Both Prince and Madonna are the same age, part of the musical goliaths that ruled popular music and culture in the 1980s, both released albums recently that is inspired by electronic dance music, pop and hip hop that is aimed at millennials that listen to new music on an on-going basis. Prince sometimes record music that as a challenge to himself to record music or equal or better to another artist whether it be his contemporaries or someone he has influenced by a generation. Not to mention Prince's business relationship with Jay-Z at TIDAL, getting paid upfront to stream HITNRUN and most of his catalog from 1978-1996 for Warner Bros. and his albums post his emancipation. This could open Prince to working with stars like Rihanna, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj etc. in a goal to reconnect with th youth market that probably knows who he is but not have any personal connection with his music like his hardcore fans. More power to him if that his end goal.

bashraka said:

Both Prince and Madonna are the same age, part of the musical goliaths that ruled popular music and culture in the 1980s, both released albums recently that is inspired by electronic dance music, pop and hip hop that is aimed at millennials that listen to new music on an on-going basis. Prince sometimes record music that as a challenge to himself to record music or equal or better to another artist whether it be his contemporaries or someone he has influenced by a generation. Not to mention Prince's business relationship with Jay-Z at TIDAL, getting paid upfront to stream HITNRUN and most of his catalog from 1978-1996 for Warner Bros. and his albums post his emancipation. This could open Prince to working with stars like Rihanna, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj etc. in a goal to reconnect with th youth market that probably knows who he is but not have any personal connection with his music like his hardcore fans. More power to him if that his end goal.

BOOM. Thank you! I think it is! And this is the context it should be discussed in.....in the contemporary crap of todays pop market where 'good' doesn't matter more than NOW NOW NOW NEXT.


Rebel Heart too many producers, too many non songs too many ideas overthought.

HNR at least its fun. Its not unique or different or special. But its fun. For NOW. and then we move on.

[Edited 9/9/15 10:34am]

Rebel Heart is 100% pathetic.

I don't think HNR is an answer to anyone though.

just Prince and Madonna selling out at the same time.

synchronicity.

[Edited 9/9/15 10:41am]

Madonna sold out at least as early as Hard Candy, if not with Confessions On A Dancefloor.

It'd be a little late for Prince to wake up and try to answer that.

I can hear using Josh as a producer is selling out, I had something of that feeling when I heard certain things on AOA and I still have something of that feeling. But I say if it's only a phase I'm not gonna hold it against him because it's pretty much the first time he sells out in 36 years and it's not like I'm that unhappy with what I hear anyway.

They are both terrible albums. They both just sound like washed up middle aged artists trying to sound relevant which they are not. At least Madonna brought in professional, up to date producers and has been doing this kind of music for a while. This Prince album just sounds like a mess.

[Edited 9/9/15 11:22am]

[Edited 9/9/15 12:57pm]

Rebel Heart is Madonna's best album since Confessions On A Dancefloor.Most of her fans seem to love it.It also got excellent reviews.

I don't think most Prince fans would say that HitNRun is one of his strongest efforts.

SignOthetimes1987 said:

just Prince and Madonna selling out at the same time.

I never understand when people accuse Madonna of "selling out".She's a pop artist and she has always been one.She makes pop music.It's not as if she was some obscure jazz artist before,and is now making radio-friendly pop music She's doing what she has always done.How is that "selling out"?

One has good songs and a pending world tour to support and promote it, the other is an EP available on TIDAL.

SoulAlive said:

SignOthetimes1987 said:

just Prince and Madonna selling out at the same time.

I never understand when people accuse Madonna of "selling out".She's a pop artist and she has always been one.She makes pop music.It's not as if she was some obscure jazz artist before,and is now making radio-friendly pop music She's doing what she has always done.How is that "selling out"?

