prince does look really indian in some pics, especially when he put the dot on his forehead and wore the henna indian stuff on his hands.... (Emancipation era)

Anxiety said:

i remember back in 96-98, Prince was on the Essence Awards( I think) and he sang THE CHRIST(THE CROSS with different lyrics) and I remember a lot of my friends saying "I wish Prince woulda sang a "Black" song." I think that some people can be so narrow minded.... I think thats why r&b is so formulaic these days..I beleive the media thinks that soul music consists of the same elements and no diversity

OK, here's what I think about this whole situation:

PRINCE IS BLACK, NOT WHITE, LET'S GET THAT CLEAR!!!!!

Prince is soul music, when you get down to the essence of him. Sure, he's more diverse than that with the many genres he has and still explores. But his music comes from his heart and soul, making it soul music. If all else fails, Prince will still have his Black fan base. But I don't see him failing anytime soon. I mean, I think he has the most diverse fan base than any other artist out there. Sure he's crossed over a while ago, but I would'nt call it selling out. I look at it as trying to take his sound and style to new territories. When you're an artist of his caliber, you want to get your message across to everyone, and be heard by as many people as possible. The world has listened to Prince so far, and most like what they hear.

Another thing: Music is music to me. It should not have boundaries or classifications or should not be divided by race. Sure, different types of music have been brought about in many different territories, but it's been created for a reason, right? I mean people create music to express themselves and to be heard. Music is an art that reflects the human spirit and what it has to say. When my ancestors were slaves, they used music as a way to express themselves and as a tool of communication. And the same goes for today. Punk was created for disillusioned youth to express themselves as they struggle thorough hard times. The same went for Hip-Hop when that was created. It's all relative. But even as all these types of music were created, they were made as a reflection of the times, but also to address the issue to everyone else in the world that has not heard of it before.

Anyways, Prince is not Black music or White music. There is no such thing as those types. Although I personally think a majority of Western music should be credited to Black people (Blues, Jazz, R&b, Rock & Roll, Funk, Reggae, Hip-Hop, Electronica, etc.), it should'nt just be exclusively for us. We should acknowledge the people for inventing this music but, it should be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of race, sex, class, yada yada yada.

And just for the record, NWF is a black man.

DigitalGardin said:

what black people do you talk with....I've never heard any black person consider Prince a "white artist" or have issue with him playing a guitar.

another thing....I love it how people want some utopia way of thinking when it comes to race. "we are all human". of course we are all human....BUT I am a black...female...mother...etc. etc....I shouldn't be judged according to those characteristics BUT I don't want anyone to ignore them either. they make up ME. Celebrate my blackness....my feminity and my motherhood.....


We wouldn't have great artists and creative minds if they didn't speak of there experiences of culture, race, gender, sexuality, etc. what could be put on a canvas....in a song...etc.
[This message was edited Wed May 12 16:12:52 2004 by Rhondab]

im black.-uhh most black people I know think hes mixed or Puerto Rican-lol except 4 my 1 friend who really thought he was pure white itz funny 2 me like there is no such thing as light skinned black person.As an artist they look at him in a good way.Ya know all black people dont just listen 2 rap&rnb...I'll listen 2 2Pac and turn around and listen 2 Maroon5-i dont care I like music

Welp!

I'm a white girl, and I like hard core gangster rap.

Explain that one, and don't nobody tell me that I can't listen to it because I'm white. That would negate this whole entire thread.

i think it is really sad that especially in the states there seems to be still this racial division.
black - white - who cares???
this is the 21st century - get over that crap.
one of the reasons i admired prince so much because he really seemed to enforce the breakdown of racial borders.

'white, black, puerto rican - good times r rolling'
'our nose, our hair - we dont care - its all about being free'

The same as whites, unless ur colour blind!

PurpleCharm said:

oh come on now. he is obviously black, but he does look mixed. he is. he is just not bi-racial.

dealodelandron said:

No he doesn't look mixed. He looks straight up Black.

DigitalGardin said:

Just as there are a lot of whites that aren't very open minded when it comes to not limiting themselves to new music, many blacks and everyone else are the same.

Some people won't listen to anything that doesn't grab them upon first listen. Others just form their opinions based on stereotypes or false impressions about certain genres.

Prince is one of those artists that you can go back to over and over and check out things that may not have grabbed you initially.

As a black male, I grew up with a lot of diverse musical tastes, from jazz, blues, rythm & blues, soul, salsa, cumbia, native american music, bomba y plena, reggae, to samba. I was fortunate that my family is from all over so it was common for people in my family to switch from mingus to miles davis, machito to tito puente, dennis brown to marley, robert johnson to john lee hooker, chuck berry to little richard. However, I rarely listened to anything with obvious rock influences outside of santana, prince, sly, isley brothers, and parliament/funkadelic. Over the years, I've come to be interested in finding out about all kinds of groups. I started from learning more about my favorite artists and discovering who their influences were and those that they respected that and went from there. Now, I've come to appreciate a grip of rock groups past and present. Some people wonder how I come across so much because it also isn't uncommon for me to be listening to indian and arabic music as well. Although I'm still building my knowledge in those genres, I'm always looking for new things. I think that really just depends on how deep you are really into music. Plus, there are a lot of musicians in my family. This is just my opinion, but personally, I think someone's willingness to listen to and learn to appreciate all kinds of music is a testament to their understanding that music should have no boundaries.

