If only there was some kind of search box where you could enter the words "london review" in the top right of this website...

a bullshit article with some truths, half-truths, and alot of condescending racist overtones...as usual...its what happens when white media tries to examine, analyze, and speak about Black People and/or Black Culture without ever living it, and having limited understanding of it..

predictable

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Thanks for the link. An extremely good article from an established and well-respected literary journal. I suppose the author needed to say something about the subject given this publication would never review the books otherwise.

An interesting read for sure, but it completely jumps the shark and I can pinpoint the exact moment - when the writer slags off Sexy MF. Clearly they are missing a strand or two of fDNA (funky DNA). After that point they say mostly incorrect, some offfensively arrogant and others offensively incorrect. In particular the writer's reluctance to take Mayte's word for it on the name of her late son fucked me off.

Anyway... thanks for the link

newpowergeneration said:

RJOrion said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Some racial condescension, for sure. But... it is true that prince felt a need to belong, to reassert his race, to not show he had lost touch as he got older. Nothing wrong with any of that ofc, but he didn't do it with as much imagination as in the 80s. But he was getting older, and wanted to touch base with his roots, pay tribute, rather than move it forward. The 90s and later is impossible to analyse without looking at race.

its actually a well written article for the most part, but the further along i got, i wasnt at all comfortable with some of what i was reading, so i researched the author of the article and it all made sense then...and no Prince wasnt as "concsious" in the 80's but thats normal for a young man to go through that progression...besides he had to play the game as racially ambiguous in the beginning, so he could have the freedom and platform he wanted.. him and Owen Husney made that well known from day 1... some may have, and DID, call it "selling out"... but he calculatingly did what he had to do, to be The Star he wanted to be.. as he got older and wiser, he made efforts to separate himself practically and spiritually, from the man of his youth who did and believed as he did then...it turned people off, but may THE Highest Power be pleased with his so called repentance... [Edited 9/2/20 15:40pm]

I think I remember saying when this article was first posted that it's a very well written piece that sums up the critical consensus of Prince back in the day. It's kind of trapped in amber at some point in the 90s though, at least when it comes to his music. Many critics have gone back over this stuff, revised music they previously dismissed, reassessed what he was going for and further complicated the old, simpler Prince 1980s story. It's a piece that's worth reading but it feels very dated. Prince's heart was never AWOL, the spark was never gone, he just wasn't interested in giving critics, and yes they were predominantly white, what they wanted.

I'd personally find it very, very hard to argue that his music after 1990 was better than what came before but to dismiss it as not worth people's time shouldn't be an option either.

BartVanHemelen said:

If only there was some kind of search box where you could enter the words "london review" in the top right of this website...

And again....those threads are locked and can not be discussed.......

You know this..

BartVanHemelen said:

If only there was some kind of search box where you could enter the words "london review" in the top right of this website...

If only there were some way to just ignore threads you don't like? Something like "not posting in them" or "moving on". Alas, the internet has not caught up to this idea.

...

Anyway, thanks, OP. I'd never read this before and found it very interesting.

I think the criticisms are valid and reflect a general consensus to thier particular time periods, even if I don't agree with some of them. For instance, I like the Love Symbol album and thought it was a hoot. I like a lot of the stoff he released post the 1983-1988 heyday but I get why some don't.

[Edited 9/8/20 8:48am]