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

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.

adorable2 said:

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

TurnItUp said:

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

namepeace said:

This is as close to my own opinion as I've seen in here. Lemme just relate my experience recently talking about Andre3000 with my cousin who identifies more with Nas, Mobb Deep and Jay Z. He likes "The Love Below" a lot, and always comments in jest, about how 'that brotha is just "Off". Or, " what happened to the 'regular' dude Dre was when they first came out?" My response usually is to ask what happens to rappers when they grow up? Most don't get the chance to artistically, but when they get a few albums under their belt, see what its like outside of their own 'block'... most start seeing themselves in different ways. So to me, Dre just decided to listen to his inner vibe more and not keep it squashed in his art.

As for my cousin, I would say he's more of a 'closet Prince fan'; asks me to send him copies of all my stuff, and will play it when no one's around, but would never cop to being a fan around his more thuggish friends...unless someone else did first, lol.

Anyway, I see more of this type of attitude towards Prince from the black folk I know, where there's a respect for what he does, but its usually not cool to come out and say "I LOVE Prince's music!" for fear of looking like a punk. Someone mentioned that his music is seen as feminine, which kind of gets at the real interesting issue (IMO), which is the sensuality expressed in the music AND the persona. When DigitalGardin says she/he knows black folk who associate him with whiteness, I think its more directed to his version of masculinity. He primps, is about fashion, and has been known to wear panties and ruffles in public, lol... things that black men DON'T DO (yes I'm generalizing, but with purpose). At the same time, (and I think this was lost in the flack over OutKast's introduction at the Hall of Fame) Prince's reputation and popularity with the ladies, give him an antidote. Brothers can claim to like Prince, and then defend it with 'cuz you know he gets the honeys!', give each other a pound, and preserve their cool.

Taken another way, think about all the comedians on BET's Comic View who do the "black people don't..." routines. Prince's persona falls way outside of what's considered Black Masculinity these days... always has, but since the popular brand of hip hop glorifies the anti-sensual, hyper-(hetero)sexual, Bia Bia.. ho, etc. limited concept of manhood, there's always a point at which an average young black man, who likes Prince's music, will think twice about admitting to it in full. White guys can wear tight leather pants, tease their hair, and wear lipstick and flirt with androgeny and be cool... not "us".

That's just how things are, and it has to be dealt with on an individual basis. Prince challenges that little box we've built for ourselves, without a doubt....if you haven't seen a brother try to tiptoe around his regard for Prince, maybe you should pay closer attention to people NOT in line at PRince . Anyway... I guess I got carried away, lol... but Andre's success is making it easier for Prince to speak to young black males, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

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.

ReeseStrongnight said:

Girl, I know exactly what you talking about.... especially about the 'touch up' and 'baby hair'... I was a pre-teen when PR came out and remember being pissed that he was trying to get people to believe that he was part Italian.... I was like...no this fool ain't trying to pass himself off as bi-racial...even as a child I had enough sense to know both his parents were Black.

Prince is a light-skinned Black man that straightens his hair and looks like the average light skinned Black person...I don't know why people frontin'..that hair on his head doesn't come out straight....it comes out kinky and he chemically straightens it. I guess people have selective amnesia and suddenly don't remember the pics of P with the full 'fro.

xt1000 said:

Well I mean as far as liking it or not liking it is concerned. Of course if someone writes racially charged lyrics meant to offend or alienate than it is up to a singular person whether or not they care to listen to it. Perhaps an example of what I really meant is needed for some to catch my drift..... Living Colour in my opinion is a good band. I dig them. I am a black female. Some blacks don't dig what they do. That is their opinion. I don't feel Living Colour is doing "white music". They are doing music. I noticed how most white people in the audience was grooving with Prince to Dear Mr.Man like they didn't even notice the lyrics! You know why? Because good music brings us all together. Lyrics aside, music speaks its own language. There will always be those who write lyrics that either offend or alienate, but then I would consider that bad music not white or black just plain bad whether a black or white person writes it doesn't matter. So as far as your statement goes you just misunderstood.

PurpleCharm said:

True, many people seem to forget that. He has just been doing the perm for so long, a lot of people have selective memory or just think that because he is light-skinned, that his hair is more likely to be straight naturally.

dealodelandron said:

Yes! That's true! Prince is a straight-up brother. People forget that he has nappier hair than mine! Ahhh...brothers with perms! Only P can pull that off! LOL!

