i think he should just focus on the music and not ALWAYS trying to make some huge profound statement!! he needs to lighten up and have some fun. the evolution of music is not his responsibility!! sure, i understand he has an opinion and has every right to share it but - it just gets old.

like Jack Nicholson has been quoted saying "I don't like advice. Unless I'm giving it". the same is true for millions of people. they are immediately turned off when they feel they are being "schooled" per se.

and Prince's statement about Musicology and getting "back to the music" has to be really insulting to alot of artists out there and those artists' FANS . . . there are many bands that work very hard at their craft . . . why is Prince just focusing on Hip-Hop and a small group of Pop artists that use technology for their music? it's kinda ridiculous . . .

i think it's great that there IS diversity. Live Musicianship is great and very hard work - but i think if there wasn't any computer generated music, the live stuff would just get monotonous. Variety is the spice of life . . . and i say the fabricators only make the real deals (like Prince) look better in the long run!!

i just wish he'd stop whining - teaching - preaching about it. we've heard you!!! there has got to be something else . . .or maybe not - maybe that's the only thing that drives him these, those and any further days . . .

i do adore Prince, i truly adore him . . . i just want to truly enjoy him again . . . without all the messages . . . i can think for myself.

Prince always has to have some kind of message or thesis or "moral to the story" - it's part of his whole schtick, going way back into the day. It's what separates him from artists who have nothing to say. His "teaching" is usually more than a little muddled, but I've always thought what he has to say is interesting, or at worst, somewhere between cute and annoying...

Anxiety said:

i agree. i may cringe, but I'm always curious what he's gonna say next.

I miss the 'green eggs and ham!' and 'superfunkicalifragisexy' and all the fun shit that didn't mean anything but thats why U liked it and felt it... the preaching gets old like yoda unless it's in a song like 'the cross' or 'i know' ....my

Teaching is just part of the Prince's package, you either get the whole package or none of it!

Plain and simple...REAL MUSIC IS SLOWLY DYING.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in this post essentially giving advice to Prince to stop giving advice?

okaypimpn said:

y'all would follow Prince even if he did Baa baa blacksheep.

Take me home 2 'when U were mine, she's always in my hair and sexy MF' when I want a preacher i'll go 2 church, when I want a singer I'll go 2 prince, when I want sax I call Candy

Lenae said:

one of the main reasons why i like p is exactly that: he makes folks think, as opposed to just sittin there and playin his ass off. i don't agree with some stuff that he says, especially as of late, but at least he still makes me think. it's always nice to have one's brain workin while listenin to stuff, y'know.

i can think for myself, too--ol' boy really ain't tryin to have folks think the same way he does (thank god ). he's makin folks think from a different perspective, is all. just like he's always been doin, except it's a titch different now.

Universaluv said:

okaypimpn said:

That's what I was gonna say.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Anxiety said:

Yes! He taught me that, "everybody wants to find Grafitti Bridge!", and "all that glitters ain't gold!"- I think he was telling me something on the 0)-> album too.

Yes! his teaching is usually very muddled! Even when you say, "Bollocks!", or "What the!?!", the failure to communicate the message is way more compelling than NO MESSAGE, like the "Rave" album!

I think the "need to teach" comes down to :EGO.

I also think Prince is very much in the Preacher/Teacher, student mode.

Passing knowledge from generation to generation is nothing new and sorely needed. Soul food would be missing in my home if my mama hadn't taught me how to turn out homemade biscuits or gumbo. Would people miss the wonder of 'Lord of the Rings' in fifty years if there were no one to push film preservation? Would we know the history of this country if people had not carefully documented it?

I applaud Prince for trying to school the young ones because, IMO, most of the music today is crap. When I go to a music store, I usually end up with some old school joint because I'm sorely unimpressed with the Beyonces and Timberlakes of the world. My son will argue me down about the originality of today's music stars until I inform him that most of the music today is lifted from music of yesterday. Case in point: Miss Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love', which wouldn't sound nearly as good if not for the horn sample of the Chi-lites 'Are You My Woman'. Booty shaking, hair tossing, and oversinging can only get you so far.

I love learning from my elders, but that's just me.
[This message was edited Thu Mar 18 9:59:29 2004 by Joi]

His nose has been stuck between the old pages for so long.. he's been sniffing the ink of wisdom too long.

