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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Prince-White,Black,Puerto Rican Everybody justa freakin
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Thread started 11/07/16 1:10pm

Poorlovelycomp
uter

Prince-White,Black,Puerto Rican Everybody justa freakin

In the early years with the mystery surrounding Prince's ethnicity of which he created himself, and in not wanting to be stereotyped as a "black artist" as well as his efforts to crossover to the mainstream(white) audience.Did Prince struggle with finding a middle ground after the success of Purple Rain and his constant desire to be accepted by everyone?
"love's the only drug we do in here"-Prince
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Reply #1 posted 11/07/16 1:49pm

Genesia

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I think Prince just wanted to be who he was and found labels limiting. It's much harder to be accepted - and for your art to be accepted - if people have a strong sense of "otherness" about you. I mean...some people appreciate that - but an equal number find it uncomfortable or even threatening.

Hell, he's gone - and people are still trying to label and "claim" him.

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #2 posted 11/07/16 3:32pm

OldFriends4Sal
e

'I'm a musician. And I am music' ~Prince 2011

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Reply #3 posted 11/07/16 3:43pm

purplepoppy

Great Quote Friends cool

Brand new boogie without the hero.
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Reply #4 posted 11/07/16 11:25pm

northernrain

Poorlovelycomputer said:

In the early years with the mystery surrounding Prince's ethnicity of which he created himself, and in not wanting to be stereotyped as a "black artist" as well as his efforts to crossover to the mainstream(white) audience.Did Prince struggle with finding a middle ground after the success of Purple Rain and his constant desire to be accepted by everyone?


Man, you just took one of my favourite lines from Uptown ... and tried to contrive it into some pseudo-sociological analysis of Prince's racial identity. Only he could possibly have known the complex nuances of his own lived experience as a light skinned brother in America. But what he really understood was how the music transcended race and touched the souls of so many diverse people. That's the beauty of that powerful image that he conjures up: "white, black, Puerto Rican, everybody justa freakin'!"
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Reply #5 posted 11/08/16 1:36am

sonshine

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Poorlovelycomputer said:

In the early years with the mystery surrounding Prince's ethnicity of which he created himself, and in not wanting to be stereotyped as a "black artist" as well as his efforts to crossover to the mainstream(white) audience.Did Prince struggle with finding a middle ground after the success of Purple Rain and his constant desire to be accepted by everyone?

I think it was a struggle for him at least to some degree, tho he surely didn't want it to be. But sadly he did take a fair amount of grief for not being "black" enough. I'm just going to leave it at that since I generally don't participate in racial dialogues. I like to consider myself colorblind and wish the rest of the human race was as well.
It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it. We all need one another. ~ PRN
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