All these people at work who know I'm a Prince fan keep telling me "ya gotta check out Andre300" yadda yadda yadda.

So OK, I'm finally listening to "The Love below" ... and what is the big deal? I'm three-quarters the way through (up to Pink & Blue) and I don't hear any huge Prince influences!

Basically, it's a funk album, using good funky beats, a falsetto or sped-up vocal here or there...talking a lot about sex... but puh-lease... this is no classic Prince let alone Camille album!!!

Can someone tell me where they are getting this Prince analogy thang cuz I am not hearing it.

It's an intersting album but I don't hear anything particuarly Prince like.

i keep telling people that they shouldn't label the guy as a prince clone. people tend to exagerate. especially on these boards. but the influence is definitely there. no doubt. 'spread' and 'she lives in my lap' do remind me of prince (camille). i suggest you give at least those two songs another spin..

GaryMF said:

Its funny the people who are saying "There's nothing like it" are the ones who actually never heard a Prince album..

I dont feel im comparing the two, but there is a simularity/insight thats in his album that reflects past musicians...

anyway, I like prince, and I like the andre cd.. Im not sure whether its because of liking Prince music or not.. I just like it..

Theres a radio program I listen to religiously and then pimp a CD every week and last week was the Andre3000 disc. I Absolutely loved it. There is very much a Prince influence. It's not cloned either, extremely original. I'm usually turned off by the wanna-bes (D'angelo, Maxwell, ect) I'm actually thinking of getting this CD.

i was wondering the same thing after I bought the disc last week, following all the rave reviews. but last night I listened to it again, and I picked up on a lot more that leads to comparison. for me, I found it more the overall vibe and the willingness to explore a variety of sounds/voices/etc yet still maintain an overriding theme.

I don't think the intention of the disc is to be a blatant Prince tribute, but clearly the influences are there - perhaps the biggest similarity is nothing that's solid or obvious, but simply the fact that it's highly melodic, highly energetic, and (flame away) highly ORIGINAL funk that doesn't pander to the mainstream tastes o' the day. I don't see this as being in the same vein as D'Angelo or Maxwell, or even Lenny or Terence - to some lesser extent (for now anyway), Andre is to Prince as Prince is to Sly or Jimi.

GaryMF said:

totally agree,i just dont get it either, its not that obvious 2 me at all !

i made the mistake of listenin 2 speakerboxxx disc 1st. but even after listenin 2 the love below "i must b deaf" cos i can hear a g clinton thang goin on. but the way evri1 on hear goes on and on and on bout andre sounding like prince,i just dont think its justified (the comparision) andre's givin a few shout outs 2 p and most of the org have went craaazzzaaay !4 andre !

Anxiety said:

you took the words right outta mouth anxiety, agreed!

GaryMF said:

Aww C'mon u want to tell me that She lives in my lap, doesn't sound like The Ballad of Dorthy parker ?

Spread Doesn't like Feel u Up ?

Vibrate doesn't sound like Girl

Maybe I'm missing something here

But you know I just don't hear the Prince influence, I hear George Clinton & the parliment influence as well

Happy Valentines , Drucula's Wedding, She's Alive ... all P-funk material mos def... but Andre3000 even credit this album 2 Prince himself, he said it was like his version of under the cherry moon and every time I listen 2 Pink & Blue I think of Mrs. Welliton 4 some reason



under the cherry moon edit
[This message was edited Tue Nov 18 10:55:23 PST 2003 by DigitalLisa]

The Love Below is basically what it is. It isn't or wasn't ment 2 b a Prince type album. What do think is that his single "She Lives In My Lap" is sort of like a Prince inspired song. Andre 3000 did say that he is influenced by alot of artists other than The Purple Master. believe that The Parliament/ Funkadelic and Earth Wind and Fire r his main influences. Like the group, he has his own style in fashion and in music.

Also, 4 alot of people haten on Andre, quit it! U know that this album is da bomb!

OK I'm listening again... and OK the verse of "She Lives In My Lap" is a bit Dorothy parker ish...but the whole feel is totally different.

Let me add the one of the guys who first told me this kept talking about "the beat structure" which personally I don't think is a meaningful term (rythm, drum sounds, the beat, the drum machine program etc. ok. but beat structure?). So I was expeciting some Prince like rhythm or Linn sounds or something.

Anyway, the song that I hear something most clearly is the last song "Day in the life"... the synth strings that are hitting the chords in the background remind me of another song ...almost like the ending/seque of a Prince song but I can't think of which one at the moment.

ALso, conceptually, if experimenting with sounds, styles, content etc. is Prince like, ok. But like someone else said, many artists did this who influenced Prince. If Andre3000 is getting it from George Clinton, EW&F via Prince... cool. I just didn't play the record and immeidately think "this guy is a Prince fan" like I did with Maxwell or D'angelo.

GaryMF said:

It turns out that sound is actually from Wendy & Lisa's first album... the intro to the last song... Light.

GaryMF said:

hmm...never noticed that...being the prince fanatic he is I'm sure he's familiar with these two as well

As far your original question/post goes, I hear hints of Prince on "The Love Below", but I also hear George Clinton, Ohio Players, Sly Stone, ect.
While Andre's album may have hints of the above mentioned he also has his own thing goin' as well, and I think it's quite unfair and ignorant to call him a clone of any type
He's mentioned Prince as an influence and around here when ever an artist mentions him as an influence the word "clone" immediately pops into some's heads

He may be influenced by P, but I don't think he set off to make a replica of a P album, and if some think that, well, they need to have their hearing checked

I.E. "Hey Ya" (most popular song form "love Below") sounds NOTHING like Prince and is not a song that I could imagine him doing, the same can be said for others

LOVEBIZARRE: I think you summed it up best (although other's comments were insightful too).

Andre clearly has lots of funk influences including P.

I was reacting more to poeple at work who kept going on and on about how I would LOVE this album cuz I love Prince. And the frist thing I heard was "Hey Ya" which as you put, is NOTHING like Prince, and then the rest of the album was like ... "yeah it's funk, so of course there is a P connection, but also JB, G. Clinton etc.".

Anyway, thanks for your comments.

Basically he has the same influences as Prince , which is probably why they sound alike.

If Andre didn't dress so flamboyantly, people wouldn't be quite as quick to make the Prince comparison. A lot of it is the image thing.