2000s baby reacts to 'Purple Rain'

https://www.youtube.com/w...0aVKrfwqD0

I enjoyed his reaction; fun observing a fan younger than me reacting to Prince.

[Edited 10/22/21 10:50am]

Reaction vids are fun, particularly with Prince because his whole streaming beliefs mean an entire generation knows zero songs beside "Purple Rain". It's all genuinely 100% fresh to them and a lot start out pretty skeptical but get converted after like one minute of a track.

This girl gets way into it:

"Head" reaction:

https://www.youtube.com/w...Zo25-wsk-Y

EmmaMcG said:

EmmaMcG said:

99% of those "reaction videos" are bullshit. The amount of videos on YouTube by people claiming to be hearing songs like Purple Rain, Kiss, Billie Jean, Living On A Prayer etc for the first time is ridiculous. Are we supposed to believe that these people have been living under a rock all their lives?

Why is that hard to believe? Those songs are around 35 to 40 years old. Depending on the age of a person, that's their grandparents music or even their great-grandparents. Which is the equivalent of most people around when Billie Jean was originally out listening to 1940s popular music, which wasn't happening. Rock in general hasn't been on mainstream Top 40 that much in years. Unless someone in a young person's family is listening to it, why would someone listening to Migos, BTS, or Cardi B be seeking out Bon Jovi? Bon Jovi haven't had a big radio hit since the 1990s.

Justin Beiber's & Drake's 1st albums came out in 2009 and Rihanna's in 2005. Destiny's Child will be eligible for the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in 2022, which is 25 years after a debut album. Their early hits are oldies/old school now. There are oldies that are put in movies or video games like Grand Theft Auto that younger generations are likely to know. Like September by Earth Wind & Fire is a popular meme and so is Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up by "Rickrolling".

WhisperingDandelions said:

Reaction vids are fun, particularly with Prince because his whole streaming beliefs mean an entire generation knows zero songs beside "Purple Rain". It's all genuinely 100% fresh to them and a lot start out pretty skeptical but get converted after like one minute of a track.

This girl gets way into it:

"Head" reaction:

https://www.youtube.com/w...Zo25-wsk-Y

i enjoyed her reaction! when the beat drop, that's probably how i reacted the first time too lol the groove gets you set in

Wolfie87 said:

Just Jammin' is a YouTube channel. He reacts to EVERYTHING. Even the deep cuts. His 1999 album review, and the latest Purple Rain vault tracks are spectacular and shows that this guy is deep into his music. Quote: He is the greatest artist of all time. Mind you, he listen to every known artist in history of music and nobody even comes close to Prince's unorthodox artisty and production in his opinion.

dang he's even reacting to the posthumous tracks.... Purple Music!!!

Wolfie87 said:

EmmaMcG said:

99% of those "reaction videos" are bullshit. The amount of videos on YouTube by people claiming to be hearing songs like Purple Rain, Kiss, Billie Jean, Living On A Prayer etc for the first time is ridiculous. Are we supposed to believe that these people have been living under a rock all their lives?

Ehhhm, that girl linked above is maybe 17-18 years old tops. Just Jammin' is about the same age. Yes, there are people who haven't heard Prince's music until now.

What is ridiculous are people reaction and hyping the song for views. Like a couple who called "We are the world" the greatest song of all time. Hahahahahahaha, yeah whatever you say

MickyDolenz said:

EmmaMcG said:

Wolfie87 said:

Ehhhm, that girl linked above is maybe 17-18 years old tops. Just Jammin' is about the same age. Yes, there are people who haven't heard Prince's music until now. What is ridiculous are people reaction and hyping the song for views. Like a couple who called "We are the world" the greatest song of all time. Hahahahahahaha, yeah whatever you say

My sister is 17. She knows who Prince is and even though she's far from an expert in the field, she knows Kiss, Purple Rain and When Doves Cry. Those songs are still played regularly on radio and on TV. I only really became a Prince fan myself around 10 years ago when I was 21 but even before that I knew these songs. There wasn't a teenager in my class in school who didn't know these songs. And keep in mind that I live in Ireland, a country where most people, if you were to stop them on the street and ask them what they know about Prince, would struggle to come up with anything. Other than songs like Kiss and Purple Rain. So when I see people, especially people my age and even older, claim that they're listening to Purple Rain "for the first time" I don't buy it. It's not that long ago that Prince died. And when he did his music was everywhere. You couldn't turn on the tv without hearing it. So yeah, unless these youtubers have been living under a rock, I don't believe them.

