Does it bother you? And if you don't have black ancestry, does it bother you that you shouldn't sing some of his songs (unless you alter the lyrics)?

FullLipsDotNose said:

It bothers me in all shapes, sizes and forms - no matter who says it. But I believe Prince retired that slur when he retired all the other swear words.

I don't mind either way. Besides, most of his songs are very personal, so I wouldn't sing them anyway. Imagine me performing Beggin Woman Blues. I'm not a nappy-headed guy

I felt he really sullied his work when he resorted to that.

He did it in context.

Ice-T liked it:

Hell yes.

RJOrion said:

why should i feel a certain kinda way cause Prince said Nigga??...he's a black man, im a black man..who is being harmed when he says nigga?...whose feelings are being hurt?...this must be a question by whites, for whites... how did you feel when he said, fuck, pussy, bitch, shit, or motherfucka?... weird thread...

^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^

RJOrion said:

why should i feel a certain kinda way cause Prince said Nigga??...he's a black man, im a black man..who is being harmed when he says nigga?...whose feelings are being hurt?...this must be a question by whites, for whites... how did you feel when he said, fuck, pussy, bitch, shit, or motherfucka?... weird thread...

I know black people that hate that word.

-

I don't mind him saying those words because I know he's doing no harm but I know songwriters that do use them and their songs are misogynist.

[Edited 1/29/17 13:47pm]

NorthC said:

^Thean himself obviously felt pretty bad about it because he stopped using all those words!

People mature over time and sometimes they go in one direction for awhile then later go in another direction...sometimes they go back to the original direction, sometimes they go in an even different direction.

I know some folks, especially Whites, seem to be fascinated by the word because of political implications and the dangerous aspect because for a White person to use it around Blacks is definitely gonna be a problem, but the Black community is less pressed about it when other Blacks use it. Sorta like P not being uset when Blacks continued to call him Prince during his symbol phase.

This would be a different conversation if Mary Tyler Moore or Queen Elizabeth used that word it, cuz they're White though.

LBrent said:

NorthC said:

^Thean himself obviously felt pretty bad about it because he stopped using all those words!

People mature over time and sometimes they go in one direction for awhile then later go in another direction...sometimes they go back to the original direction, sometimes they go in an even different direction.

I know some folks, especially Whites, seem to be fascinated by the word because of political implications and the dangerous aspect because for a White person to use it around Blacks is definitely gonna be a problem, but the Black community is less pressed about it when other Blacks use it. Sorta like P not being uset when Blacks continued to call him Prince during his symbol phase.

This would be a different conversation if Mary Tyler Moore or Queen Elizabeth used that word it, cuz they're White though.

I thought he wouldn't have minded whites saying the word, but they never did. He said it was only people of colour calling him Prince during that phase.

-

On a side note, from my personal experience, I think whites feel the worst if they use the word around other whites and then someone says, "Uhm, don't say that word around me! That's racist!" I think it hurts them more because they suppose whites will have the same opinion.

RJOrion said:

"misogynist songs"...the whole entertainment industry is and always has been misogynist...why single out any 1 artist?...or any 1 word?...

Because this is a forum about Prince... And I think there are already threads on pussy.

FullLipsDotNose said:

RJOrion said:

FullLipsDotNose said:

Because this is a forum about Prince... And I think there are already threads on pussy.

*blank stare*

FullLipsDotNose said:

LBrent said:

People mature over time and sometimes they go in one direction for awhile then later go in another direction...sometimes they go back to the original direction, sometimes they go in an even different direction.

I know some folks, especially Whites, seem to be fascinated by the word because of political implications and the dangerous aspect because for a White person to use it around Blacks is definitely gonna be a problem, but the Black community is less pressed about it when other Blacks use it. Sorta like P not being uset when Blacks continued to call him Prince during his symbol phase.

This would be a different conversation if Mary Tyler Moore or Queen Elizabeth used that word it, cuz they're White though.

I thought he wouldn't have minded whites saying the word, but they never did. He said it was only people of colour calling him Prince during that phase.

-

On a side note, from my personal experience, I think whites feel the worst if they use the word around other whites and then someone says, "Uhm, don't say that word around me! That's racist!" I think it hurts them more because they suppose whites will have the same opinion.

