BELL6983 said:

To stay hot, Prince need to...

1. Record Rock Records : It is easier for rock stars to age and remain popular. Look at Aerosmith and their longevity (or Sting, Bono, and even Bowie as someone mentioned.)

It's hard for a rock track to sound dated, but to me some of Prince's James-Brown-style funk and R&B can sound dated because that type of music is trendy. Plus, the soul field right now is so hip-hop heavy and he can't really do convincing Hip-hop tracks, despite his efforts.

The last thing he needs to do now is try to identify too closely with the music of EW&F, JB, Maceo and others who are also aged musicians who've fallen off the radar.

Rock is not as trend-restricted as soul music, plus it would pull on Prince's strong guitar playing for which he is revered. He really needs to cash in on that assets. Guitar, Guitar. Guitar.



2. Lose the lame 30-year old dancers . During the Musicology video, Prince trots out some dudes I swear are over 30 to do some badly-choreographed dances beside him. Oh, Gawd. That looks so bad and dated. I'm thinking why do I want to see these overgrown men dancing around like that (esp. right after an Usher performance). It's embarassing. Has anyone else noticed this? The women background dancers chosen for this video are undesirable as well.

Now, I was basically focusing on PRince at the Ames, IA show, but I think I did see some really old people dancing on stage with him... not sure. Does he have these super-old dancers touring? I hope not.

And on TV performances, Prince should be sit at his piano or do an acoutic set ... so he won't be tempted to do silly dances (not that all his moves are silly ... some are ... and they look sillier on a mature man).


3. STop Using Teen (&Twentysomething) Jargon Prince's lyrics use a lot of jargon which sounds uncool coming from the mouth of a 45-year-old man. I know he's trying to identify with a younger crowd but he's too old to talk like this. Examples: "he hipped her to the funk," "whips" "get busy" "gettin' played" "get yo mack on" "the party's crackin." "It's all good."

I get sad when I hear these non-gems falling from Prince's mouth. These words should only be lyrics in hip-hop songs. These are not mature lyrics.

4. Stop Name-Checking : Is it really necessary to namecheck the younger cats D'Angelo, Questlove, Missy Elliot, even Eminem {Em). It's sounds so desperate to try to align yourself with the current young flavors. Let them namecheck you (and they do!) I'm irritated when he namechecks anyone, including Candy and Maceo ... it makes the music less universal ... and locates it just in his realm.

5. Find a new hairstyle: This is the one criticism that I think is too personal ... but I think the short curly hair is too feminine in this day and age. I think doing an Afro or dreds would be fake, fake, fake. So, if he must stay straight .. how about the classic long do from Lovesexy/ Batman/Graffit Bridge. To me, that's always cool, especially for a rocker. Just my opinion...

6. Stop the overt teaching : I'm tired of him being the elder statesman for religion, morality, etc. by preaching, preaching, preaching. Just show.

Yes, by virtue of his talents and longevity he has a lot of wisdom to pass on, but teach by showing not by making proclaimations all the time. It's like listening to my grandpa. Like with Musicology, instead of doing interviews talking about teaching kids about real music, etc. Play some. Play some kick-ass quintessential tunes that have people saying "now, that's music!" Unfortunately, not a song on Musicology lives up to this.

I preferred when Prince used music not to teach and proselytize ... but to simply express how he was feeling. That actually TAUGHT me a lot (like about freedom, individualism, spirituality, non-conformity) ... (like in Uptown, Controversy, Sign O' the Times days).

I don't want to be chastised, judged, and told I'm going to be banished to hell when I listen to music.

7. Don't Rap or make Hip Hop It's never too late to experiment with something new, but these genres don't befit Prince and vice versa. And please, no more reggae. His experiments with jazz and blues have been fine ... but no other genres (well maybe he can try classical). Like you said in "Undisputed" you don't follow trends, they follow you. Live that.


Disclaimers: Well, these sound a bit harsh, I know. But inside I'm always thinking these changes would be great. I do love Prince and know I can't tell him what to do. These are my opinions ... so try to see my perspective before you flame :-]

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[This message was edited Sun May 2 6:39:02 2004 by SynthiaRose]