Listened to the Goldnigga Album from beginning to end for the first time in many years and was surprised how well it has aged. The rap with real instruments sounds relatively fresh and the horns (and muted trumpets, especially) sound great.

It is lighthearted and fun and surprised me on its coherence. The segues didnt even bother me too much.

Such a bullshit album. Thank god its not even recognized by the general pub and only the die hards.

rdhull said:

Such a bullshit album. Thank god its not even recognized by the general pub and only the die hards.

Please explain why it is bullshit? Is it Tony M?

grantevans said:

rdhull said:

Such a bullshit album. Thank god its not even recognized by the general pub and only the die hards.

Please explain why it is bullshit? Is it Tony M?

In short; he went from enigma genius music to.....Goldnigga. Tarnishes his legacy imho. I said tarnish, not ruin etc so dont crucify me! Computer Blue....Black Mf In The House etc. Im glad it was a side project.

rdhull said:

grantevans said:

Please explain why it is bullshit? Is it Tony M?

In short; he went from enigma genius music to.....Goldnigga. Tarnishes his legacy imho. I said tarnish, not ruin etc so dont crucify me! Computer Blue....Black Mf In The House etc. Im glad it was a side project.

I enjoy the side projects as a change of pace and a way of trying out new ideas, but can respect alternative opinions.

grantevans said:

rdhull said:

In short; he went from enigma genius music to.....Goldnigga. Tarnishes his legacy imho. I said tarnish, not ruin etc so dont crucify me! Computer Blue....Black Mf In The House etc. Im glad it was a side project.

I enjoy the side projects as a change of pace and a way of trying out new ideas, but can respect alternative opinions.

Who said I didnt enjoy sode projects? Just because I have a feeling regardin Goldnigga side project release doesnt mean I dont like side projects.

rdhull said:

grantevans said:

I enjoy the side projects as a change of pace and a way of trying out new ideas, but can respect alternative opinions.

Who said I didnt enjoy sode projects? Just because I have a feeling regardin Goldnigga side project release doesnt mean I dont like side projects.

I should have been clearer. I can respect that you did not like this particular side project. There is a reason why i did not listen to it for many years also. I was expressing in my original post that it sounds better to me taken out of the context of the time it was released.

I listened to it once, when I got it. Then listened again a few years later. I don't think I can bring myself to listen to it again.

rdhull said:

I've always liked it. I became a fan in 91 so D&P, Symbol and Gold Nigga will always be one of my favourite era's.

I love that live band sound with the horns.

.

I can understand older fans who are into the 80's stuff not liking it but don't see how it would tarnish his legacy/reputation. It's a side project and not like he's on the cover like NPS.

I think time has been kind to it; the music is good assuming you like hearing the NPG play, the rapping was laughable for its time but it's a lot easier to listen to now and not worry about the exact year it came out because what sounded cutting edge then now just sounds like.... the 90's.

If you're looking at creating a POP CANON TOP 100 MUST LISTEN TO ALBUMS OF ALL TIME then no, it has no place around your SOTT's or Purple Rain's, but if you're looking at Prince the artist and his live band from that time period it's a nice addition to the overall picture.

rdhull said:

grantevans said:

Please explain why it is bullshit? Is it Tony M?

In short; he went from enigma genius music to.....Goldnigga. Tarnishes his legacy imho. I said tarnish, not ruin etc so dont crucify me! Computer Blue....Black Mf In The House etc. Im glad it was a side project.

great thread btw.

RDHull...it's no worse that some of the awful Vanity / Apollonia 6 albums IMHO. This was great as he was jumping on the rap bandwaggon BUT with his own spin ie original lyrics, strong melodies & great musicians! His look & vibe was funky as hell too!

He was not a robot dude...he canj't be wrting a Purple Rain / SOTT every year!

-

The whole of past January and february (part of March) I spend time to listen to (all these) albums,

and Prince music that is not always well received, or considdered crap, also by me.

-

I was interested to see if I could dicover new insights with a much more mature ear and mind,

away from the feel of the eras they all were recorded and critically demolished.

I have to say, there are (alwyas) bits and parts, and even full trax that are damn good, and deserve a more honest approach.

It's always a matter of personal taste for sure, and very personal.

But given time, it is always good to re-listen to the things you did not like at all (back in the day),

and try to understand why you did not.

-

I now have to admid that I made discoveries in music Prince wrote way back, and that I wanted to forget.

He wrote so much music, released, so much, and we all have so much bootleg works.

And i'm not talking about live versions etc (that's something I'm going to spend time on when I'm retired )

-

I just want to get away from the mainstream likes most of us share to fit in with the genius of Prince's best tracks and albums.