Just like there will be younger people who know Prince, there will also be younger ones who don't know him. I agree that reaction videos are usually bullshit but it's not incenceivable that someone who is 17/18 has never heard Prince songs. I've seen conversations online where people didn't know what the sign was.

People might also have heard songs and not known they were Prince. I got in to Prince around the time Diamonds & Pearls came out. Obviously knew the big hits, Purple Rain, 1999, Kiss etc but there were defintely other songs I'd heard and hadn't put 2+2 together. When I got around to buying Parade and heard Girls & Boys on the album, I remembered that saxaphone riff and realised that it was a Prince song I'd heard before and hadn't assosciated with Prince.

EmmaMcG said:

Bon Jovi will be very disappointed to hear that It's My Life, Have A Nice Day, Who Says You Can't Go Home, Lost Highway and We Weren't Born To Follow weren't big radio hits. I mean, I heard them all the time on the radio and they all did well on the charts but if you say they haven't had a hit since the 90s then I guess you're right

It's My Life made it to #33 on the Hot 100 (the pop chart) in the USA. It's My Life did make it to #11 on adult contemporary radio though. Adult contemporary will play veteran artists that Top 40 radio mostly ignores, the R&B equivalent is called Adult R&B. Maybe it was a big hit in European countries. Earth Song by Michael Jackson wasn't a hit in the USA. It wasn't even released as a single here. But apparently it's popular in the UK. Just because something is really popular in one country doesn't mean it is everywhere. Like Garth Brooks, who has 9 diamond albums in the USA, which is more than any other performer including The Beatles & Michael Jackson.

EmmaMcG said:

Wolfie87 said:

Ehhhm, that girl linked above is maybe 17-18 years old tops. Just Jammin' is about the same age. Yes, there are people who haven't heard Prince's music until now. What is ridiculous are people reaction and hyping the song for views. Like a couple who called "We are the world" the greatest song of all time. Hahahahahahaha, yeah whatever you say

My sister is 17. She knows who Prince is and even though she's far from an expert in the field, she knows Kiss, Purple Rain and When Doves Cry. Those songs are still played regularly on radio and on TV. I only really became a Prince fan myself around 10 years ago when I was 21 but even before that I knew these songs. There wasn't a teenager in my class in school who didn't know these songs. And keep in mind that I live in Ireland, a country where most people, if you were to stop them on the street and ask them what they know about Prince, would struggle to come up with anything. Other than songs like Kiss and Purple Rain. So when I see people, especially people my age and even older, claim that they're listening to Purple Rain "for the first time" I don't buy it. It's not that long ago that Prince died. And when he did his music was everywhere. You couldn't turn on the tv without hearing it. So yeah, unless these youtubers have been living under a rock, I don't believe them.

Radio still big in Ireland? It always seems like Europeans are maybe more into classic American hits and American pop culture moreso than typical American teens? Feels like a decent European population here for a quintessentially "American" artist. Or take pro wrestling, for instance, something that seems as an American a pop culture example as it gets, basically a rural deep south niche carnival act, never met anyone over the age of 15 who would ever admit to watching in present-day America, but the online wrestling community is like 80% Europeans mostly in their 30s and 40s.

Any way, the reaction videos both myself and OP posted are for the song "Head" and Purple Rain the album, not "Purple Rain" the song or any of the other mega hits. You're ranting against something not even present in the thread.

You're possibly maybe right for the average mega hit, "React to 'Thriller' for the first time!" with the emotional fake tears thumbnail, but this is why it's only worthwhile to search for album cut reaction vids. No chance the example in post #2 played that track before.

Like this "Scandalous" reaction might be the most genuine reaction video of all time.:

https://www.youtube.com/w...OUSJg9fZkY.

Plus, modern American teens / young adults are actually becoming quite adversarial with regards to "great" pop culture of the past lately. They used to nod along politely to the elders talking about how superior the old era's are, now they increasingly blasting the previous gen for being stuck in the past / out of touch, maintain their stars / eras / culture are just as great. Like all the old NBA or R&B videos on YouTube now get a certain % of spam "Move on, grandpas!" when the comments used to be 100% "Back when ___ was GREAT."

[Edited 10/24/21 12:10pm]

[Edited 10/24/21 12:17pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Like this "Scandalous" reaction might be the most genuine reaction video of all time.:

https://www.youtube.com/w...OUSJg9fZkY.

[Edited 10/24/21 12:10pm]

[Edited 10/24/21 12:17pm]

"I was expecting my soul to stay with me but..."

