namepeace said:

NobodyUknow said:

I don't believe that....He believes his $h!t don't stink...

and he believes his hype that he's a genius...and has no

true friend to tell him his work is lame not 4 the masses and simply

not fonky....why would a so called genius listen to someone he believes

he is better than....???

True creativity does not disapate....

He just ain't ahead of the curve anymore... but... other Cat's are ahead of the curve

by standing on his shoulders....just like Prince did when standing on his music heroes shoulders.

There are not many pop musicians who can continue to crank out consistently great albums in heavy volume, with no assistance from outside producers. Prince said it best in "Don't Play Me," he feels like his only competition is himself in the past. If any artist spends a ton of time playing to himself, then eventually, their work will be impacted.

Are you trying to say Prince has had no assistance?

I think a lot of band members would beg to differ.

@ thread title

namepeace said:

NobodyUknow said:

I don't believe that....He believes his $h!t don't stink...

and he believes his hype that he's a genius...and has no

true friend to tell him his work is lame not 4 the masses and simply

not fonky....why would a so called genius listen to someone he believes

he is better than....???

True creativity does not disapate....

He just ain't ahead of the curve anymore... but... other Cat's are ahead of the curve

by standing on his shoulders....just like Prince did when standing on his music heroes shoulders.

There are not many pop musicians who can continue to crank out consistently great albums in heavy volume, with no assistance from outside producers. Prince said it best in "Don't Play Me," he feels like his only competition is himself in the past. If any artist spends a ton of time playing to himself, then eventually, their work will be impacted.

Like lil Richard said about Prince....

"a little bit of sumthin is better than a whole bunch of nuthin"

Prince has been makin a whole bunch of nuthin 4 YEARS.....

Add Ms.Badu 2 my list also.....

BlaqueKnight said:

namepeace said:

There are not many pop musicians who can continue to crank out consistently great albums in heavy volume, with no assistance from outside producers. Prince said it best in "Don't Play Me," he feels like his only competition is himself in the past. If any artist spends a ton of time playing to himself, then eventually, their work will be impacted.

Are you trying to say Prince has had no assistance?

I think a lot of band members would beg to differ.

Damn Blaque, stop being so testy.

20Ten Renders this thread obsolete

4real.

All Van Hunt CDs > 20TEN - EASILY.

NobodyUknow said:

namepeace said:

There are not many pop musicians who can continue to crank out consistently great albums in heavy volume, with no assistance from outside producers. Prince said it best in "Don't Play Me," he feels like his only competition is himself in the past. If any artist spends a ton of time playing to himself, then eventually, their work will be impacted.

Like lil Richard said about Prince....

"a little bit of sumthin is better than a whole bunch of nuthin"

Prince has been makin a whole bunch of nuthin 4 YEARS.....

Well, I can only judge by the amount of listens.

I rarely listen to Planet Earth.

I rarely listen to LotusFlow3r.

I rarely listen to Musicology.

Each of them had their moments. But 3121 was the last album I go back to consistently.

Little Richard was right.

minneapolisFunq said:

20Ten Renders this thread obsolete

4real.

I heard and listen 2 20Ten yesterday..... and it.............

SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only 1 song is descent..............

The thread is "Better prince artist than prince"

Whether you like it or not doesnt matter

20Ten has all of the stereotypical "Prince" sounds (excluding a real good guitar solo)

I cant think of any artist who comes close to imitating Purple Yoda in the current era.

This thread is 25 years late

BlaqueKnight said:

All Van Hunt CDs > 20TEN - EASILY.

Van Hunt is talented but no one is checking this brother and to be a contender you got to be out there doing your thing. Talk to us again when Mr.Hunt gets off his butt and finds a way to get his music out to the people and his still around 30 years from now.

I'm sorry but unless these artists with the exception of Janelle can come up with something as decent as "20Ten" then I wouldn't think any of them are doing Prince better than Prince. And people like Janelle, Van and Meshell are not what I would compare to Prince, they're their own artists.

laurarichardson said:

BlaqueKnight said:

All Van Hunt CDs > 20TEN - EASILY.

Van Hunt is talented but no one is checking this brother and to be a contender you got to be out there doing your thing. Talk to us again when Mr.Hunt gets off his butt and finds a way to get his music out to the people and his still around 30 years from now.

You're speaking pop star language. Real artists rarely do huge numbers. Once you create good art, it exists no matter how many people hear it. So, while you and the little fanbuch keep on trying to pretend he doesn't exist, me and the lesser numbered crowd will keep checkin' for the brotha's work, which is easy to find on this thing called the internet.

And he doesn't have to be around for 30 years to have made a good record. A good record is still a good record. Ask D'Angelo.

[Edited 7/11/10 0:49am]

Timmy84 said:

And people like Janelle, Van and Meshell are not what I would compare to Prince, they're their own artists.

Thank you. TRUTH.com in that post!