IDK. Up until American Life it was like she was following the trend but adding something of an arty-farty, sophisticated and personal dimension to it. She was always more or less up to the standards of the best shit at the time I'd say. And it was maturing with her. Her works with Orbit and Mirways didn't sound like an updated version of Like A Virgin's Madonna nor like the Spice Girl of Britney Spears did at the time. It was the mature work of a mature woman. With Confessions it suddenly started to be like Madonna is going back in time, not maturing but deaging, and suddenly she was sounding like all those young new singers who were so deperatly trying to be the Madonnas of their generation withou having an ounce of her personality.

Confessions still has something somehow conceptual to it, and delicate production standards, but then it became worse and worse with each album, with Madonna ending-up sounding just like everyone else and dancing in underwear at 56. The mere title of the last album for chrisssakes: Unapologetic Bitch?! OK she took like THE idiom that was in every female teenager's mouth in 2014 and made it into a title.

Are the albums that bad? No. But they're ordinary. They could be Kesha or Rihanna or Gaga or any of those Top 200 clones, it wouldn't make any difference.

That's selling out to me.

databank said:

SoulAlive said:

I never understand when people accuse Madonna of "selling out".She's a pop artist and she has always been one.She makes pop music.It's not as if she was some obscure jazz artist before,and is now making radio-friendly pop music She's doing what she has always done.How is that "selling out"?

IDK. Up until American Life it was like she was following the trend but adding something of an arty-farty, sophisticated and personal dimension to it. She was always more or less up to the standards of the best shit at the time I'd say. And it was maturing with her. Her works with Orbit and Mirways didn't sound like an updated version of Like A Virgin's Madonna nor like the Spice Girl of Britney Spears did at the time. It was the mature work of a mature woman. With Confessions it suddenly started to be like Madonna is going back in time, not maturing but deaging, and suddenly she was sounding like all those young new singers who were so deperatly trying to be the Madonnas of their generation withou having an ounce of her personality.

Confessions still has something somehow conceptual to it, and delicate production standards, but then it became worse and worse with each album, with Madonna ending-up sounding just like everyone else and dancing in underwear at 56. The mere title of the last album for chrisssakes: Unapologetic Bitch?! OK she took like THE idiom that was in every female teenager's mouth in 2014 and made it into a title.

Are the albums that bad? No. But they're ordinary. They could be Kesha or Rihanna or Gaga or any of those Top 200 clones, it wouldn't make any difference.

That's selling out to me.

Have you heard the Rebel Heart album? It is filled with songs that are deeply introspective and "mature"....."Living For Love","Devil Pray","Ghosttown","Messaih","Wash All Over Me","Joan Of Ark","Beautiful Scars","Borrowed Time",etc.The problem is,people hear a song like "Bitch I'm Madonna" and they assume that's what Madonna is all about these days,lol.

SoulAlive said:

SignOthetimes1987 said:

just Prince and Madonna selling out at the same time.

I never understand when people accuse Madonna of "selling out".She's a pop artist and she has always been one.She makes pop music.It's not as if she was some obscure jazz artist before,and is now making radio-friendly pop music She's doing what she has always done.How is that "selling out"?

and she has always been on the edge. Not cookie cutter pop. She has taken a lot of risks and is not (Pop) in the general sense. Yes she has done what she has always done.

The thing with certain visual artists like Prince Madonna especially their lives live out on stage film and video.
It must be hard to deal with 'getting older'. It can't be the same for certain musicians and actors/actresses to get older, when their looks where just as much a part of the music...

What?

OldFriends4Sale said:

SoulAlive said:

I never understand when people accuse Madonna of "selling out".She's a pop artist and she has always been one.She makes pop music.It's not as if she was some obscure jazz artist before,and is now making radio-friendly pop music She's doing what she has always done.How is that "selling out"?

and she has always been on the edge. Not cookie cutter pop. She has taken a lot of risks and is not (Pop) in the general sense. Yes she has done what she has always done.

Do you think Rebel Heart and MDNA are edgy?