Not every thing is for every one.

They were staying in their lane...as they should.

I despise the word. Always have. I have done Pussy Control a few times at karaoke and I change it to 'brother'.

I think it is pointless and being 100% non African and non Negro, find it offensive, that blacks can say nigga all the time, but we cannot as it is "racist", absolute hypocrisy, anyway most of the songs with it, are his shitty trend chasing wannabe rap songs of the early and mid 1990s. Whe he was hanging out with Tony M and all those other hip black guys in his group and wanting to be down with the brothers. Yet back in 1986 he was chilling with Jerome, Greg and Wally, so wanting to be with the boyz was hradly new for Prince. It was dumb as Prince's music transcended the narrow cultural and mental bands of syncopated rap music. Songs like The Flow, Face Down and Hide the Bone are just junk, along with all of Goldnigga. He was cheapening his legacy by even recording this garbage and then putting it on albums. I am sure it was a favour to expose talentless hacks like Tony M, TC Ellis and Kirky J.

.

But he was trend chasing way before that, he was inventing Morris Day to play his streetwise jive style and at heart Prince was one of the Black men who chilled on the corner. I know he had light skin and could write music to rival some of the classic composers, and no doubt many white fans, have this fantasy of him as a white artist writing poppy music for whites. In reality Prince said it himself "Just another N****r singing". Prince was an R and B artist first whether he wanted pigeon holing or not, he may have not wanted that in the 70 and 80s, but by the 90s through to now, he wanted to be taken seriously as a Black man and Black musician again.

The early Time songs and recordings like Baconskin, Chocolate and Do yourself a favour, show Prince adopting a Black pimp like role and it reprises even with all the Jive talking on the Black album and Lovesexy "My name is Andre Crabtree the Third and I have more holes than a golfcourse" that is all Prince. Morris's lines in Chili Sauce - that was all Prince living a fantasy of a streetwise, jive ass Black male hustler. These later rap songs are more of the same. Later on by the 2000s, Prince's music was more R and B and jazz and had a Blacker sound than his mid to late 80s pop offerings and by 2013 Prince had an afro and spoke about blackness all the time, his last albums were full of Black empowerment jams like Baltimore, Black Muse and Mr Man amongst others. Prince achieved piece with his identity by then.

.

This thread links into the uncomfortable truth many face, Prince was a Black artist who made Black music that appealed to all colours of people. No white person I know would even be called Prince, unless they were a real Prince, I mean the name Prince is common amongst Black Americans and through Africa (Prince and its foreign equivalents are in the Top 10 of names in Ghana, Nigeria and the DRC), the only white Prince's I can think are royal ones and Michael Jackson's two boys, who were at least raised by a man who was born a Black American and named them after his mothers father (Prince Scruse - Katherine Jackson's father) who was a Black American born to a slave couple.

.

Nigga was a popular word in the late 80s on-wards popularised through hip hop culture and the spelling was altered to separate it from the racist epithet. I have also heard black people call each other Negro out of affirmation or derision, yet again non Blacks can not use the term as it is racist. Here I disagree, a term should be racist or not, regardless of who uses it, to me N****r is a racist term full stop, it is derogatory and inflammatory and brings up connotations and stereotypes through its usage. There is no justification for its use at all. It is up there with fuck and c**t as the most offensive words ever.

.

I don't think Prince had an identity crisis, in the early days he chose to be multiracial and not black as he saw the Chitin circuit as horrible and limiting him to one type of music, there was a true chart and music apartheid until MJ's and Lionel Richie's true crossover in 1982/83 and that bought prince, Whitney and a few others to superstar success reserved for whites, with even top Black attractions only going so far (Sam Cooke was the only one until Stevie and Michael), even huge black stars like James Brown and Parliament only went so far in the white world. A Black artist before 1982 would only break through, if they had real mass appeal to whites or incredible talent like Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson. Okay Lover was a hit for Prince, but his true breakthrough only came with Little Red Corvette, a very white sounding pop song. By 1983, he realised he had made a mistake isolating his black core audience and by 1987 he was trying to get them back, finally achieving that in the mid 1990s and the 2000s. In reality Diamonds and Pearls was his first truly Black/urban sounding album and even that had the rock ditties Cream and Thunder. Prince wisely never forgot his white rock sound too and that is why white rock tracks were also left in with r and b and pop.

