Purple Rain. I think Rick's hate stemmed from jealousy, and he could never tough the success that was Purple Rain.

Moonbeam said:

That is possible.

Dirty Mind & Purple Rain for sure.

He hated Dirty Mind because Prince was taking what Rick was doing with the whole "Punk Funk" thing, and did it better.

He definitely hated Purple Rain because Prince was this kid that used to open for him, and all of a sudden he's the biggest star on the Planet.

Rick could say Prince "sold out" all he wanted, but by the mid 80's Rick wound up taking from Prince too.

C'mon wit this thread, we all know Rick hated 'Dirty Mind' because Prince kicked Rick's ass every night on the tour, but Prince big-upped Rick at the Musicology concerts! There was a mutual respect over time, I'm sure.

TonyVanDam said:

From reading his book, I think Dirty Mind was Slick Rick's nightmare

God rest his soul

Harlepolis said:

yup.. he hated Prince singing about screwing his sister..

Great thread idea.

He expressed his hatred of "Dirty Mind" many times because of the song "Sister". He used that song against Prince for many years, damn near up to the day he died. I'm sure he hated the "Dirty Mind" album a lot because it was the songs from that album that changed Prince and put him on Rick's level, plus he heard the songs night after night which rubbed it in.

But I think he hated "Purple Rain" the most. For years, album after album, the two of them had been neck and neck but it was the "Purple Rain" album in which Prince totally passed him and became a huge star. Rick had similar success a few years earlier with the song "Super Freak" but nothing near the level of "Purple Rain". As far as crossover success goes though, I do have more respect for Rick moreso than Prince because even after the success of "Super Freak", he didn't let it change him. The very next album "Throwin' Down" was still straight up funk and if the pop fans didn't like it, fuck 'em. Prince, on the other hand, lost his damn mind and started trying to sound like The Beatles and drove a lot of his original fans away.

But yeah, it would definately be "Purple Rain" that Rick hated the most. He used to talk about Prince in the magazines during that era. He said the movie was a bunch of bullshit and that Prince stole yet another idea of his because he had been talking about making a movie for years. He also said he was going to make his movie and that he wouldn't look stupid riding around on a motorcycle. But you could tell he took major notice of "Purple Rain". He started wearing the ruffled shirts and continued wearing them for years. Hell, he was even buried in a ruffled shirt.

Tony, I'm glad to see you back. I hope you found a place to stay. I've been worried about you. A lot of us, myself included, are just a paycheck away from being on the streets.

Prince was probably more acceptable to the mostly white pop audience because he was lighter than Rick.

Morris Day's character in Purple Rain was probably based on Rick ... The Morris Day Character is probably a combination of Prince, Prince's Father and Rick James..

Prince was work and career kind of took-off while Rick's was ending.


YHWH is Elohim and Yahoshua is King

vainandy said:

But none of Prince's prior albums were imitations of previous releases . . . Bandwagon fans of 'Purple Rain,?' So what?

I figured that comment would ruffle some feathers.

Yeah, they left. But I know countless fans that were with him all the way back to the "I Wanna Be Your Lover" days that left also.

No, his previous albums weren't all alike but they did sound like they were recorded in the current era of the time which was the 1980s. They had a current funk sound mixed with current new wave. They didn't sound like a throwback to the Beatles and the 1960s. I'm all for a retro sound nowadays since the music scene as a whole is a bunch of bullshit. But I'm not for a retro sound when the current music scene was still good. In other words, if a party is drizzling out, yes, by all means change things and save it. But if a party is going on strong, the last thing that's needed is a change to abruptly end it.
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[Edited 12/25/09 16:50pm]

vainandy said:

Agreed

TonyVanDam said:

rick did not hate the dirty mind album at all. he respected prince's talent, he just didnt care much for his lyrical content.

jackson35 said:

It's not like Rick could talk.

He wrote a song about wanting to fuck a 17 year old when he was in his mid 30's.

TonyVanDam said:

He hated all the ones that out sold his.

Paris9748430 said:

Rick James has never been punk funk, he just called it that. All he did was take what George Clinton was doing and made it more radio-friendly. I heard lots of funk in Rick's music, but didn't hear any punk. Dirty mind and Controversy are the first and last words on Punk Funk.
Yeah Rick did P-Funk and for him the P stood for parliament.