I don't agree anymore with that, simply because there are always gems to find in songs and sounds he created. Thàt is the genius of Prince for me. Believe me, try it, there is so much more.

You'll never get tired of it, and always will (re-)discover something new or old.

-

To name a few:

- the whole Controversy and Batman Album.

- Romance 1600

- Appolonia 6

- Ice Cream Castles

- the track Come Home by Mavis Staples, Push It Up (with Chaka)

and so many others, etc...

-

(don't kill me for my choices)

-

Vannormal said:

-

The whole of past January and february (part of March) I spend time to listen to (all these) albums,

and Prince music that is not always well received, or considdered crap, also by me.

-

I was interested to see if I could dicover new insights with a much more mature ear and mind,

away from the feel of the eras they all were recorded and critically demolished.

I have to say, there are (alwyas) bits and parts, and even full trax that are damn good, and deserve a more honest approach.

It's always a matter of personal taste for sure, and very personal.

But given time, it is always good to re-listen to the things you did not like at all (back in the day),

and try to understand why you did not.

-

I now have to admid that I made discoveries in music Prince wrote way back, and that I wanted to forget.

He wrote so much music, released, so much, and we all have so much bootleg works.

And i'm not talking about live versions etc (that's something I'm going to spend time on when I'm retired )

-

I just want to get away from the mainstream likes most of us share to fit in with the genius of Prince's best tracks and albums.

I don't agree anymore with that, simply because there are always gems to find in songs and sounds he created. Thàt is the genius of Prince for me. Believe me, try it, there is so much more.

You'll never get tired of it, and always will (re-)discover something new or old.

-

To name a few:

- the whole Controversy and Batman Album.

- Romance 1600

- Appolonia 6

- Ice Cream Castles

- the track Come Home by Mavis Staples, Push It Up (with Chaka)

and so many others, etc...

-

(don't kill me for my choices)

Yeah, but what did you make of Goldnigga???

.

I agree with all of this... but I still hate this particular album.

.

Vannormal said:

-

The whole of past January and february (part of March) I spend time to listen to (all these) albums,

and Prince music that is not always well received, or considdered crap, also by me.

-

I was interested to see if I could dicover new insights with a much more mature ear and mind,

away from the feel of the eras they all were recorded and critically demolished.

I have to say, there are (alwyas) bits and parts, and even full trax that are damn good, and deserve a more honest approach.

It's always a matter of personal taste for sure, and very personal.

But given time, it is always good to re-listen to the things you did not like at all (back in the day),

and try to understand why you did not.

-

I now have to admid that I made discoveries in music Prince wrote way back, and that I wanted to forget.

He wrote so much music, released, so much, and we all have so much bootleg works.

And i'm not talking about live versions etc (that's something I'm going to spend time on when I'm retired )

-

I just want to get away from the mainstream likes most of us share to fit in with the genius of Prince's best tracks and albums.

I don't agree anymore with that, simply because there are always gems to find in songs and sounds he created. Thàt is the genius of Prince for me. Believe me, try it, there is so much more.

You'll never get tired of it, and always will (re-)discover something new or old.

-

TheEnglishGent said:

I listened to it once, when I got it. Then listened again a few years later. I don't think I can bring myself to listen to it again.

rdhull said:

Such a bullshit album. Thank god its not even recognized by the general pub and only the die hards.

THIS.

The real ranking of NPG albums is:

1. Exodus
2. New Power Soul
3. Goldnigga

And there is a good amount of space between 1 and 2, but NewPowerSoul is still more desirable than Goldnigga.

Tony n Sonny vox make me wanna

I really disliked the whole gangsta theme direction P took for a minute there. That is WAAAAAAY below him.

[Edited 5/13/19 12:19pm]

sulls said:

Tony n Sonny vox make me wanna

Sonny isn't a bad singer, tho. Just a different tone in his voice. There's a dryness to it that works for him, sorta the way Lisa had a monotonic quality to hers. His voice worked better on Exodus than anything Tony M. did in his entire life.

I like the album for what it is. As someone pointed out before, it is a side project. It is along side items like Vanity/Apollonia 6's album(s).

-

Yeah, I guess if you are comparing "Johnny" to "Computer Blue" your wires get crossed. It's like wanting to eat a gourmet pizza, but getting ice cream instead. They are just different projects with different intentions/grooves/appeal/tast/etc. I appreciate the music for what it was going for.

-

It's surprising to me that Prince's fans actually have (relatively) small boxes that they put music into. Maybe many Prince fans aren't as open minded as onewould think?