Im a black female and it has always irritated me that a lot of black people view Prince as a white artist. Just because he plays electric guitar and isnt limited musically doesnt mean he is a white artist. He is just a versatile artist. Has any other black fan on here ever gone through this too? It just makes me sick that some people think that as black people , we should only like r&b and rap music.

DigitalGardin said:

I would have to agree to a point. Older blacks remember the beginning of his career when music was much more segregated. They consider Prince to be a black artist. Prince was in the soul section of your local record store. Only black radio played his records and only the hippest whites even knew who he was until Littel Red Corvette and MTV. Black fnas from this generation have the reverence that Prince spoke of in the infamous Tavis Smiley interview that seemed to upset some of the less enlightened white fans. ON the other hand, younger black fans who are raised on the lesser quality of black music today (which is most of hip hop and dance music) see him as an older artist that plays alot of rock - almost like Lenny Kravitz. Younger blacks (those born in the 80s) have much more limited musical tastes than their parents because of the infiltration of machine-made pop music. Anyone playing a guitar - or any real instrument for that matter - is not what they were reared on. They only know a turntable, DAT, and a mic. Prince is over 40, doesnt curse or disrespect women, and plays like Hendrix - of course they will call him rock and even though rock was invented by black folks, it is still equated with white people. The sad thing is that blacks have relinquished the entire genre - much the way they did jazz - to the point that the greatest audience for it is white. Thus those aritsts that appeal to it become - for all practical purposes - white. Jimi Hendrix led a similar existence.

TurnItUp said:

I get where you are coming from. I think we are all going to have our own perceptions of what it is to have an appearance of being bi-racial or mixed with more than once ethnicity. By my own personal experiences, I would not be surprised if someone told me that LisaRaye or Pebbles were bi-racial, though I don't believe they are. Either way is not surprising. I'm not assuming that I know your experiences. I'm just saying...

You know, I actually have seen a lot of black people that have green and blue eyes that were not bi-racial. They did have recent ancestors of other ethnicities but that tended to vary. The more I travel, the more I see that. My mother's family is from Puerto Rico, and all over, you can find blacks of all shades with different hair, skin color, and eye color. In many cases, neither parent was caucasian, but had these traits. This just happens to be in the genes because so many groups have come together for several generations. To me, that is my take with African Americans as well. I've seen this with blacks in P.R., Brazil, Aruba, Guadeloupe, France, Morrocco, and Spain. I'm just speaking from experience and things I've read and seen.

dealodelandron said:

My only experience is that I am black straight up. The thing that they said about P's hair, that I never doubted. I ain't never believed he had straight natural hair. I believe he is hittin' the chemical just like me and about Tyra Banks, I just looked at her on the front cover of Ebony and it does appear that she has green eyes, I never paid attention before, but I'm still saying since her eyes are green, she must have some mixed decendent from one or both her parents or from another generation. She's black, but mixed with something else. I respect your comments.

Everybody is gonna have differences of opinions. That's why I love the org.

dealodelandron said:

Yes! That's true! Prince is a straight-up brother. People forget that he has nappier hair than mine! Ahhh...brothers with perms! Only P can pull that off! LOL!

TurnItUp said:

very true! rarely a dull day. lol.

DigitalGardin said:

I would have to agree to a point. Older blacks remember the beginning of his career when music was much more segregated. They consider Prince to be a black artist. Prince was in the soul section of your local record store. Only black radio played his records and only the hippest whites even knew who he was until Littel Red Corvette and MTV. Black fnas from this generation have the reverence that Prince spoke of in the infamous Tavis Smiley interview that seemed to upset some of the less enlightened white fans. ON the other hand, younger black fans who are raised on the lesser quality of black music today (which is most of hip hop and dance music) see him as an older artist that plays alot of rock - almost like Lenny Kravitz. Younger blacks (those born in the 80s) have much more limited musical tastes than their parents because of the infiltration of machine-made pop music. Anyone playing a guitar - or any real instrument for that matter - is not what they were reared on. They only know a turntable, DAT, and a mic. Prince is over 40, doesnt curse or disrespect women, and plays like Hendrix - of course they will call him rock and even though rock was invented by black folks, it is still equated with white people. The sad thing is that blacks have relinquished the entire genre - much the way they did jazz - to the point that the greatest audience for it is white. Thus those aritsts that appeal to it become - for all practical purposes - white. Jimi Hendrix led a similar existence.