WhisperingDandelions said:

Or take pro wrestling, for instance, something that seems as an American a pop culture example as it gets, basically a rural deep south niche carnival act, never met anyone over the age of 15 who would ever admit to watching in present-day America, but the online wrestling community is like 80% Europeans mostly in their 30s and 40s.

If that is the case, how did The Rock become a big movie star? So is John Cena to a lesser extent. The Rock is probably one of the few actors that can sell a movie today. Not many left, it's mostly brands that get the big box office today like Marvel, Disney, or Mission Impossible.

AvocadosMax said:

2000s baby reacts to 'Purple Rain'

https://www.youtube.com/w...0aVKrfwqD0

I enjoyed his reaction; fun observing a fan younger than me reacting to Prince.

[Edited 10/22/21 10:50am]

I agree that his reaction was fun. I think the guy in that video behaves just like a 3 year old does discovering new music! His coffee is like his sippy cup.

MickyDolenz said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Or take pro wrestling, for instance, something that seems as an American a pop culture example as it gets, basically a rural deep south niche carnival act, never met anyone over the age of 15 who would ever admit to watching in present-day America, but the online wrestling community is like 80% Europeans mostly in their 30s and 40s.

If that is the case, how did The Rock become a big movie star? So is John Cena to a lesser extent. The Rock is probably one of the few actors that can sell a movie today. Not many left, it's mostly brands that get the big box office today like Marvel, Disney, or Mission Impossible.

"present-day America". The last time The Rock was actively employed full-time wrestler was Wrestlemania 18 in April 2002, almost twenty years ago, when the company he was employed for was still called the World Wrestling Federation (that's WWF, not WWE). He left the next night for a full-time career in Hollywood. His first feature film came out in Summer 2001. over twenty years ago.

The people who loved The Rock when they were kids and teenagers are now full grown adults often with families of their own looking for weekend entertainment.

Beyond that, The Rock came from The Attitude Era / Monday Night Wars Era, the biggest boom period in wrestling history, when both major organizations consistently had massive ratings every week and the characters weren't just pop culture Americana, the characters were cool. Again, literally over twenty years ago.

You could pull five strangers off the street this second and probably get them all to name 5+ stars of the Attitude / Monday Night Wars era. Stone Cold, Hollywood Hogan, The Rock, Undertaker, Macho Man... Still household names.

But "present-day America"? Can you name 5+ current wrestlers in the post-John Cena era?

And Cena doesn't count as a star, dude literally hocks Hefty trash bags. Pool a couple bucks and he'll advertise for the Org. Anyway he also retired as an active full-time wrestler five years ago in 2016 so...

WhisperingDandelions said:

"present-day America".

You mean the folks who watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette, The Housewives Of Whereverville, The Voice, The Masked Singer, Ridiculousness, Dancing With The Stars, Big Brother, and all the other reality & variety shows currently popular on TV? America's Funniest Home Videos is still in production and has been on since 1989. Cardi B came from a reality show and she's had several hit records now and has appeared in a few movies. You're acting like current mainstream entertainment is some kind of posh high class thing above the supposed "rural" wrestling fans. It's not, it's TikTok videos & Madea movies. Tyler Perry is now a billionaire and owns his own movie studio. The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours reentered the Top 10 on the album chart a few months ago because of a viral TikTok video with Dreams playing.

AvocadosMax said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Reaction vids are fun, particularly with Prince because his whole streaming beliefs mean an entire generation knows zero songs beside "Purple Rain". It's all genuinely 100% fresh to them and a lot start out pretty skeptical but get converted after like one minute of a track.

This girl gets way into it:

"Head" reaction:

https://www.youtube.com/w...Zo25-wsk-Y

i enjoyed her reaction! when the beat drop, that's probably how i reacted the first time too lol the groove gets you set in

Show Nough!

MickyDolenz said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

"present-day America".

You mean the folks who watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette, The Housewives Of Whereverville, The Voice, The Masked Singer, Ridiculousness, Dancing With The Stars, Big Brother, and all the other reality & variety shows currently popular on TV? America's Funniest Home Videos is still in production and has been on since 1989. Cardi B came from a reality show and she's had several hit records now and has appeared in a few movies. You're acting like current mainstream entertainment is some kind of posh high class thing above the supposed "rural" wrestling fans. It's not, it's TikTok videos & Madea movies. Tyler Perry is now a billionaire and owns his own movie studio. The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours reentered the Top 10 on the album chart a few months ago because of a viral TikTok video with Dreams playing.

..........

..........

