I used that quote from the hillarious Boondocks episode in which Martin Luther King directed that comment at Usher...Ok to the point of this thread....I am listening to the new Pharrell song "Number 1" and the new Thicke song "I want to love you girl". Now I like Pharrell I like his production and the Nerd stuff...I like Thicke...but with Pharrell how does he get away with merging Prince and Michael Jackson constantly and no one utters a word? From critics to some fans I never hear a mention of it....occasionally yes but when I hear some of his stuff I expect Mike to start singing at any moment.

So my question to you all is does it bother you that some artists only claim to fame is living off MJ? Do you hold that against them in terms of respect and if you believe they are the real deal or not? I choose Pharrell cause Usher is way too obvious and Pharrell did do Justin's album and his own stuff reaks of Prince and Michael. Where does the "influenced by" stop and the blatant P-Diddy like ripoff's begin? I mean for those that heard the new Thicke song didn't you expect Thicke to start singing "U don't have 2 be beautiful 2 turn me on" it sounds like Kiss to me. Im just curious what some of you think about the MJ (or Prince or anyone really) sampling and "influence".

It's tiresome.

Most artists it's pretty obvious who they're influenced by, but it's always the best ones where they keep you guessing.

Nasty Girl = Slave 4 U
Housequake = Hollaback Girl...
Screams Of Passion = Say Something
We could do this all day...

DiscoballStallion said:

i aint seein that one at all

Moonwalkbjrain said:

Listen with your heart....

You can't help who your influenced by...
and the best artist steal from other artist rather than just borrow,
Do we get mad at Prince for his influences of Joni Mitchel, P-funk and others...
no...
So we can't get mad at artist who are influenced by him...
which happens to be alot...

But i do believe their is a definition of style, in music anyway.
A person develops their style by a merging of all their influences with hintsts with themselves into the pot...
And i agree alot of the stuff Pharrel writes is meant for MJ,
which should send a message to might, to work with them..

But you really can't blame them..
Prince and MJ were one of the artist who broke down the walls for these artist
its hard not to copy them...
Just like how MAdonna became the Paragon that all future female artist are measured up too...

they broke down the walls, so will be often imitated...

I think your really upset because theirs no Original artist around, that are breaking down walls...
and if thats the case...
its time to steer clear from pop music...
and go indie

DiscoballStallion said:

Prince is more of a genre than Michael Jackson.

The musical stylings of Pharrel Williams obviously go much beyond than just mimicking Prince's or Michael Jackson's styles, as you've also pointed on your first post. Why not give value for that alone? I'm not a fan of his work that much myself, but be realistic about it people. He's hardly a copycat of anyone if you look at his work with N.E.R.D and ALL the artists he has worked with on the whole - pinpointing individual tracks and making unjustified assumptions based on something you seem to like yourself is just making mockery of the creative process required in the act of producing music.

TonyVanDam said:

yeah anyway.

Novabreaker said:

damn, great post. couldnt have said it better!
chad and pharrell (n.e.r.d./neptunes) have written/produced more original material than most artists have in the last ten years. sure they've been influenced by the greats, so have mj and prince. u can also find many instances where u can easily hear james brown, sly stone, marvin gaye, etc. in the music of prince and mj. the neptunes/n.e.r.d. have broken alot of ground in pop, hip hop, r&b, and alternative rock. how many others over the past 10 years can you say have legitamitly covered that much ground and have been this successful? You'd be hardpressed to find any.

DiscoballStallion said:

DiscoballStallion said:

Nah, nah
It's more like...
In The Closet = Slave 4 U

and another one...
Billie Jean = In Da Club

DarlingDiana said:

I always thought that.

DarlingDiana said:

Don't hear it. Sorry.
And I'm listening with my heart too.