NPGaddict said:

Interesting, but some of what you said is not true. You can't say that every Black person born in the 1980's doesn't understand good quality music.

Guess what? I was born in 1982, and my encyclopedia of musical knowledge has yet to be matched. I also have many friends within my age group whose musical tastes are pretty broad. Sure there are some that do have limited musical tases, but you can't speak for everyone of us. And I also play guitar in a ROCK band.

(I love this lil' dude. )

Also, there are many Black folks that still play Jazz and Rock & Roll. We as an entire race have not yet abandoned those styles. It's just that those styles are very popular and widely accepted to the point of where every other race is into it now.

Have you ever listened to Bad Brains? What about Marcus Miller?
[This message was edited Fri May 14 16:16:48 2004 by NWF]

NWF said:

I didnt say that every person born in the 80s didnt know good music. Read it again.

NPGaddict said:

I know what you said. You were implying that Blacks of my generation or younger don't recognize the value of musicianship, which I think is not true. And also, I don't believe that blacks have relinquished Jazz or Rock at all quite yet.

NWF said:

I didnt say that every person born in the 80s didnt know good music. Read it again. Have I heard of Bad Brains? You were born in 1982 - I going to these concerts and buying records in 1982. I also saw the beginning of Living Colour, Lenny Kravitz, the Black Rock Coalition in the 80s. I know there are blacks that support rock and jazz - I have been one of them since before you were born. But ask Wynton Marsalis what kind of career he would have if he had to rely on a majority black audience for support. Ask him what percentage of his concert audience are of color. Name the black radio stations that play jazz or rock in any prominent format. I guarantee you that any record executive will tell you that the overwhelming majority of records sold to the black community are hip hop and what passes for R&B today. That is the point I made. My commentary is not concerned with irrelevant hair splitting and the rare minority of examples that can be cited to the contrary.

I am stating the same concept that Prince does with Musicology: Prince is concerned with the disconnect f young people today and real music of the past. There is very little real music out there today in popular scene. The generation after the 80s has not grown up in an era with real music. That doesnt mean that they dont appreciate it. But the vast majority dont because they consume the music of their time - like my generation and those before. Some - but very few - will go back in histroy and seek out the origin of that music that hip hop producers sample or hear Prince and George Clinton after getting all there influences through Outkast. This would account for the youngsters at Prince concerts that were not even alive when Puirple Rain was released. But most dont do the homework and simply consume what is fed to them by the corporate music machine and this is the reason for the difference in cultural perception of Prince that the fan that started this thread spoke to.

A reasonable social commentary can never state any absolutes - just prominent and prevailing trends, observations, and conditions. That is what I did. You will agree when you get older.
[This message was edited Fri May 14 16:41:30 2004 by NPGaddict]
[This message was edited Fri May 14 16:45:57 2004 by NPGaddict]

NWF said:

I didnt say that every person born in the 80s didnt know good music. Read it again. Have I heard of Bad Brains? You were born in 1982 - I going to these concerts and buying records in 1982. I also saw the beginning of Living Colour, Lenny Kravitz, the Black Rock Coalition in the 80s. I know there are blacks that support rock and jazz - I have been one of them since before you were born. But ask Wynton Marsalis what kind of career he would have if he had to rely on a majority black audience for support. Ask him what percentage of his concert audience are of color. Name the black radio stations that play jazz or rock in any prominent format. I guarantee you that any record executive will tell you that the overwhelming majority of records sold to the black community are hip hop and what passes for R&B today. That is the point I made. My commentary is not concerned with irrelevant hair splitting and the rare minority of examples that can be cited to the contrary.

I am stating the same concept that Prince does with Musicology: Prince is concerned with the disconnect f young people today and real music of the past. There is very little real music out there today in popular scene. The generation after the 80s has not grown up in an era with real music. That doesnt mean that they dont appreciate it. But the vast majority dont because they consume the music of their time - like my generation and those before. Some - but very few - will go back in histroy and seek out the origin of that music that hip hop producers sample or hear Prince and George Clinton after getting all there influences through Outkast. This would account for the youngsters at Prince concerts that were not even alive when Puirple Rain was released. But most dont do the homework and simply consume what is fed to them by the corporate music machine and this is the reason for the difference in cultural perception of Prince that the fan that started this thread spoke to.

A reasonable social commentary can never state any absolutes - just prominent and prevailing trends, observations, and conditions. That is what I did. You will agree when you get older.

NPGaddict said:

Feeling you.