Prince needs to promote his genius much more

most people have no understaning of how musically talented prince is. he should do alot more tv appearenaces across europe and america. for eg in the uk the jonathan ross, or alan carr show and do sets where he is seen going from drums to bass to guitar. he needs to to show off to a large audience of people who do not follow him, to give them a clear understanding of what he can do.

[Edited 1/4/15 11:56am]

[Edited 1/4/15 11:57am]

Meh. Multi-instrumentalism and technical prowess is impressive and all, but it doesn't mean much unless he can compose something moving to use those skills with.

he has composed songs in last decade as good as anythng in the past. but he needs to make people pay attention to him outside his normal crowd and he has the skills to do this like no one else.

[Edited 1/4/15 12:00pm]

I dunno man. I just haven't been feeling it all that much personally. There are still great moments of brilliance of course and his playing is godly but IMO, most of his compositions nowadays just sound deflated, unpolished (or conversely, in an attempt to feign polish, overdone) and uninspired. Just my 2c.

getfunked said:

He scrawls "written, produced performed and composed by" on as many albums as he can, and plays live every night for several months a year.

Unless he hires an insanely big name director and shoots an interesting documentary, or perhaps does a TV talk-show world tour and shows off in an intimate manner that he's an insanely talented multi-instrumentalist

It's a difficult thing to showcase because chances are about 70% of people wouldn't realise what they were seeing unless it was spelled out for them. The way Prince can transition from one instrument to the other - he makes it look so effortless on his part that people often forget that is a big part of the Prince act. Even now there aren't many people in music who can do this, and even less who can do it well. I have seen Jack White play his guitar and Piano at the same time, but it's nowhere near as clean as Prince.

agree totally with last post

this is his major usp (when youve got a usp you flog it to death)

he needs to find a way to wow the masses more by flaunted what he can do we all know no one else has the ability like he does.

[Edited 1/4/15 12:55pm]

daddypig said:

agree totally with last post

this is his major usp (when youve got a usp you flog it to death)

he needs to find a way to wow the masses more by flaunted what he can do we all know no one else has the ability like he does.

[Edited 1/4/15 12:55pm]

It's easy to showcase in a music video I guess. Where you can have each instrument showcased as a seperate track/instrument all within the same video window. Not original by any means there are thousands on youtube - Similar to what "harts" was doing.

Live I think he needs a band he can micro-manage on stage. Prince the bandleader is incredibly fun to watch. It's even more impressive when he moves from instrument to instrument. People aren't aware of Prince the drummer for example.

Prince used to do shows where he'd move from the guitar to the bass to drums, it's fun but he did not keep doing that because it's not terribly sophisticated to point out he can play, his fans know he does and there is no need for him to show off like Justin Bieber when he sits behind a drum kit to show he can play -- it's just a little tacky and people are not impressed for long.

If Prince would again do a more organic rnb/soul/funk record, sort of ditch the drum programming for his next project and do a soulful record that sounds like TRC but lyrically would be more like SOTT, I think that would be a good move. Maybe people are right and he did hear Black Messiah -- I just know that for he has it in him to do something that would please expensive coffee drinkers at Starbuck and be all organic fu_k thumps, whispers and squeals, something to captivate the legions of career girls and boys out there who are too old for hiphy but too young for a jazz beret.

Prince is perhabs one of the most gifted musicians alive.

He is also an awesome composer, altho' it seems he would rather keep his best ceations to himself, than share them.

As a lyricist, Prince has the talent to convey meaning with few words.

Prince is a poet too, but he should work harder on his poems, before he shares.

As a band leader, live performer and recording artist, there is probably nobody alive today who is as awesomely talented as he is.

But not as inspired.

That's what Prince truly needs these days: INSPIRATION.

Not saying that what I see, think, feel about this, is really what Prince should do.

Prince should ultimately follow his heart and his god.

But this is what I see.


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[Edited 1/4/15 17:38pm]

When was the last time u saw a TV commercial 4 a Ferrari?

I might be the only one here with this memory, but back in the early 80s country pop performer Barbara Mandrell and her sisters Louise and Irlene had a variety show on NBC--it was pretty much like every other variety show, but they did have one regular element. Each show, the three sisters would play an instrumental medley together, intended to showcase Barbara's and Louise's abilities on multiple instruments as they switched off through several solos on a sequence of instruments (and Irlene got to play drums, which at least allowed her not to be really working the "goofy blonde" schtick she worked the rest of the show).

.

It was a terribly unnecessary segment (on a show which wasn't great anyway), and hearing the suggestion that Prince needs to feature moving from one instrument to another just makes me think of all those Mandrell medleys (if you really want to see one, there's some on Youtube).

Graycap23 said:

When was the last time u saw a TV commercial 4 a Ferrari?

but if u dont see one around...u will forget

EddieC said:

I might be the only one here with this memory, but back in the early 80s country pop performer Barbara Mandrell and her sisters Louise and Irlene had a variety show on NBC--it was pretty much like every other variety show, but they did have one regular element. Each show, the three sisters would play an instrumental medley together, intended to showcase Barbara's and Louise's abilities on multiple instruments as they switched off through several solos on a sequence of instruments (and Irlene got to play drums, which at least allowed her not to be really working the "goofy blonde" schtick she worked the rest of the show).

.

It was a terribly unnecessary segment (on a show which wasn't great anyway), and hearing the suggestion that Prince needs to feature moving from one instrument to another just makes me think of all those Mandrell medleys (if you really want to see one, there's some on Youtube).

But if not for that segment, would you have been aware they were multi-instrumentalists? It must have made a lasting impression?

I'm not saying that would be the way Prince should do it, but it'd certainly do him no harm to remind people. It's not uncommon for Prince to switch between Keys and Guitar, and occasionally bass anyway.

I think perhaps the best way for him to show off his talent and pick up a new following would be a TV show following a similar format to Jools Holland. "Paisley Park After Dark" or whatever. Showcasing Prince, his band and whichever artists he decided to feature. So long as he had a loud and confident co-host I think he could pull it off.

Prince is an artist, not a promoter. He has said so, himself.

Prince is not a genius.

Noodled24 said:

hires an insanely big name director and shoots an interesting documentary,

DOCUMENTARY IS A GREAT IDEA.

however, does anyone think he'd allow the kind of access it would need to be good?

Prince's genius is always being promoted these days. Talk show hosts, musicians, actors, and just about everybody under the sun have been praising his music.

But, he's sort of like Christina Aguilera now--so offputting to the general public, that no matter what the musical ability, the public simply isn't hip to it.

Plus, he's old now. It's hard to have hits when you're old. A Bonnie Raite here, a Santana there--but few and far between can really land mega hits once they're old. All the botox filler in the world isn't going to save Madonna soon too--and, unlike Prince, she doesn't ahve the talent to sustain a career without hit singles or top sellers.