Simply put...

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POP

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That's the most realistic, all-encompassing genre categorization for him. No disrespect to those saying 'funk' - I get where you're coming from - but uh... NOPE!

CAL3 said:

Funk & Soul

Guitarhero said:

CAL3 said:

Simply put...

.

POP

.

That's the most realistic, all-encompassing genre categorization for him. No disrespect to those saying 'funk' - I get where you're coming from - but uh... NOPE!

Is it pop a genre really?

yeahronimo said:

lemoncrush19 said:

ummm ... prince

This

nextedition said:

I would say funk too. Of course he did many styles, but his core was funk.

The whole Prince sound is funk.

I agree with this. Obviously he was incredibly diverse and you'd be hard picked to find a style he didn't do at least once, but if forced to choose only one, I'd go with funk.

Definitely Pop.

Or Purple Music if you're in the mood.

He dabbled in just about everything and obviously had a strong grounding in funk but ultimately it was pop music.

For what it's worth i'd call Sly Stone a pop musician first and foremost as well.

If you consider either of them funk over pop that's fine by me. I see a difference but it's splitting hairs at that point.

[Edited 2/27/17 18:12pm]

Putting all silly answers aside and realising he covers many genres. His strongest is definitely POP music. His biggest hits were all Pop or Dance (Which is a form of rhythmic pop music).

Even his funkiest most rap laden jams have pop elements and so do his sexy ballads and dancefloor fillers, even the rock guitar histrionics of his rocked out songs have at least one catchy pop driven hook in them.

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Prince's music is an excellent example of Pop music.

Prince could be super-funky, but smoothed his tunes out more like pop for much of the time.

He definitey strove for Pop prowess in more than a few of his albums and could even throw in a country lick or two; a little bit of New Wave; a smidge of House, or a mini-Rap.

He could do soul music but would go R&B-style in more of his songs, or capture a gospel flair.

>

Prince could rock on any instrument that he played, so he was definitely that. He also did Blues, which is THE foundation for Rock.

>

He had a flair for experimenting with many sonic textures. He harmonized his voice and sound beautifully. I enjoyed the way that he used symphonic orchestration.

Prince stepped up to Jazz at times, but didn't focus so much on the interplay between musicians, so he didn't quite get that certificate.

>

I just create a separate genre called "Prince" or "Purple Pop," and that does it for me.

Only 1 genre? That is hard, I would personally say R&B because that term is vaugue enough nowadays to include things like pop, funk, gospel, etc.

Man don't know if you can define Prince's music with only 1 genre and give it the proper respect.

I know for me the reason I have always been drawn to Prince is his refreshing music consisted of an intriguing blend of multiple musical genres that I love.

But to answer I would create a genre: P-Funk

AnnaStesia10 said:

Man don't know if you can define Prince's music with only 1 genre and give it the proper respect.

I know for me the reason I have always been drawn to Prince is his refreshing music consisted of an intriguing blend of multiple musical genres that I love.

But to answer I would create a genre: P-Funk

Uh... P-funk... that's a joke right?

Adorecream said:

Putting all silly answers aside and realising he covers many genres. His strongest is definitely POP music. His biggest hits were all Pop or Dance (Which is a form of rhythmic pop music).

Even his funkiest most rap laden jams have pop elements and so do his sexy ballads and dancefloor fillers, even the rock guitar histrionics of his rocked out songs have at least one catchy pop driven hook in them.

.

Prince's music is an excellent example of Pop music.

.

Thank you, Adorecream - well said

Pop.

He could do it all, but Prince was all things pop.

How do you define Pop?

Prince IS his own genre

jaawwnn said:

AnnaStesia10 said:

Man don't know if you can define Prince's music with only 1 genre and give it the proper respect.

I know for me the reason I have always been drawn to Prince is his refreshing music consisted of an intriguing blend of multiple musical genres that I love.

But to answer I would create a genre: P-Funk

Uh... P-funk... that's a joke right?

What you don't like the name?

Yes a humor statement. Still stand by you cannot answer this question so I made up one.

214 said:

How do you define Pop?

At its best it's the intersection between fashion, melody, rhythm, overreaching arrogance, capturing the zeitgeist and a sense of humour. It's about attempting to reach a large amount of people but it's not shorthand for "popular".

AnnaStesia10 said:

jaawwnn said:

Uh... P-funk... that's a joke right?

What you don't like the name?

Yes a humor statement. Still stand by you cannot answer this question so I made up one.

eh... about you "making up" p-funk....

[Edited 2/28/17 13:32pm]

AnnaStesia10 said:

jaawwnn said:

Uh... P-funk... that's a joke right?

What you don't like the name?

Yes a humor statement. Still stand by you cannot answer this question so I made up one.

AnnaStesia10, you know that's taken, right? Just checking...

“Pop” is such a broad and generic term, so I'm not sure that it really tells us anything useful about the dominant musical threads that run through his work. Considering his eclecticism, perhaps it is the most accurate single term for him, but I still think that “funk” represents his fundamental musical core.

databank said:

Prince was primarily a funk artist, I don't think there can be much debate about this.

.

Prince shaped funk and dance music (and even new wave and synthpop to some extent) throughout the 80's, however funk as a genre sorta became extinct after that decade, morphing into new jack swing, acid jazz, hip-hop and modern R&B. While at the same time synthpop/new wave would literally disappear for more than a decade before making a phenomenal come back in the mid 00's. Remarkably, P's lasting impact on dance music, synthpop and other related genres (electroclash, nu house, etc.) was probably more significant that his impact on R&B: I can hear less of Prince in American Black artists ever since 1990 than in the essentially white and European electroclash/synthpop/nu disco scene that emerged at the beginning of the 2000's and remains pretty active today. I'm only pointing that out because I'd assume the influence of a musician of further musical genres may contribute to defining what they were doing.

.

As to Prince as a rock artist, I think Prince wanted to be a rock artist more than he really ever was, because for some reason he wanted to be remembered as aguitar virtuoso while, as several of his collaborators have said, he could have been equally, if not more, remembered as a keyboards virtuoso. But in the end what are the essentially rock albums he's put out? Purple Rain to some extent, then The Undertaker, The War, Planet Earth and Lotusflow3r. That's like 5 albums out of 80 if you include side projects and live albums. Prince has touched a great number of genres in his career but the bulk of his catalogue is R&B, and more specifically funk or electrofunk.

This is articulately stated Databank, and I agree with much of it. I'm glad that you highlighted the influence of Prince in the field of electronica and dance music. My first thread here was on this subject, but it didn't elicit much of a response. I asked where people thought Prince's influence would be most keenly felt going forward. Admittedly, I put a mildly negative spin on it, arguing that it was a creative misstep to react to hip-hop to the extent that he did. I dabble in experimental electronica myself (more of a sound designer really), and while artists in this field will usually state early Warp stuff as their main inspiration, I don't think it's a stretch to argue that Prince's work looms quite large as well, whether it's widely acknowledged or not. After all, he was a significant influence on early techno (Juan Atkins etc):

http://prince.org/msg/7/415090

http://daily.redbullmusic...ance-music

[Edited 3/1/17 8:32am]

fen said:

AnnaStesia10 said:

What you don't like the name?

Yes a humor statement. Still stand by you cannot answer this question so I made up one.

AnnaStesia10, you know that's taken, right? Just checking...

I know I know, I was just tryin' to be funny guess it didn't fly. No disrepect to Parliament.

ForeverPaisley I feel said it best, Prince IS is own genre. You just cannot define.

AnnaStesia10 said:

fen said:

AnnaStesia10, you know that's taken, right? Just checking...

I know I know, I was just tryin' to be funny guess it didn't fly. No disrepect to Parliament.

ForeverPaisley I feel said it best, Prince IS is own genre. You just cannot define.

Oh, sorry AnnaStesia10, I just wanted to be sure. It’s probably my fault… no sense of humour.

fen said:

“Pop” is such a broad and generic term, so I'm not sure that it really tells us anything useful about the dominant musical threads that run through his work. Considering his eclecticism, perhaps it is the most accurate single term for him, but I still think that “funk” represents his fundamental musical core.

.

When compared with any number of funk artists and bands, it becomes clear that Prince's commercial instincts, his emphasis on hooks, his songwriting craftsmanship, and his blending of multiple influences makes his body of work broader than the relatively narrow classification of "funk."

.

The vast majority of Prince's albums are too ecletic to fit the "funk" genre. Of course he was funky, but his funkiness was by and large contained within a pop format. That's one of the primary components of his widespread commercial success. And why a majority of true funk bands have not historically achieved widespread commercial success.

CAL3 said:

fen said:

“Pop” is such a broad and generic term, so I'm not sure that it really tells us anything useful about the dominant musical threads that run through his work. Considering his eclecticism, perhaps it is the most accurate single term for him, but I still think that “funk” represents his fundamental musical core.

.

When compared with any number of funk artists and bands, it becomes clear that Prince's commercial instincts, his emphasis on hooks, his songwriting craftsmanship, and his blending of multiple influences makes his body of work broader than the relatively narrow classification of "funk."

.

The vast majority of Prince's albums are too ecletic to fit the "funk" genre. Of course he was funky, but his funkiness was by and large contained within a pop format. That's one of the primary components of his widespread commercial success. And why a majority of true funk bands have not historically achieved widespread commercial success.

Hi CAL3,

Yes, I don’t entirely disagree. I just think that “pop” is such a broad church which can encompass everything from spotty, warbling X-Factor contestants to FKA Twigs. Musically, there can be worlds between one artist and another within the “genre”. I wasn’t arguing that Prince’s work can be reduced to funk, but rather that everything grew from it. As I said, as an answer to the OP’s question “pop” is probably the most accurate, but not necessarily very useful when it comes to analysing Prince’s music in detail.

[Edited 3/1/17 13:12pm]