XNY said:

Alexandernvrmind said:

funksterr said: Good Lord you guys are a bunch of idiots on this board Do Me Baby, Insatiable, How Come You Don't Call Me, Head, IW2BYL, Adore, Erotic City, Kiss, AnotherLoverHoNyoHead....I could go on and not to mention the stuff he wrote for the Time, Chaka Khan Prince most certainly is an R&B artist, he was also a pop and rock star and many times he took on all of those personas in the same song Just a bunch of dopes on this board lol

For You, Prince, DM, Controversy, 1999, Parade, SOTT, Lovesexy, D&P are ALL R&B albums. Do they mix rock and funk...of course they do. But put simply he is an R&B artist.

And a funk pioneer

And a rock star.

All in one. Dat's my Princey Poo

Man... then those are some of the worst R&B albums of all-time, excluding Prince and 1999, of course. As Pop albums, then most of them are fantastic, barring For You and D&P, which are bad albums saved by two good singles each. LoveSexy is a great pop album... for Europe, but not the US, and ain't no way in hell R&B listeners were celebrating LoveSexy. Ain't no black people playing that shit at the family reunion and whatnot.

On the other hand, Alexander O'Neal albums? Yep. AO was a much more popular R&B act. Prince is Pop.

Funk pioneer? Umm, no.

We could cut this several different ways.

Prince is an R&B Artist.

Prince is an Artist that makes R&B records.

Prince is a rock and roll artist (in the original sense of the term).

When given the opportunity, Prince simply called himself an Artist.

funksterr said:

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Calling it racist is more than a bit of a stretch. Who's to say they won't have another list for pop or rock artists where he won't also rank? He's clearly recognized for his crossover appeal in any number of circles. Calling it racist is your own thin skin showing.

I say it's racist because his credentials are superthin as an R&B act. I can see Prince as like number 50 ALL TIME R&B. If it was a POP category, he celarly deserves at least a TOP 20 ranking.

I say the high ranking is race-based, because he is a popular POP act, who just happens to be black, but his appeal among R&B audiences has always been lacking and suspect.

There is a reason why he plays EUROPE so much, and the US so little. He isn't really popular among fans of R&B or within black culture in general. And he never was, except 1982 through the release of Purple Rain, and that was all over when he came out with ATWIAD, then Parade and UTCM.

Like, who else on this list? Lenny Kravitz? What's he number 20? Darius Rucker? No 50? THey probably got Michael Jordan on there somewhere too, lol.

I don't know where you were back then but he was all over R&B radio with every album from the beginning through "Purple Rain". Pop radio played "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and never touched Prince again until "Little Red Corvette". Every black person that listened to radio knew who Prince was back then and very few white people had ever heard of him. Hell, just look at the audiences at his concerts prior to "Purple Rain". Just look at even the org when the question comes up.... "When did you first get into Prince".... the majority of white people say 1982 and the black people say 1979, 1980, 1981. A few even go all the way back to 1978.

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[Edited 12/4/15 17:10pm]

vainandy said:

funksterr said:

I say it's racist because his credentials are superthin as an R&B act. I can see Prince as like number 50 ALL TIME R&B. If it was a POP category, he celarly deserves at least a TOP 20 ranking.

I say the high ranking is race-based, because he is a popular POP act, who just happens to be black, but his appeal among R&B audiences has always been lacking and suspect.

There is a reason why he plays EUROPE so much, and the US so little. He isn't really popular among fans of R&B or within black culture in general. And he never was, except 1982 through the release of Purple Rain, and that was all over when he came out with ATWIAD, then Parade and UTCM.

Like, who else on this list? Lenny Kravitz? What's he number 20? Darius Rucker? No 50? THey probably got Michael Jordan on there somewhere too, lol.

