Harlepolis said:

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

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]

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.

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.

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.

one of the things rick hated about prince was the way he treated people around him.on the fire it up tour he was not the most gracious guy you want to talk to.

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.

SoulAlive said:

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.

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.

yeah,I definitely think Rick had problems with 'Dirty Mind'.He was quoted at the time...


"You can't take Prince's music seriously.He does songs about oral sex and incest".

I also think that Rick disliked many of Prince's "pop" songs,he probably felt that Prince was selling out and not being loyal to the funk...

"He doesn't want to be black"

Wasn't Vanity fooling around with Rick before Princey caught her attention?

VenusBlingBling said: