Prince surely always give shoutout to women. That is why I loved about Prince as he was one of the few superstars that hired women in jobs that are male-dominant.

Yeah, so many guitarists wanted to be the next Hendrix or even Prince or Santana. When I played the guitar a while back, I picture myself of being the next Prince or Tracy Chapman, instead of finding my own way to the sound. So I agree with Prince that people need to find their own rhythm and nature when it comes to playing or when it comes to creative jobs and arts.

Yeah the government doesn't care about music and arts and those budget cuts tells it all. But sometimes celebrities and private charities do donate instruments to schools so it would be foolish to always wait for the government to make it right all the time. And I read too that Manuela and others donate instruments to a local Minnesota school and I hope she continues to get involved in that, so that way kids can play instruments and continue to value it instead of computerizing everything in music.

What a wonderful thing to say and a great contrast to the "Rainbrow Children" sexism he was at one point believing. I think maybe he listened when women took offense to the 1+1+1=3 song. Prince grew and changed in certain ways during his life..he did it on his own timeline and probably struggled to admit when he was wrong. But he did change his mind. If you can find that 2015 interview when he happily predicted that a woman would become president (this was at the beginning of the Clinton and Trump campaigns) , talked about being in the "feminine aspect" and how women are better listeners so therefore perhaps better leaders. Another thing i like about what he said is that he understood how female singers often sing with real heart and blues. My favorite male singer from the 20th century was Frank Sinatra. A lot of people don't know that Frank admitted that he modeled some of his phrasing off female singers like Billie HOlliday and Ella Fitzgerald. Both Frank and Prince had complicated track records with women (due to their own hangups and insecurities) , but deep down, I think they both adored women. Love is complicated like that.

rogifan said:

Miss him...and his musical wisdom. 🙁 https://sites.google.com/...-july-2004

But Prince is also a masterful rhythm guitarist with a unique funk style. “I’m always trying to work in the bass notes when I’m playing funk rhythms,” Prince says. “It’s the same way that Freddie Stone [guitarist, Sly and the Family Stone] would always play the same parts as [bassist] Larry Graham, but just a tad higher. Kids don’t learn to play the right way anymore. When the Jackson Five came up, they had to go through Smokey Robinson and the Funk Brothers, and that’s how they got it down. I want to be able to teach that stuff, because kids need to learn these things, and nobody is teaching them the basics. See, a lot of cats don’t work on their rhythm enough, and if you don’t have rhythm, you might as well take up needlepoint or something. I can’t stress it enough. The next thing is pitch. That’s universal—you’re either in tune or you ain’t [laughs]. When you get these things down, then you can learn how to solo. Guitarists should listen to singers for solo ideas—especially women singers. Women haven’t had a chance to run the world yet, so you still hear the blues in their singing. Try to play one of the runs that Beyoncé or Ella Fitzgerald does and you will surely learn something.”

Any musician who learns everything about their instrument will only know who they are if they spend the time to know God. That’s why I don’t like to talk about gear. People will go out and buy that stuff thinking it’s going to make them sound like me, and that’s not where it’s at. Go get your own stuff and come up with your own sounds. If you need a path to follow, a good place to start is by listening to Ike Turner—he was as tight as they come—or James Brown, who is all about rhythm. Put any colors you’ve learned from Joni Mitchell on top of that, and then you’ve got something!”

[Edited 6/17/18 7:51am]

[Edited 6/17/18 10:47am]