What's the closest you believe Prince ever came to New Jack Swing?

I feel like he was dipping into popular R&B in the 90s. A lot of his remixes became echoy, hollow, fast, clangy, and it sounded like TLC or Al. Be Sure outtakes. But they never really verged on NJS.

NJS sidenote: Fenwick and I were talking about MJ's Dangerous. He said the Teddy Riley stuff was a turn off. But I think only (really) the first side of it is NJS. THe second side is really an album unto itself. Seriously, have you ever listened to "Black or White" through "Dangerous" on its own? Just those songs? It's a smorgasboard of genre.

But I wonder about Prince and NJS. Everyone hopped on that train except, maybe, Prince. Or did he?

Thoughts?

not NJS exactly, but acknowledge me seemed like prince trying to do an LA and babyface type song, a few years too late.

we march also seemed like a sort of post-NJS type thing

but NJS was late 80s/early 90s. i dont think he was doing much with breakbeats in this period, except tick tick bang or the second part of batdance.

Grafitti Bridge era, with tracks like Love Machine, Melody Cool and Round and Round!

LoveGalore said:

Don't Say U Love Me

Jughead

Come, album version, reminds me of NJS too, slowed down

I actually thought about "Come." It hints at NJS, it seems.

jazzz said:

Grafitti Bridge era, with tracks like Love Machine, Melody Cool and Round and Round!

You know, "Round and Round" is pretty close, and "Melody Cool" is somewhere in 2nd or 3rd place for that.

Maybe if "Love Machine" was remixed and some of those garish keyboards were replaced, it could have a more NJS flavor to it.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

not NJS exactly, but acknowledge me seemed like prince trying to do an LA and babyface type song, a few years too late.

we march also seemed like a sort of post-NJS type thing

but NJS was late 80s/early 90s. i dont think he was doing much with breakbeats in this period, except tick tick bang or the second part of batdance.

"Acknowledge Me" - interesting choice. But, I can see that. It's so bottom heavy and funk-centric, that any NJS influence or flavor in it is lost.

"Don't Say U Love Me". The Prince vocal demo moreso than the version eventually released by Martika. He's going full Bell Biv DeVoe with that drum programming.

Also "New Power Generation" used to get derided by plenty for being New Jack Swing. The org flip-flopping on the song with the release of the 1999 deluxe version has corrupted its legacy.

[Edited 12/15/22 19:20pm]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

LoveGalore said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

not NJS exactly, but acknowledge me seemed like prince trying to do an LA and babyface type song, a few years too late.

we march also seemed like a sort of post-NJS type thing

but NJS was late 80s/early 90s. i dont think he was doing much with breakbeats in this period, except tick tick bang or the second part of batdance.

AM was too late sounding? It sounds like "I Want You Back" from NSYNC or some shit. It was ahead of it's mediocrity.

nynsyn and bsb and that kinda mid-late 90s pop was very inspired by early 90s rnb.

so acknowledge me was still late.

it sounded dated when it first emerged.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

LoveGalore said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said: AM was too late sounding? It sounds like "I Want You Back" from NSYNC or some shit. It was ahead of it's mediocrity.

nynsyn and bsb and that kinda mid-late 90s pop was very inspired by early 90s rnb.

so acknowledge me was still late.

it sounded dated when it first emerged.

The song was tracked in 1993. That's early 90s. And it's not a damn contest to see who did it first. NJS was around for a very long time, having started in the late 80s with folks like Bobby Brown, etc. Remember, Don't Be Cruel was 1988/9. So to note early 90s is already "late."