I don't know where you were back then but he was all over R&B radio with every album from the beginning through "Purple Rain". Pop radio played "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and never touched Prince again until "Little Red Corvette". Every black person that listened to radio knew who Prince was back then and very few white people had ever heard of him. Hell, just look at the audiences at his concerts prior to "Purple Rain". Just look at even the org when the question comes up.... "When did you first get into Prince".... the majority of white people say 1982 and the black people say 1979, 1980, 1981. A few even go all the way back to 1978.

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.

.

[Edited 12/4/15 17:10pm]

Ok 1979-1983.... No. 8 ALL TIME R&B? Leaves a ton of people out. Where does that leave EWF, Gladys Knight, O'Jays, Patti LaBelle, PFunk, Sam Cooke, Smokey, Luther Vandross, Thom Bell, The Tempts, Spinners... We could go on and on. Prince's R&b cred, which is really 10 or less singles, is razor thin compared to most true R&B acts, imo.

funksterr said:

XNY said:

For You, Prince, DM, Controversy, 1999, Parade, SOTT, Lovesexy, D&P are ALL R&B albums. Do they mix rock and funk...of course they do. But put simply he is an R&B artist.

And a funk pioneer

And a rock star.

All in one. Dat's my Princey Poo

Man... then those are some of the worst R&B albums of all-time, excluding Prince and 1999, of course. As Pop albums, then most of them are fantastic, barring For You and D&P, which are bad albums saved by two good singles each. LoveSexy is a great pop album... for Europe, but not the US, and ain't no way in hell R&B listeners were celebrating LoveSexy. Ain't no black people playing that shit at the family reunion and whatnot.

On the other hand, Alexander O'Neal albums? Yep. AO was a much more popular R&B act. Prince is Pop.

Funk pioneer? Umm, no.

LOL textbook baiting at its most idiotically pretentious.

You say you were a fan from 1978 but that has got to be a tall tale as you seem completely off on everything about his place in black music.

Just something to think about... : billboard is BS anyways.

I'm pretty sure Johnnie Taylor, Tyrone Davis, The Temptations, & The Spinners had more R&B hits than Anita Baker, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Maxwell, Alicia Keys and some of the other acts on this list. Elvis Presley probably has more R&B hits than D'Angelo. Some of Elvis singles were popular on R&B radio and he had several Top 20s in the 1950s.

They should have put Louis Jordan on the list too

MickyDolenz said:

They should have put Louis Jordan on the list too

He's a founding father of R&B!

Aerogram said:

funksterr said:

Man... then those are some of the worst R&B albums of all-time, excluding Prince and 1999, of course. As Pop albums, then most of them are fantastic, barring For You and D&P, which are bad albums saved by two good singles each. LoveSexy is a great pop album... for Europe, but not the US, and ain't no way in hell R&B listeners were celebrating LoveSexy. Ain't no black people playing that shit at the family reunion and whatnot.

On the other hand, Alexander O'Neal albums? Yep. AO was a much more popular R&B act. Prince is Pop.

Funk pioneer? Umm, no.

LOL textbook baiting at its most idiotically pretentious.

You say you were a fan from 1978 but that has got to be a tall tale as you seem completely off on everything about his place in black music.

OK then... educate me, lol, about 'black music'. Tell me how Prince is a funk pioneer and LoveSexy is popular among R&B listeners....

namepeace said:

MickyDolenz said:

They should have put Louis Jordan on the list too

He's a founding father of R&B!

too subjective to list greatest R&B. as far as recording artist Prince will always be #1. There will never be another. He had the greatest band also

MickyDolenz said:

funksterr said:

laurarichardson said:

Elvis had RnB hits but he. had about as much soul as mayonaise sand which. Listen to him butchering those Jimmy Reed or Drifter tunes. Just awful.

Since I own some Elvis albums and movies, I don't hear any butchering. I've always liked Elvis and he's a good singer to me.

funksterr said:

MickyDolenz said:

laurarichardson said:

/- The way he destroyed Hound Dog makes my point.