.

Unlike many artists Black and White, Prince could write and perform for all pop genres, rock, soul, funk and others. Too many other groups had one sound, but his experiments with expletive laden and racist rap songs never worked. His best rap days of wild, strangely does not have the n word in it, although Motherfucker appears a lot.

kingricefan said:

I despise the word. Always have. I have done Pussy Control a few times at karaoke and I change it to 'brother'.

Brother Control?

gandorb said:

kingricefan said:

I despise the word. Always have. I have done Pussy Control a few times at karaoke and I change it to 'brother'.

Brother Control?

Pussy said "brother, you crazy if you don't know
Every woman in the world ain't a freak

A twelve o'clock straight up brother
That don't give a shit that you're Pussy Control
Well I'm that brother, at least I wanna be

Adorecream said:

I think it is pointless and being 100% non African and non Negro, find it offensive, that blacks can say nigga all the time, but we cannot as it is "racist", absolute hypocrisy, anyway most of the songs with it, are his shitty trend chasing wannabe rap songs of the early and mid 1990s. Whe he was hanging out with Tony M and all those other hip black guys in his group and wanting to be down with the brothers. Yet back in 1986 he was chilling with Jerome, Greg and Wally, so wanting to be with the boyz was hradly new for Prince. It was dumb as Prince's music transcended the narrow cultural and mental bands of syncopated rap music. Songs like The Flow, Face Down and Hide the Bone are just junk, along with all of Goldnigga. He was cheapening his legacy by even recording this garbage and then putting it on albums. I am sure it was a favour to expose talentless hacks like Tony M, TC Ellis and Kirky J.

.

But he was trend chasing way before that, he was inventing Morris Day to play his streetwise jive style and at heart Prince was one of the Black men who chilled on the corner. I know he had light skin and could write music to rival some of the classic composers, and no doubt many white fans, have this fantasy of him as a white artist writing poppy music for whites. In reality Prince said it himself "Just another N****r singing". Prince was an R and B artist first whether he wanted pigeon holing or not, he may have not wanted that in the 70 and 80s, but by the 90s through to now, he wanted to be taken seriously as a Black man and Black musician again.

The early Time songs and recordings like Baconskin, Chocolate and Do yourself a favour, show Prince adopting a Black pimp like role and it reprises even with all the Jive talking on the Black album and Lovesexy "My name is Andre Crabtree the Third and I have more holes than a golfcourse" that is all Prince. Morris's lines in Chili Sauce - that was all Prince living a fantasy of a streetwise, jive ass Black male hustler. These later rap songs are more of the same. Later on by the 2000s, Prince's music was more R and B and jazz and had a Blacker sound than his mid to late 80s pop offerings and by 2013 Prince had an afro and spoke about blackness all the time, his last albums were full of Black empowerment jams like Baltimore, Black Muse and Mr Man amongst others. Prince achieved piece with his identity by then.

.

This thread links into the uncomfortable truth many face, Prince was a Black artist who made Black music that appealed to all colours of people. No white person I know would even be called Prince, unless they were a real Prince, I mean the name Prince is common amongst Black Americans and through Africa (Prince and its foreign equivalents are in the Top 10 of names in Ghana, Nigeria and the DRC), the only white Prince's I can think are royal ones and Michael Jackson's two boys, who were at least raised by a man who was born a Black American and named them after his mothers father (Prince Scruse - Katherine Jackson's father) who was a Black American born to a slave couple.

.

Nigga was a popular word in the late 80s on-wards popularised through hip hop culture and the spelling was altered to separate it from the racist epithet. I have also heard black people call each other Negro out of affirmation or derision, yet again non Blacks can not use the term as it is racist. Here I disagree, a term should be racist or not, regardless of who uses it, to me N****r is a racist term full stop, it is derogatory and inflammatory and brings up connotations and stereotypes through its usage. There is no justification for its use at all. It is up there with fuck and c**t as the most offensive words ever.

.