[Edited 5/13/19 12:35pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

sulls said:

Tony n Sonny vox make me wanna

Sonny isn't a bad singer, tho. Just a different tone in his voice. There's a dryness to it that works for him, sorta the way Lisa had a monotonic quality to hers. His voice worked better on Exodus than anything Tony M. did in his entire life.

Mmmmm....just not feelin' Sonny

skywalker said:

I like the album for what it is. As someone pointed out before, it is a side project. It is along side items like Vanity/Apollonia 6's album(s).

-

Yeah, I guess if you are comparing "Johnny" to "Computer Blue" your wires get crossed. It's like wanting to eat a gourmet pizza, but getting ice cream instead. They are just different projects with different intentions/grooves/appeal/tast/etc. I appreciate the music for what it was going for.

-

It's surprising to me that Prince's fans actually have (relatively) small boxes that they put music into. Maybe many Prince fans aren't as open minded as onewould think?

[Edited 5/13/19 12:35pm]

Ice Cream called and they are pissed. Johnny is perhaps the best song on Tony's poorly named solo album. I haven't listened to it since like 1997 or so, and probably never will again. But compared to Computer Blue? CB is the Pizza, and Johnny is like the frozen pizza from 1972 that they find in some abandoned freezer in a ghost town.

Computer Blue to Johnny is like

When Doves Cry to The P

Anna Stesia to Jughead

If I Was Your Girlfriend to Daddy Pop

Vannormal said:

-

-

To name a few:

- the whole Controversy and Batman Album.

- Romance 1600

- Appolonia 6

- Ice Cream Castles

- the track Come Home by Mavis Staples, Push It Up (with Chaka)

and so many others, etc...

-

(don't kill me for my choices)

-

Don't know how any Prince fan who would actually come on here would not be well versed in Controversy and Batman. Or Ice Cream Castles. They are pretty much Prince 101. Sure, I probably skip Trust and The Arms of Orion a bit on Batman, and hardly ever listen to Chili Sauce. Now I like most of Sheila's 1600, but have not listened to Apolonia save for Sex Shooter in over 20 years or more.

Haven't listened to this one in years! I remember I bought the CD in 1997 at the JOTY tour.

sulls said:

dodger said:

sulls said:

The music is great, but the vox turn me off. It’d be a better album with P’s vox 4 sure.

Oil Can on repeat for you then. Or maybe Trivial can erase Tone from the other tracks for you What about 2gether; Tony is smooth as a MF

Although I usually frown upon cross posting, it is appropriate here, my response to Tony being "Smooth as a MF." :

As much as I hated rap in most of Prince's music. There were some brilliant moments:

"The Latest Fashion." Prince raps about coming harder than a heart attack. Such a wonderous rhyme, made me stop in my tracks, such amazing flow, and I ignored lesser tracks like "The Question Of U," "Joy In Repetition," just to get to the rapping.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Jughead" Tony M shouts and yells that make LL Cool J seem like the Beastie Boys whining. And the famous Mr Money Minder speech which had to be one of the most intellectual moments in hip hop history where Tony sounds so exquisite, that it makes a Harvard Lecture I attended once pale in comparison. (Sure, Tony was not really rapping this part, but it sounded so great, I still maintain this is hip hop's greatest moment in history.)

_____________________________________________________________________________

"My Name Is Prince" Tony M becomes the first master rapper to actually rap about Manure. Sure other rappers have said the good ol S word, but never Manure. This proved Prince made the right move when hiring Tony.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Da Da Da" Scrappy Doo, or whatever his name was becomes the first rapper ever to make a reference to smoking Weed. Yes 1996 had to be at least 30 years, UH 10 Years? before anyone else thought to approach the subject. Amazing, introspective, and instead of following a shallow minded trend, Prince and Scrappy Doo created a trend rapping about weed. Nobody else could have come up with such a tremendous idea.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Return Of The Bump Squad" Here, it is probably Sonny T, pretending to smoke weed while rapping or perhaps just speaking Bible verses. Nothing in the history of music has eveer been so poignant, or should I just say Godly, as reading Bible Verses while pretending to be high. I'm sure God blessed Prince and Sonny for such a God like action.

_____________________________________________________________________________

And on a more serious note, "P Control" was actually pretty good for the most part, but some of the music sounded like circus music and sounds pretty dated now. Not quite as circus as that little part in "New Power Generation," but close.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Days Of Wild" remains my favorite of his rap songs. Of course he's making fun of the same Weed that is being praised on "Bump Squad."

[Edited 5/13/19 14:05pm]