That's your opinion, not a fact. Hound Dog was written by white guys in the first place, not Big Mama Thornton. As far as the lyric change, that was not Elvis. He remade the Freddie Bell version, not the Big Mama original.

MickyDolenz said:

laurarichardson said:

Means Elvis was at the right time does not mean he was any good and could have throw Arthur Crudup some fucking credit since he messed up that song as well.

That had nothing to do with Elvis. Colonel Tom Parker was the one who insisted that the writers either give Elvis writing credit or sign over part of the publishing to him. There were many songs that Elvis wanted to do, but the Colonel didn't allow him to record them because the writers didn't want to agree to the terms. Elvis also didn't want to do a lot of the movies the Colonel made him appear in.

NorthC said:

There is no artist called Thriller. Any R&B list that does not have James Brown as # 1 can't be good.

Its just that simple. How does anyone screw that up? It is like making a greatest guitarist list and not having Hendrix no. 1.

funksterr said:

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Calling it racist is more than a bit of a stretch. Who's to say they won't have another list for pop or rock artists where he won't also rank? He's clearly recognized for his crossover appeal in any number of circles. Calling it racist is your own thin skin showing.

I say it's racist because his credentials are superthin as an R&B act. I can see Prince as like number 50 ALL TIME R&B. If it was a POP category, he celarly deserves at least a TOP 20 ranking.

I say the high ranking is race-based, because he is a popular POP act, who just happens to be black, but his appeal among R&B audiences has always been lacking and suspect.

There is a reason why he plays EUROPE so much, and the US so little. He isn't really popular among fans of R&B or within black culture in general. And he never was, except 1982 through the release of Purple Rain, and that was all over when he came out with ATWIAD, then Parade and UTCM.

Like, who else on this list? Lenny Kravitz? What's he number 20? Darius Rucker? No 50? THey probably got Michael Jordan on there somewhere too, lol.

I am old enough to have witnesses Prince's entire career and his standing with the black audience made him back then. He was considered strictly an R&B artist in the 70s and 80s because the business was racist. There were even "black charts" where top African American artists were relegated just for the color of their skin; not the genre, content, and format of their music. Prince even cryptically acknowledged the loyalty that the black audience had for him through the years during a classic interview with Tavis Smiley on BET back in the 90s - contrasting it with the fleeting allegiance of audience of another "persuasion".

Unfortunately, now that African Americans have narrowed themselves down to mostly hip hop and rap in lieu of "real music by real musicians", Prince doesn't enjoy the same current day popularity of the 80s - however, he does receive an iconic and legendary status that is only rivaled by the likes of Micheal Jackson at this point. He is one the greatest R&B artists of all time and denying or diminishing that fact is just flat out wrong.

FUNKYNESS said:

funksterr said:

I say it's racist because his credentials are superthin as an R&B act. I can see Prince as like number 50 ALL TIME R&B. If it was a POP category, he celarly deserves at least a TOP 20 ranking.

I say the high ranking is race-based, because he is a popular POP act, who just happens to be black, but his appeal among R&B audiences has always been lacking and suspect.

There is a reason why he plays EUROPE so much, and the US so little. He isn't really popular among fans of R&B or within black culture in general. And he never was, except 1982 through the release of Purple Rain, and that was all over when he came out with ATWIAD, then Parade and UTCM.

Like, who else on this list? Lenny Kravitz? What's he number 20? Darius Rucker? No 50? THey probably got Michael Jordan on there somewhere too, lol.

I am old enough to have witnesses Prince's entire career and his standing with the black audience made him back then. He was considered strictly an R&B artist in the 70s and 80s because the business was racist. There were even "black charts" where top African American artists were relegated just for the color of their skin; not the genre, content, and format of their music. Prince even cryptically acknowledged the loyalty that the black audience had for him through the years during a classic interview with Tavis Smiley on BET back in the 90s - contrasting it with the fleeting allegiance of audience of another "persuasion".