I agree with the last poster, therat.

Rick James used some rock-elements in his music, but to call it punk-funk was mere namecalling.

On Dirty Mind and Controversy Prince went a lot further with combining rock and new-wave elements with soul and funk.

I always felt like Rick James was simply jealous of Prince, not only because of Princes succes (especially with Purple Rain), but also because Prince was simply a far better artist then him when it comes to incorporating 'white' and 'black' musical styles.

And when it comes to the negative, simplistic comment by Vainandy about Prince turning into the Beatles: I see the steps he took with ATWIAD and Parade in a very positive light.
Why should an afro-american artist limit himself to so called 'black' musical styles (soul, funk, R&B) when he feels the creative urge to make the music he wants? Its not a sell-out to the white market or something, because both ATWIAD amd Parade werent exactly 'commercial' albums. It just a matter of an artist (in this case a black one) expanding his musical horizons, just like Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder and George Clinton did before him.

Do you think a customer walks into a record store and buys an album to hear what the artist wants to hear himself? No, the customers buy the album to hear what they want to hear and when it's not what they want to hear, they drop the artist. If longtime Prince fans dropped him, it's their right because it is their money they are spending. I grew to love "Around The World In A Day" even while it was still in style. But I don't blame anyone for dropping an artist that disappoints them because it's their right to do so.
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[Edited 12/26/09 9:12am]

I find it amusing when folks assume that when black artists stick to their niche, its very limiting to their talent, but when white artists stick to theirs, its acceptable and positive Hypocrite as well if you ask me.

Why does R&B gets a very bad rap around here? I don't get it. Every GENRE out there is derived directly or indirectly to R&B,,,,if people realize this, they'll realize how silly and pointless their music snobbery is.

Yes, it's very hypocrital. Nobody criticizes groups like AC/DC or Def Leppard for not blending different genres in their music to appeal to black audiences. But you would have thought hell had frozen over when KISS, Rod Stewart, and Blondie made a disco record. Their fans were madder than hell.
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[Edited 12/26/09 11:05am]

Harlepolis said:

Yep.

vainandy said:

Yep.

FrankieDJ said:

Rick James never respected Prince as a man. He shows this during an extra interview for his episode on "Chappelle Show" that is on Chappelle's Season 2 DVD box set. Considering this, I think he resented everything regarding Prince, including all of his music. But if I had to choose, I would say Rick disliked the 1999 era the most, since that's when Prince became a bit more popular than him due to MTV.

WaterInYourBath said:

That MTV episode was a baaaaad a scene

Rick was right about MTV being racist. They didn't want to play Prince NOR MJ because it was a "rock station", but when Warner Bros and Epic threatened to pull of their rock artists videos from the station, they finally agreed to play Prince/MJ videos.

The downfall of it though was, Rick caught the end of the short stick.

Harlepolis said:

MTV may have discriminated against Black artists in the beginning, and Rick may have spoken about it, but I doubt his resentment for Prince had anything to do with that. For example, he didn't dislike MJ, who was the biggest phenomenon on that channel, and he spoke positively about Mike: http://www.vh1.com/video/...vid=208545

Prince's exposure on MTV helped him to become a cross-over star, but even if he had not been featured on that channel, his rising popularity based on his music would have still made Rick angry. I wish I could find that extra footage of Rick from Chappelle's show online somewhere. It's horrible, but comical, LOL. Rick really couldn't stand Prince's image or size for some reason.

WaterInYourBath said:

I've seen the Rick James interview from the DVD,,,I don't remember him saying anything about Prince

Harlepolis said:

It's on the special features disc (Disc 3) in the Season 2 box set. It's called the "The Rick James extended interview." It's listed here: http://www.amazon.com/Cha...776&sr=8-1

WaterInYourBath said:

Damn I had that for the longest and I don't even remember checking the special features.

Thanx for the heads up,,,,,I could just imagine what Slick Rick said

Harlepolis said:

I saw some scans from Ebony or Jet with Rick speaking out against MTV