SoulAlive said:

databank said:

IDK. Up until American Life it was like she was following the trend but adding something of an arty-farty, sophisticated and personal dimension to it. She was always more or less up to the standards of the best shit at the time I'd say. And it was maturing with her. Her works with Orbit and Mirways didn't sound like an updated version of Like A Virgin's Madonna nor like the Spice Girl of Britney Spears did at the time. It was the mature work of a mature woman. With Confessions it suddenly started to be like Madonna is going back in time, not maturing but deaging, and suddenly she was sounding like all those young new singers who were so deperatly trying to be the Madonnas of their generation withou having an ounce of her personality.

Confessions still has something somehow conceptual to it, and delicate production standards, but then it became worse and worse with each album, with Madonna ending-up sounding just like everyone else and dancing in underwear at 56. The mere title of the last album for chrisssakes: Unapologetic Bitch?! OK she took like THE idiom that was in every female teenager's mouth in 2014 and made it into a title.

Are the albums that bad? No. But they're ordinary. They could be Kesha or Rihanna or Gaga or any of those Top 200 clones, it wouldn't make any difference.

That's selling out to me.

Have you heard the Rebel Heart album? It is filled with songs that are deeply introspective and "mature"....."Living For Love","Devil Pray","Ghosttown","Messaih","Wash All Over Me","Joan Of Ark","Beautiful Scars","Borrowed Time",etc.The problem is,people hear a song like "Bitch I'm Madonna" and they assume that's what Madonna is all about these days,lol.

Ray Of Light was mature, at least for her. From Hard Candy on she sounds like she is having a midlife crisis. deeply introspective? Laughable.

I think they're both slavishly chasing the same EDM trends if that's what you mean, but I don't see any other connection between the two albums.

I still love them both. Unfortunate that Prince doesn't have the balls to play a packed stadium and play a ton of new material like Madonna will.

SoulAlive said:

databank said:

IDK. Up until American Life it was like she was following the trend but adding something of an arty-farty, sophisticated and personal dimension to it. She was always more or less up to the standards of the best shit at the time I'd say. And it was maturing with her. Her works with Orbit and Mirways didn't sound like an updated version of Like A Virgin's Madonna nor like the Spice Girl of Britney Spears did at the time. It was the mature work of a mature woman. With Confessions it suddenly started to be like Madonna is going back in time, not maturing but deaging, and suddenly she was sounding like all those young new singers who were so deperatly trying to be the Madonnas of their generation withou having an ounce of her personality.

Confessions still has something somehow conceptual to it, and delicate production standards, but then it became worse and worse with each album, with Madonna ending-up sounding just like everyone else and dancing in underwear at 56. The mere title of the last album for chrisssakes: Unapologetic Bitch?! OK she took like THE idiom that was in every female teenager's mouth in 2014 and made it into a title.

Are the albums that bad? No. But they're ordinary. They could be Kesha or Rihanna or Gaga or any of those Top 200 clones, it wouldn't make any difference.

That's selling out to me.

Have you heard the Rebel Heart album? It is filled with songs that are deeply introspective and "mature"....."Living For Love","Devil Pray","Ghosttown","Messaih","Wash All Over Me","Joan Of Ark","Beautiful Scars","Borrowed Time",etc.The problem is,people hear a song like "Bitch I'm Madonna" and they assume that's what Madonna is all about these days,lol.

Is this the leak of what was to become Unapolegetic Bitch? If so I have it somewhere, I think.

Truth is as ENglish ain't my mother tongue I haven't paid attention to the lyrics of any of those late albums, so maybe I missed something and u have a point.

The music still sounds like a 20 year old Top 200 "product", though, and that's y I didn't care paying attention to the lyrics (even though I used to be a lot into Madonna as a lyricist).

I'll keep that in mind and pay attention next time I listen to anjy of those records

jjazznola said:

They are both terrible albums. They both just sound like washed up middle aged artists trying to sound relevant which they are not. At least Madonna brought in professional, up to date producers and has been doing this kind of music for a while. This Prince album just sounds like a mess.

[Edited 9/9/15 11:22am]

[Edited 9/9/15 12:57pm]

Have you even listened to Rebel Heart? Most of the songs on it are not of the HitnRun variety or even the "Bitch I'm Madonna" vibe.