Prince is music. Music is colorblind. It isn't black or white or blue or yellow or green. It is either good or bad. Some black people dig Prince some don't. Just like every other artist.
[This message was edited Thu May 13 7:07:36 2004 by adorable2]

KeLo07 said:

What u REALLY speak 'da' for 'the' & 'afda' for 'after' my 2 year old boy says 'da'.

Or is mean't to be cool or something ?

Plain silly really.

adorable2 said:

Unfortunatley, music is not colour blind. Have you read no lyrics recently ?

SOUL HAS NO COLOR..

NEITHER DOES LOVE OR EROTICISM.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN,

AND YOU FEEL THE HEAT

TELL ME,DO U CARE?

PurpleCharm said:

Well, he is definitely representative of many African Americans including a lot of my family. But it is obvious that he has mixed ancestry. Extremely light skin, and relatively pointy nose. Dude is paler than a lot of people that are bi-racial. What does mixed look like to you? Anyway, his mixed ancestry is obvious to me. I was just curious.

dealodelandron said:

That's just plain ignorace. Both my mother's parents are dark-skinned blacks; yet my mother is light-skinned with light brown-hazel eyes. It can and DOES happen with black people. Blacks come in ALL colors [including eye color] shapes, and sizes. Prince is black, both parents black!

DigitalGardin said:

too white? not black enough??

When will PPL understands that good music has no color, no religion, no nationality...

Godd music is just 4 enjoy... close your eyes and stop tinking PPL, start listening and feeling.

That's what I will say to any1 that comes to me with this kind of stupid statments!!

319.-

There's no such thing as race in my world. Just human beings...

Boooooring. We all bones when we dead.

LIGHT BLACK!!

Believe or not a lot of black people can't get into P, but a lot of other people can't either. I doubt a majority of black people were into Hendrix back in his day. They were probably listening to Motown just like most bros and sisters are groovin to R&B/Rap now.

PurpleCharm said:

not only that, but his hair is PERMED. as in "fried-died-and-laid-to-the-side". i've been in the same room with the man less than two feet away from him (three times, i think), and each time he looked like he was CLEARLY in need of a "touch up", especially when he starts slicking and finger waving his hair down the sides trying to make it look like BABY HAIR (i know only some of y'all know what i mean with the hair business...not trying to start anything, but not everybody gets the touch up and baby hair references).

i've been told from people that have been in his employ that the mixed italian race thing was just one of many of the tales he would weave to create a mysterious public persona, not unlike introducing mayte at all of his europan shows as a princess from a ficticious middle eastern royal family; you know just adding a lil drama to spice things up a bit, that's all

PurpleCharm said:

For your info I am black. Not mixed. Black and I don't care what you say and I ain't got to take no class for shit, Prince looks mixed to me and I don't care nothin' about your kin folks or anybody you know or Tyra Banks. He looks mixed to me and I'm saying his eyes are green-brown and I ain't trying to hear shit you talkin' about.

avatarfunk said:

laylow03 said:

Dude, you are overreacting. I am well aware of what genes can come from all kinds of different folks. Including my own. I have family all over this globe in every shade you can think of. By mixed, I do NOT mean bi-racial. Mixed is a loose term anyway. I never said both of his parents weren't black. If you had read my post, you would notice that I said he was not bi-racial. He himself has admitted to mixed ancestry. Meaning, both parents have a diverse makeup in their ethnicity.

TurnItUp said:

Y'all need to start explaining your definition of "mixed" because it would be far fetched to find ANY African Americans that aren't mixed to some extent. That is a rarity on this planet period. However, how far back is another story. "Mixed" does not necessarily mean biracial. Full blooded is practically non-existent.

We all come in different shades, hair textures, and eye color. This isn't anything new that you are saying.

dealodelandron said:

ok, dealodelandron, I know we talked about this with the Bobby Brown tread, you know the one where I said P didn't date black women. Sorry we kept talkin in circles, you were interesting though. I will explain mixed from my point of view or try to anyway.

First of all I agree with you we are mixed to some intent and I know both Prince's parents were light-skinned blacks. All I'm saying to me when I've looked at Prince through the years and even now, he looks bi-racial to me and why Purplewhoever is talkin I ain't said nothin' about all light-skinned blacks look mixed. LisaRaye doesn't look mixed or Pebbles. Halle Berry is mixed, but I view her more as black and the same for Lenny Kravitz and Shemar Moore. You're right we come in all different shades and color, but I'm still sayin' I myself, don't know of any black black people that have green, blue or anyother color other than hazel, brown, black, or grey unless they are biracial.

P looks biracial to me. I don't care what Purplewhoever is talking about. Tyra Banks got green eyes? Sheeeit! Them is contact lenses. Why you talking about taking a class, why don't take a glaucoma/cateract class, cuz you can't see worth a damn.

TurnItUp said:

You are beyond ignorant...self-hate is not very becoming...

dealodelandron said:

I read your post and I still think it's ignorant. You don't HAVE to be "mixed" in order to have green or hazel eyes. I'm not overreacting; I just think this entire thing is silly. No, it's not common for blacks to have light eyes. Sure, many African Americans have some "mixture" in them [Native American, white, and so on]. What I AM saying is that it's a fallacy to assume that just because someone "looks" light and has "light" eyes that they are mixed with something...even if they "look" mixed like Prince. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are.