the fact that they cant sing.

Prince is so diverse that whatever song he releases will find a selection of people here who don't like it. It's the nature of the beast and it's why I'm glad that he does things like releasing the Lotus set, 3 discs of Emancipation or AOA and PE together. There will be tracks some like which others don't and vice versa.

I happen to dislike this song but alternatively I've loved Screwdriver, Pretzelbodylogic, Fixurlifeup and Fallinlove2nite. Go into threads about those songs and you'll find people bitching and moaning. There will be a few of the same people accross all of them but I've seen people in this thread who haven't liked much recent stuff and happen to like U Know.

You will never get a thread devoid of people who don't like a song, so if you can't deal with it you need to tune it out or find another artist who releases tracks which all sound the same and go frequent their forums.

Sly said:

Goodness knows, when i saw someone compare it to 'incense and candles' i was filled with dread.

Haha, I had the opposite. Got my hoped up when someone mentioned Strange But True, which is awesome. Not the same at all

Whitecaps is a great song, this song along with Clouds are very good by today's standards. They aren't cringe worthy, i have two children in their 20's who would let me know if they were. People here are alot like me, biased, finicky and clouded by the groundbreaking stuff that made a serious imprint on our youth. I'm excited to hear both albums now, and i never anticipated another 1999.

once it's on my stereo I wil lreassess... this streamign shit is substandard fare

iZsaZsa said:

Genesia said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Prince is so diverse that whatever song he releases will find a selection of people here who don't like it. It's the nature of the beast and it's why I'm glad that he does things like releasing the Lotus set, 3 discs of Emancipation or AOA and PE together. There will be tracks some like which others don't and vice versa.

I happen to dislike this song but alternatively I've loved Screwdriver, Pretzelbodylogic, Fixurlifeup and Fallinlove2nite. Go into threads about those songs and you'll find people bitching and moaning. There will be a few of the same people accross all of them but I've seen people in this thread who haven't liked much recent stuff and happen to like U Know.

You will never get a thread devoid of people who don't like a song, so if you can't deal with it you need to tune it out or find another artist who releases tracks which all sound the same and go frequent their forums.

.

This is a very important point imo! The org would make a huge step forward to becoming a decent place for Prince-related discussions again if we could just agree on Prince being so diverse that it is impossible for him nowadays to please every fan with his releases.

.

Btw, although I'm not a big fan of today's R'n'B, I really like this song! It's catchy, the chorus is stuck in my head. And yes, it is waaay better than the original version by Mila J, which just bored me so much that I turned it off. Honestly, do people here also complain about Prince's version of "One of us" because it is not his song??? There is more original input by Prince in "U know" than in "One of us", for which he just changed the arrangement (much to the advantage of the song imo).

Oh dear. What do we have here? Certainly not a Prince sounding song. But any good? I dont know what to say. The vocal delivery is awful! The song may be a grower, but I need to step back and gather myself. That first listen made me feel quite ill. Will try again later... Quite like Whitecaps though.

novabrkr said:

Huh? He made a piece using someone else's track? I'm now listening to the original and it seems to be the case. It's the first time for Prince.

I sometimes dig that type of an approach, blatant sampling / borrowing and then mangling it up, but I'm really surprised Prince actually did this.

"Gett Off"?

jseven said:

WisdomNLove said:

I LOVE IT

with U. Wonder the age of the people who hate it n the people who like it. Twitter ("youngins") like it. Facebook (older) don't. As someone said earlier "the more it is hated here, the more the general public is going to like it.

What an absolutly mental thing to say.

No, "youngins" i have seen on social networks are laughing just as bad at it. Secondly, why do you celebrate this over middle-aged man trying so desperately (destroying his once unique vision in the process) to look young and get down with the kids? It's hugely embarrassing for him. I used to go to Prince to get away from absolute nonsense on the radio. This was a guy that made his own trends......now.....this.

Lastly....i am classed as a "youngin" and this is my opinion of this shite.

Doozer said:

After three listens - I can only say that I spent all of college and more than 15 years of marriage convincing my significant other that Prince was one of the most talented songwriters and musicians on the planet. I will be keeping this song out of shared playlists for fear of rendering that effort useless. Next.

Ditto.....but in a smaller timeframe.

Not one of his best..... far from worst. IMO a decent track. As many have noted.... Prince will never apeease 'all' of his fans with every song. But I do tend to notice that his songs with a more RnB flare tend to get the harshest criticism on the Org. ie 'Incence and Candles', 'MPLSound', etc.... My taste are that I tend to like his RnB sounding stuff in general.

When the hook becomes muffled lol never mind lol.

iZsaZsa said:

NewYorkCity said:

Question. The part muffled when he sings you know hook, is he going down on her at that point before coming up?

Where? "Put your head down. Know thyself. Just talk to him/Him."...Ooowee. There?

Exactly.

Nikkie said:

What's so wrong with using auto-tune as a stylistic means? It gives the track its futuro-funky, robotic feel. It may not be the most original thing Prince has done, but I guess it works here. And we all know Prince can sing, right?

nayroo2002 said:

novabrkr said:

Huh? He made a piece using someone else's track? I'm now listening to the original and it seems to be the case. It's the first time for Prince.

