skywalker said:

It's because it is a naughty, infectious, funky ass, instant dancefloor classic like "Erotic City." It's got a catchy hook, the rapping is on point, and it's got mass appeal. Even hardcore hip hop head had to give it up for this one.

-

This song came out deep in the middle of Prince's battle with WB and as a name and still managed to be a cult classic. People that didn't even really like Prince, still dug the hell out of this song.

-

Now, I understand that certain Prince fans of a certain age or ilk, don't think Prince should have been doing "music like this" in the 1st place. However, that says way more about your view on Prince and what he should be what he actually was and how he viewed himself and his music.

-

Fact of the matter is: Prince always dabbled in other genres and did his take on them. Prince didn't didn't do new wave, he did his version of it. Prince didn't do stadium rock, he did his version of it. Prince didn't do James Brown's funk, he did his version of it.

I like the song but I don't think it's in the same league as Erotic City. I wouldn't say it had "mass appeal" either.

dodger said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

Well Nona plays the "Pussy" character in the P CONTROL video so I always imagine her

I’m sure it’s not Nona.

I thought it was Mayte

Margot said:

dodger said:

Margot said:

I thought it was Mayte

Depends which video you are talking about. The VH1 Fashion performance video is Mayte. And there is a short clip, filmed outside Glam Slam I believe, with a tall black lady with very short hair. I’m 99.9% it’s not Nona [Edited 12/15/20 15:15pm]

Oh, thanks

dodger said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

Well Nona plays the "Pussy" character in the P CONTROL video so I always imagine her

I’m sure it’s not Nona.

You are absolutely right! I mixed the short clip of the P CONTROL video with the LOVESIGN video
clips where Nona is in the car. Oops

controversy99 said:

Change the chorus to “Oooooo, she’s in control!”, retitle the song accordingly, and change the character’s name... and you’ve got a hit. Everything else can stay the same. It’s too bad nobody told him or convinced him before it got released.

made me think of the mick jagger album cover for shes the boss.

in fairness he did change the title to p rather than pussy control so record stores would definitely carry it, but i think the reason for the chorus is that he wanted to have his cake and eat it, i.e. he gets to do the sexy thing, the slightly provocative/controversial thing, while also getting to say 'but its a female empowerment anthem!'

once a vanity/appolonia 6 creator who names the group after the number of breasts in the group, always a vanity/appolonia 6 creator who....

[Edited 12/16/20 6:02am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

controversy99 said:

Change the chorus to “Oooooo, she’s in control!”, retitle the song accordingly, and change the character’s name... and you’ve got a hit. Everything else can stay the same. It’s too bad nobody told him or convinced him before it got released.

made me think of the mick jagger album cover for shes the boss.

in fairness he did change the title to p rather than pussy control so record stores would definitely carry it, but i think the reason for the chorus is that he wanted to have his cake and eat it, i.e. he gets to do the sexy thing, the slightly provocative/controversial thing, while also getting to say 'but its a female empowerment anthem!'

once a vanity/appolonia 6 creator who names the group after the number of breasts in the group, always a vanity/appolonia 6 creator who....

[Edited 12/16/20 6:02am]

Of course, as you'd probably agree, a song CAN be all of that. IMO, Prince has many cool songs about women, to include songs from a woman's point of view.

But IMO, Pussy Control misses in some important ways.

For one...if a woman is a big earner and finds happiness in a great relationship with another big earner, then that's great!

But for a woman to deny herself sensual (and spiritual, as Prince would say) experiences up until she's got multiple degrees and earning big...

and also limit relationship possibilities to getting with another big earner in pursuit of being a power couple in the sense of both people already having and/or earning big bucks.

Well, that might be a lot of things, but I can't see how putting that out there as an exemplar is making a feminist anthem. Or how it's of any benefit to people in general.

[Edited 12/16/20 6:34am]

skywalker said:

It's because it is a naughty, infectious, funky ass, instant dancefloor classic like "Erotic City." It's got a catchy hook, the rapping is on point, and it's got mass appeal. Even hardcore hip hop head had to give it up for this one.

-

This song came out deep in the middle of Prince's battle with WB and as a name and still managed to be a cult classic. People that didn't even really like Prince, still dug the hell out of this song.

-

Now, I understand that certain Prince fans of a certain age or ilk, don't think Prince should have been doing "music like this" in the 1st place. However, that says way more about your view on Prince and what he should be what he actually was and how he viewed himself and his music.

-

Fact of the matter is: Prince always dabbled in other genres and did his take on them. Prince didn't didn't do new wave, he did his version of it. Prince didn't do stadium rock, he did his version of it. Prince didn't do James Brown's funk, he did his version of it.

So, just as "Delirious" or "Horny Toad" isn't exactly rockabilly in the vein of The Stray Cats, "Pussy Control" isn't exactly straight up hip hop, it's something only Prince could get away with. Can U dig it?

[Edited 12/14/20 10:40am]

[Edited 12/14/20 10:41am]

And damn, does Prince get me there. Like, to hell with the sketchiness of the exemplar set out in the lyrics.

I wanna dance!

This thread is so funny. The Op obviously doesn't like this song and that's fine. But to start a thread about why others like it and then kind of just argue with each and every person that says it's a great song is laughable. It's obviously a matter of taste. I love this song. It's playful and Funky as F**k!

But lets dig into some of the finer points that have been brought up. One, it's not about a stripper. The Op thinks so because of the line that P met her at Club International Balls. Uh that's not a real club, that's obviously a joke and a play on words, about how she gets around.

And this song is definitely about a woman empowering herself. By realising that she shoudn't settle and have low self esteem and that she should have standards. Pretty clear advice. So she goes to school and gets a graduate degree and P reminds her that she needs to vet any man that steps to her. How does one not get that this song reminds woman to remind themselves of their own self worth? Pretty clear to me.

Lastly the beat is sharp, the lead line is bomb. And when he performed this song it was fun to watch.

For those that can't get into this jam that's cool, but move on. U obviously don't have the complete DNA code to Funk!

[Edited 12/16/20 7:19am]

How does one not get that this song doen't remind woman to remind them of them self worth? Pretty clear to me.

sorry, what?

rednblue said:

controversy99 said:

rednblue said:

Of course, as you'd probably agree, a song CAN be all of that. IMO, Prince has many cool songs about women, to include songs from a woman's point of view.

But IMO, Pussy Control misses in some important ways.

For one...if a woman is a big earner and finds happiness in a great relationship with another big earner, then that's great!

But for a woman to deny herself sensual (and spiritual, as Prince would say) experiences up until she's got multiple degrees and earning big...

and also limit relationship possibilities to getting with another big earner in pursuit of being a power couple in the sense of both people already having and/or earning big bucks.

Well, that might be a lot of things, but I can't see how putting that out there as an exemplar is making a feminist anthem. Or how it's of any benefit to people in general.

[Edited 12/16/20 6:34am]

Yep, it’s close to a provocative female empowerment anthem, but it misses in a few little ways that wreck the song.

Yeah, someone had a thread on songs that a person thinks are great in so many ways, but some stuff in the mix really messes with it all.

As far as the empowering women (or people general) aspect goes, Prince for sure has songs that fit the bill for me.

How about you?

rednblue said:

controversy99 said:

rednblue said:

Yeah, someone had a thread on songs that a person thinks are great in so many ways, but some stuff in the mix really messes with it all.

As far as the empowering women (or people general) aspect goes, Prince for sure has songs that fit the bill for me.

How about you?

Do I have any female empowerment songs? No, I haven’t written any songs that are worth two cents.

me neither

My inept writing was trying to ask if there are Prince songs that fit the bill for you as woman-empowering or people-in-general-empowering songs.

There are Prince songs that for sure fit the people-empowering bill for me.

Is this true for you, too?

[Edited 12/16/20 8:07am]

jaawwnn said:

I always assumed it was written to wind people up, they think he's singing about controlling women while in fact it's about a woman taking control of her own life.

[Edited 12/14/20 9:49am]

this is actually quite astute. maybe it was hoped it would be controversial, when in the end, no one really cared.

I love it because it's ridiculous and fun, at a time when there wasn't a lot of ridiculous fun in P's music. My favorite version is on The Dawn 4.1, which I assume is a hybrid made from different sources? It's just stupid and great.

Mintchip said:

vinaysfunk said:

This thread is so funny. The Op obviously doesn't like this song and that's fine. But to start a thread about why others like it and then kind of just argue with each and every person that says it's a great song is laughable. It's obviously a matter of taste. I love this song. It's playful and Funky as F**k!

But lets dig into some of the finer points that have been brought up. One, it's not about a stripper. The Op thinks so because of the line that P met her at Club International Balls. Uh that's not a real club, that's obviously a joke and a play on words, about how she gets around.

And this song is definitely about a woman empowering herself. By realising that she shoudn't settle and have low self esteem and that she should have standards. Pretty clear advice. So she goes to school and gets a graduate degree and P reminds her that she needs to vet any man that steps to her. How does one not get that this song reminds woman to remind themselves of their own self worth? Pretty clear to me.

Lastly the beat is sharp, the lead line is bomb. And when he performed this song it was fun to watch.

For those that can't get into this jam that's cool, but move on. U obviously don't have the complete DNA code to Funk!

[Edited 12/16/20 7:19am]

Stepped out for a few days to avoid hogging the thread. : )

vinaysfunk, I said in other comments that I agreed about the song being fabulously funky and making me want to dance. I think it's a fantastic song in many ways.

I respect your opinion about not settling. Truly! It's just that although for some people, not settling equals a woman or man doing like exemplar Pussy does: getting quite established in profession and attaining multiple graduate degrees and requiring wealth from partner before consummating any relationships...

at the same time, there are other people who also want to live life on their own (different) terms. I'm middle aged, but remembering way back to college, I had (both female and male) friends who didn't choose to have certain sensual experiences with fellow students, and others who did. Hardly anyone there at college had "good and plenty of their own." Most students don't.

Many of these friends went on to get graduate degrees and do some meaningful work in their fields. Almost all of these friends are now OK with their decisions from years ago re: sensual experiences that they made during their college years (18-21 or so), a time that most remember fondly.

Wouldn't the pretty clear advice you find in Pussy Control suggest that Prince himself settled and failed to have standards when he sought out sensual experiences himself at that late teens to early twenties age? This is what confuses me. Prince so often sings of sensual experiences as beautiful and spiritual. But does this song's logic say that a young Prince settled and didn't have standards? If you don't mind my asking, what do you think? If you're done with all the Pussy Control debate, I get it, and so please excuse my ramblings.

[Edited 12/21/20 13:33pm]

jasopig said:

Cuz it's a great jam.

Next.

This.

Because it tells the truth of the ultimate truth; the real power in the world and it's the all-time fucking jam! It's been my favorite song since I heard it years ago.