I don't think Prince had an identity crisis, in the early days he chose to be multiracial and not black as he saw the Chitin circuit as horrible and limiting him to one type of music, there was a true chart and music apartheid until MJ's and Lionel Richie's true crossover in 1982/83 and that bought prince, Whitney and a few others to superstar success reserved for whites, with even top Black attractions only going so far (Sam Cooke was the only one until Stevie and Michael), even huge black stars like James Brown and Parliament only went so far in the white world. A Black artist before 1982 would only break through, if they had real mass appeal to whites or incredible talent like Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson. Okay Lover was a hit for Prince, but his true breakthrough only came with Little Red Corvette, a very white sounding pop song. By 1983, he realised he had made a mistake isolating his black core audience and by 1987 he was trying to get them back, finally achieving that in the mid 1990s and the 2000s. In reality Diamonds and Pearls was his first truly Black/urban sounding album and even that had the rock ditties Cream and Thunder. Prince wisely never forgot his white rock sound too and that is why white rock tracks were also left in with r and b and pop.

.

Unlike many artists Black and White, Prince could write and perform for all pop genres, rock, soul, funk and others. Too many other groups had one sound, but his experiments with expletive laden and racist rap songs never worked. His best rap days of wild, strangely does not have the n word in it, although Motherfucker appears a lot.

That was very well thought out and explained...although, as "cool" as you seem and as sensitive to the subject you appear, with all due respect, you as a White person are supposed to feel that way. You're supposed to feel offended, guilty, outraged, opposed to it's use. Perfect.

However, as much as I appreciate your appreciation of P's genius, as sensitive as you feel to the word, it's use, the hypocrisy you think is going on by the Black community using it or not using it, etc, etc...NonWhites can only know what "being Black" and the accompaying experiences/ramifications/social constructs/impact/legacy are up to a certain point.

I could explain more about the use of the word in our community, but to be be frank, it's outside your purview. That's not meant to be insulting, simply a fact.

Some of White resentment also stems from the fact that nonWhites know White culture better than Whites know nonWhite culture...because Whites mostly ignored other races (even the servants who stood silently in the White House but heard everything)..Other races' LIVES depended on getting to know Whites inside and out to guage thier moods and how it would affect us. White folks don't realize that we nonBlacks have forgotten more about y'all than you've ever and will ever know about us...even if you sleep next to us and love us.

Look at it this way...Say a family good-naturedly teases each other with "the dozens", it's inappropriate for someone outside the family to jump into the game and/or interrupt the fun with outrage. The "outsider" may mean well, but they should stay in thier own lane...Same with that word.

I realize that it makes White folks uncomfortable cuz historically it was invented by them and the decendants don't like being reminded of it's ugly history, also White folks feel entitled to walk the planet with a certain all-encompassing unrestricted power...being told that they can't say a word they invented must rankle, but...Oh well.

Nothing personal, sweetie.

[Edited 1/29/17 18:29pm]

FullLipsDotNose said:

Does it bother you? And if you don't have black ancestry, does it bother you that you shouldn't sing some of his songs (unless you alter the lyrics)?

How do you feel when Prince says in Whole of the Moon, "U lied and called me a coon"?

Chakradelica said:

FullLipsDotNose said:

Does it bother you? And if you don't have black ancestry, does it bother you that you shouldn't sing some of his songs (unless you alter the lyrics)?

How do you feel when Prince says in Whole of the Moon, "U lied and called me a coon"?

Isnt that a Waterboys song?

Iamtheorg said:

Chakradelica said:

How do you feel when Prince says in Whole of the Moon, "U lied and called me a coon"?

Isnt that a Waterboys song?

Yep, but when Prince sang it, he changed the lyrics. This line was one of those changes.

I am a brother and I am in control.

gandorb said:

kingricefan said:

I despise the word. Always have. I have done Pussy Control a few times at karaoke and I change it to 'brother'.

Brother Control?

Iamtheorg said:

gandorb said:

Brother Control?

Pussy said "brother, you crazy if you don't know
Every woman in the world ain't a freak

A twelve o'clock straight up brother
That don't give a shit that you're Pussy Control
Well I'm that brother, at least I wanna be