I sometimes dig that type of an approach, blatant sampling / borrowing and then mangling it up, but I'm really surprised Prince actually did this.

"Gett Off"?

Gett Off is just a funny sample. Sexy MF for instance is a complete rip-off, though updated much to its benefit.

TheEnglishGent said:

Sly said:

Goodness knows, when i saw someone compare it to 'incense and candles' i was filled with dread.

Haha, I had the opposite. Got my hoped up when someone mentioned Strange But True, which is awesome. Not the same at all

Well, at least we can both agree that 'Strange but True' is the shit

p.s i think this track will grow on you - within the context of the lp. We'll see.

nayroo2002 said:

novabrkr said:

Huh? He made a piece using someone else's track? I'm now listening to the original and it seems to be the case. It's the first time for Prince.

I sometimes dig that type of an approach, blatant sampling / borrowing and then mangling it up, but I'm really surprised Prince actually did this.

"Gett Off"?

Not really comparable.

This is the first time he's lifted a sample from another song and made an entire track by just looping it (there are a few alterations and some sound FX type of synth sounds thrown on top of it, but that's it). Yeah, I know he's also sampled Hendrix for "Tick, Tick, Bang", but that one had more of a proper compositional approach to it. This one is very sketchy.

What's worth noting is that even the original track has a sketchy overall feel. Prince didn't really alter the idea of the original that much. People are usually more comfortable with sampling when you make something entirely different out of the sample, but that's not the case here.

novabrkr said:

nayroo2002 said:

"Gett Off"?

Not really comparable.

This is the first time he's lifted a sample from another song and made an entire track by just looping it (there are a few alterations and some sound FX type of synth sounds thrown on top of it, but that's it). Yeah, I know he's also sampled Hendrix for "Tick, Tick, Bang", but that one had more of a proper compositional approach to it. This one is very sketchy.

What's worth noting is that even the original track has a sketchy overall feel. Prince didn't really alter the idea of the original that much. People are usually more comfortable with sampling when you make something entirely different out of the sample, but that's not the case here.

Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby.

Argh. This track has shown up on iTunes but not yet available as a pre-order single from the official site. I'm waiting...

The sample sounds decent to me but I get why some folks don't like it. To each their own, you know? Prince's music covers so many genres you're almost guaranteed not to enjoy some of it.

Polo1026 said:

Interesting that the so-called 'hardcore' Prince fans are hating 'U know' but the media is loving it and they haven't liked anything Prince since Musicology. It is a legitimate attempt at hit making from Prince in a long long time.'U know' IMO is a catchy, head-nodding, track that has caught the attention of young kids who haven't been exposed to Prince besides youtube. It's a smartly worked sample and vocal. I see complaints about it being simple, like Prince hits like 1999, I would die for you, If I was your GF, Sign of the times, etc aren't musically simple? Prince's early success has created an elitist/entitled group of fans that won't like anything unless if follows a certain "Prince" criteria. I heard from my uncle who is in the industry, who was a kid when Prince dropped his hallmark albums and he told me he couldn't stop playing the song. It's like fans here feel the need to hold Prince's talent to some otherworldly standard and blast him for making simple, good songs. I hated everything in 2000's besides a few tracks here and there. I joined this forum a few months ago and never posted until today because it's the first piece of music from Prince that actually made me get up and dance. I was eager to see what the fans thought and everywhere but here people love it. I actually heard it was on wbls radio in NY. Listen I'm not here to pass judgment for something so subjective like art and music. If you don't like it then fine that's an opinion you're welcome to have. I just want to say that if you're waiting on a ground breaking, soul changing Prince record, you're not gonna get that now so don't hold him to the standard he set 30 years ago. Prince is not wasting his talent, he already gave us the best music anyone could from 1978-1994. 'U know' is certainly not the worst thing he's ever done and not the best, it's a simple sample with good, catchy vocals that made me move.

dont forget that a lot of the reviews you will be reading are written by youngsters whose exposure to P will be back when they were very young / school age. Therefore they are listening through non biased younger ears rather than hardcore old ears like mine & yours! For P that's a really good thing. Now, if they would just sort out the marketing!

I quite like it so far despite the autotune... Nice groove and slightly quirky. It is a grower though I am not sure how much it will grow. It could sit nicely on an album but maybe not as a single. Clouds is best song so far.

novabrkr said:

nayroo2002 said:

"Gett Off"?

Not really comparable.

This is the first time he's lifted a sample from another song and made an entire track by just looping it (there are a few alterations and some sound FX type of synth sounds thrown on top of it, but that's it). Yeah, I know he's also sampled Hendrix for "Tick, Tick, Bang", but that one had more of a proper compositional approach to it. This one is very sketchy.

What's worth noting is that even the original track has a sketchy overall feel. Prince didn't really alter the idea of the original that much. People are usually more comfortable with sampling when you make something entirely different out of the sample, but that's not the case here.

The entire groove of "Gett Off" is a looped sample directly lifted from EnVogue's "Hold On".

.

As for "U Know", reguardless the origins of the groove track, I like it alot.

It threw me for a 'loop'!

.

...i'll get my coat...