Unfortunately, now that African Americans have narrowed themselves down to mostly hip hop and rap in lieu of "real music by real musicians", Prince doesn't enjoy the same current day popularity of the 80s - however, he does receive an iconic and legendary status that is only rivaled by the likes of Micheal Jackson at this point. He is one the greatest R&B artists of all time and denying or diminishing that fact is just flat out wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. Prince's career began as an R&B act, but that doesn't qualify him as one of THE TOP 10 GREATEST R&B ACTS OF ALL TIME. In order to rank him that high you've got to leave a lot of acts, that are better at R&B music out of the equation. I never even read the list, but where does it list Bobby Womack, Jeffrey Osbourne and Al Jarraeu? I know Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker have to be ahead of Prince, and if they aren't then the list is absolute bullshit. I say Prince is being pigeon-holed, just because he is black. His music is more diverse than the R&B genre.

Al Jarreau? Al Jarreau?! You go on and on about someone not being R and B enough to make a "greatest list" and Al Jarreau is one of your examples of someone better chosen? Al Jarreau, an artist who is great, certainly, but who is widely heralded as a jazz singer. Just stop.

funksterr said:

FUNKYNESS said:

I am old enough to have witnesses Prince's entire career and his standing with the black audience made him back then. He was considered strictly an R&B artist in the 70s and 80s because the business was racist. There were even "black charts" where top African American artists were relegated just for the color of their skin; not the genre, content, and format of their music. Prince even cryptically acknowledged the loyalty that the black audience had for him through the years during a classic interview with Tavis Smiley on BET back in the 90s - contrasting it with the fleeting allegiance of audience of another "persuasion".

Unfortunately, now that African Americans have narrowed themselves down to mostly hip hop and rap in lieu of "real music by real musicians", Prince doesn't enjoy the same current day popularity of the 80s - however, he does receive an iconic and legendary status that is only rivaled by the likes of Micheal Jackson at this point. He is one the greatest R&B artists of all time and denying or diminishing that fact is just flat out wrong.

That's not what I'm saying. Prince's career began as an R&B act, but that doesn't qualify him as one of THE TOP 10 GREATEST R&B ACTS OF ALL TIME. In order to rank him that high you've got to leave a lot of acts, that are better at R&B music out of the equation. I never even read the list, but where does it list Bobby Womack, Jeffrey Osbourne and Al Jarraeu? I know Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker have to be ahead of Prince, and if they aren't then the list is absolute bullshit. I say Prince is being pigeon-holed, just because he is black. His music is more diverse than the R&B genre.

Seems a lot of people think that if you are Black you must be R&B.

Lol..........

Graycap23 said:

Seems a lot of people think that if you are Black you must be R&B.

Lol..........

And some people think if an act is white, they're not R&B or they're "stealing black music".

Many old soul & R&B songs had white or mixed bands playing on them like Muscle Shoals on 1960s Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, & Aretha Franklin records. Some had white producers. Joe's disco era hit Ain't Gonna Bump No More had white Nashville country music session players and a white producer Buddy Killen. On some late 1970s & early 1980s R&B there were white sessions guys like Jay Graydon and members of Toto.

laurarichardson said:

MickyDolenz said:

That's your opinion, not a fact. Hound Dog was written by white guys in the first place, not Big Mama Thornton. As far as the lyric change, that was not Elvis. He remade the Freddie Bell version, not the Big Mama original.

I do need your expertise on black music or what is soulful. I actually know that Big Mama Thorton did not write the song but her version is the best and Elviv version is the worst and I know many black people who agree. Sam Phillips explained why he went with Elvis because a young white guy would sell more records which was true at the time. Means Elvis was at the right time does not mean he was any good and could have throw Arthur Crudup some fucking credit since he messed up that song as well. [Edited 12/17/15 13:40pm]

So Elvis was not a good singer. Hmmm...