.........You can't name one active wrestler post-Cena, can you?

EmmaMcG said:

99% of those "reaction videos" are bullshit. The amount of videos on YouTube by people claiming to be hearing songs like Purple Rain, Kiss, Billie Jean, Living On A Prayer etc for the first time is ridiculous. Are we supposed to believe that these people have been living under a rock all their lives?

I have never heard a lot of artists songs or albums and I am 39. Never heard Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Metallica, and hardly heard Taylor Swift albums at all. Didnt listen to the Beatles until I was 20. You never know, especially a kid. Matter of fact I am just learning some Beach Boys tunes from the last 5 yeras.

These are often stupid and stunty, but this kid is really thoughtful

[Edited 11/2/21 11:31am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Reaction vids are fun, particularly with Prince because his whole streaming beliefs mean an entire generation knows zero songs beside "Purple Rain". It's all genuinely 100% fresh to them and a lot start out pretty skeptical but get converted after like one minute of a track.

Facts. I was born in 1990, started digging my own music around 2003 and my tastes drove me all the way back into the 70s and 80s. I discovered my Madonnas, MJs, Whitneys, Cyndis, Georges and Donnas, my knowledge of Prince was limited to Purple Rain and Kiss until late 2013 when his music was starting to become more widely available.

EmmaMcG said:

onlyforaminute said:

EmmaMcG said:

99% of those "reaction videos" are bullshit. The amount of videos on YouTube by people claiming to be hearing songs like Purple Rain, Kiss, Billie Jean, Living On A Prayer etc for the first time is ridiculous. Are we supposed to believe that these people have been living under a rock all their lives?

Yes it happens. Each generation is more isolated from the pop culture of the generations preceding it these days, with having their own individual devices and all. Where would they get the exposure when they can have their own headsets all the time?

I agree that modern teens are generally ingorant of '80s pop culture and it's entirely possible that some of these videos are legit. Nevertheless, I'm skeptical of anything I see online and wouldn't be surprise if most of these reaction videos are faked. Even if the person genuinly hadn't heard the song perviously, they might listen to it once or twice before recording their reaction video so that they can plan what they're going to say.

onlyforaminute said:

Yes it happens. Each generation is more isolated from the pop culture of the generations preceding it these days, with having their own individual devices and all. Where would they get the exposure when they can have their own headsets all the time?

Well, if I post the Top 10 singles for this week, how many of the previous generations (like boomers) will know the songs? Can they name 10 of Drake's or Maroon 5's hits? Do many of them know songs by other popular acts of the last 10 years or so like XXXTentacion, DJ Khaled, Taylor Swift, Pitbull, BTS, Megan Thee Stallion, all of those rappers with "Lil" in their name, "bro-country" singers, etc.

MickyDolenz said:

onlyforaminute said:

I realized a while ago my music listening is selected to specifically what I like to listen to. I get no exposure unless I purposely seek it out. Very much unlike how it use to be by just passively turning on the radio and hearing a wider selection of music. Even when my kids were young adults at home they'd listened to all their music through their earphones, I hardly ever "had" to hear their music. The natural ways of exposure are gone.

I think a boombox is too heavy for the post Ipod generations. I haven't seen any of these in stores recently either.

I see these videos on Youtube for high end audio equipment conventions that happen every year and I wonder who are these people that are buying a CD player that costs $12,000 or a $100,000 turntable or a speaker wire for $800. The stereo companies can't possibly sell that many if most people stream music now, and the hipsters who buy vinyl & cassettes can't afford it. Some buy those cheap turntables from Walmart so they're not the audiophile market.

MickyDolenz said:

onlyforaminute said:

Unless one's a musicophile there really isn't any need to venture outside of one's own bubble. Maybe if one hung out on tik tok but that's hardly a passive activity and quite time consuming too.

That's the way it's always been, long before there was an internet or streaming. People in general only (or mostly) listen to one thing. That's why there were different radio formats like Top 40 pop, AOR, R&B, country, dance, easy listening, & adult contemporary. When music videos became popular in the 1980s, if you didn't want to watch MTV, there was Video Jukebox, Video Soul on BET, VH-1, etc. I have relatives that only listened to gospel. Secular music was not allowed to be played in their house. They would call it "devil's music" or "blues", no matter what it actually was. People also are more likely to listen to music made by artists of their own race/ethnicity, like it's primarily Mexicans who listen to Tejano, ranchera, & mariachi. Vicente Fernández is popular with that audience. There's also other things that go with the music. Country listeners are more likely to be into rodeos than opera listeners.