I think he realized that this was his last chance ever in a temporary flickering spotlight to toss his two cents in.

Joi said:

Today's music is calculated corporate product dressed up in a pretty girl/boy package,performed by people who just want celebrity but don't have a goal musically.

Do you think Britney,'Lake, Jessica Simpson,etc. has any idea of what he/she's going to sing, until the Music Label Corporation decides it's time for more product, and sets up songs and studio time for her? Then they dress her up, set up her schedule for tours, interviews,photo shoots, product deals, etc.

I think most of the "Big" artists today ( "big" because businessmen have decided they WILL be big, and make it so) have absolutely no idea where they are going, or find inspiration to create art!

The smart kids will seek out real artists when they realise the spectacle they are sold, and realise the crap they're force-fed.

I just think kids aren't as ready to embrace a guitar solo from Prince as easily as a carefully-choreographed dance by a lip-syncing Beyonce.

Joi said:

thank you!

warning2all said:

I'm not sayin' he ever TAUGHT me anything...then again, I'm not sayin' he hasn't...I'm just sayin' that more often than not, I find it either interesting or amusing, or some combo of the two. Is that something I should be apologizing to you for?

Anxiety said:

I think warning was agreeing with u, and yawning at Rave. Yes?

I was watching the infamous Tora Tora won't talk to you interview again lately, and I occured to me that back then --- on the heels
of 'Exodus' and 'The gold experience' (circa '94) --- they were talking about musicianship and the necessary teaching of a younger generation.

It left me a bit puzzled as to why Prince has to present the current Musicology phenomenon as such a revelation, when he in fact puts
his message in old gloves. He is doing it right this time around (the '94 NPG was, apart from being tight, packed with plastic horns
and vocal-samples), but it isn't exactly new.

Kind of sad, if you come to think of it.

madartista said:

YES! I'm totally agreeing!

My point IS, even if the journey of a Prince album winds up as a cliche payoff ("all that glitters is gold"), or a goofy metaphor ("Everybody wants to find Grafitti Bridge") the process was much more entertaining & interesting than JUST a collection of songs ("Rave"), or even "Crystal Ball", for that matter.

I'm with ya, I guess my "angle" didn't come off as that! Sorry.

Lenae said:

You lighten up, Prince is a master, a once in a lifetime master and he knows it. Put him in the class with ellington as he gets older, that's why he feels the need, because his music has always been rooted in pure american roots music while the new generation only care for image.

Some people get to a point in life where they have a burning desire to pass something on which they feel is important. In fact we've all got something to teach other people. Prince has taken his opportunity.

A geek's 2 cents-

Just like in a galaxy far far away, in this world there are clonetroopers and there are Jedi Knights.

Prince , in essence, is like a Jedi Knight - the last of a dying breed of spiritual warriors who thinks for themselves. He is trying to pass on what he has learned. If Obiwan Kenobi and Yoda didn't pass on their knowledge to Luke, the galaxy would be doomed.

Prince is trying to pass on his musicianship so the music world doesn't suffer.

FunnyWayOfStoppinTheJuice said:

-----
Giving his opinion about the music industry is not preaching. It is Prince's opinion. Considering he works in the music industry I find what he has to say interesting. I don't see it as preaching but , I am not sure how many of you go to church so maybe you don't know the difference between preaching and stating an opinion.

I think a lot of music today does suck and I don't need to hear Prince say that because that is my opinion.

skywalker said:

Yes, supposedly he kept hearing he was a genius so much he actually started to believe it.

And he very well may have been a musical genius, but I heard Hypno Paradise for the first time a couple of days ago and I was appalled at how godawful it was. Of course Prince will just assume that there's something wrong with me for not getting the genius behind Hypno Paradise.

Yup, I'm sure he believes he is the right one to teach the world how to play real music.

scififilmnerd said:

If he isn't, who is?

This is a worthy cause, and I hope he follows thru with it ( he probably will get
bored and dissert this effort).

Remember the very first VH1Honors?
Prince was the main performer, and that push was to get instruments back
into public schools, a VERY worthwhile cause.

I would love for Prince to leave a legacy as someone who brought music
back into the conscienceness of kids and young adults...REAL music.
No matter what your thoughts of the man are, he is a MASTER musician,
on the HIGHEST level...he is in a position to TEACH and BE HEARD.