BlaqueKnight said:

laurarichardson said:

Van Hunt is talented but no one is checking this brother and to be a contender you got to be out there doing your thing. Talk to us again when Mr.Hunt gets off his butt and finds a way to get his music out to the people and his still around 30 years from now.

You're speaking pop star language. Real artists rarely do huge numbers. Once you create good art, it exists no matter how many people hear it. So, while you and the little fanbuch keep on trying to pretend he doesn't exist, me and the lesser numbered crowd will keep checkin' for the brotha's work, which is easy to find on this thing called the internet.

And he doesn't have to be around for 30 years to have made a good record. A good record is still a good record. Ask D'Angelo.

[Edited 7/11/10 0:49am]

Yes, and if P was one of the so called "real artist" you would be the first one to slam him as a bum.

In addtion, check your reading skills. I posted that I think Van Hunt is talented but let's be honest I do not see this brother out touring or promoting his music. Some one posted on this board that he was dropped because he would not go out and promote his CDs.

Say what you want to say a real artist finds a way to get the music out and keeps putting it out.

Van Hunt has a long way to go to be at P's level that is not a fanbot comment that is reality.

If you were not such a hater you would just admit it.

BlaqueKnight said:

laurarichardson said:

Van Hunt is talented but no one is checking this brother and to be a contender you got to be out there doing your thing. Talk to us again when Mr.Hunt gets off his butt and finds a way to get his music out to the people and his still around 30 years from now.

You're speaking pop star language. Real artists rarely do huge numbers. Once you create good art, it exists no matter how many people hear it. So, while you and the little fanbuch keep on trying to pretend he doesn't exist, me and the lesser numbered crowd will keep checkin' for the brotha's work, which is easy to find on this thing called the internet.

And he doesn't have to be around for 30 years to have made a good record. A good record is still a good record. Ask D'Angelo.

[Edited 7/11/10 0:49am]

Yes, and if P was one of the so called "real artist" you would be the first one to slam him as a bum.

In addtion, check your reading skills. I posted that I think Van Hunt is talented but let's be honest I do not see this brother out touring or promoting his music. Some one posted on this board that he was dropped because he would not go out and promote his CDs.

Say what you want to say a real artist finds a way to get the music out and keeps putting it out.

Van Hunt has a long way to go to be at P's level that is not a fanbot comment that is reality.

If you were not such a hater you would just admit it.

laurarichardson said:

BlaqueKnight said:

You're speaking pop star language. Real artists rarely do huge numbers. Once you create good art, it exists no matter how many people hear it. So, while you and the little fanbuch keep on trying to pretend he doesn't exist, me and the lesser numbered crowd will keep checkin' for the brotha's work, which is easy to find on this thing called the internet.

And he doesn't have to be around for 30 years to have made a good record. A good record is still a good record. Ask D'Angelo.

[Edited 7/11/10 0:49am]

Yes, and if P was one of the so called "real artist" you would be the first one to slam him as a bum.

In addtion, check your reading skills. I posted that I think Van Hunt is talented but let's be honest I do not see this brother out touring or promoting his music. Some one posted on this board that he was dropped because he would not go out and promote his CDs.

Say what you want to say a real artist finds a way to get the music out and keeps putting it out.

Van Hunt has a long way to go to be at P's level that is not a fanbot comment that is reality.

If you were not such a hater you would just admit it.

I've seen Van Hunt TWICE and I don't live anywhere near ATL where his home base is. YOU are the one who aren't checking for him and you arrogantly believe that because YOU aren't then nobody else is. Get over yourself. Van's been in the business for a long time behind the scenes producing. That takes a lot of time away from a solo career. That's like saying why doesn't Jimmy Jam have umpteen albums out? Prince was/is a POP STAR. Van Hunt is not. Why are you making career comparisons? Sheesh. The thread starter said artists making better Prince music than Prince. Well, most of these artist aren't making "Prince music" they are making their own music at their own respective paces. Not every artist is clamoring to get every note they play released every chance they get.

BlaqueKnight said:

laurarichardson said:

Yes, and if P was one of the so called "real artist" you would be the first one to slam him as a bum.

In addtion, check your reading skills. I posted that I think Van Hunt is talented but let's be honest I do not see this brother out touring or promoting his music. Some one posted on this board that he was dropped because he would not go out and promote his CDs.

Say what you want to say a real artist finds a way to get the music out and keeps putting it out.

Van Hunt has a long way to go to be at P's level that is not a fanbot comment that is reality.

If you were not such a hater you would just admit it.

I've seen Van Hunt TWICE and I don't live anywhere near ATL where his home base is. YOU are the one who aren't checking for him and you arrogantly believe that because YOU aren't then nobody else is. Get over yourself. Van's been in the business for a long time behind the scenes producing. That takes a lot of time away from a solo career. That's like saying why doesn't Jimmy Jam have umpteen albums out? Prince was/is a POP STAR. Van Hunt is not. Why are you making career comparisons? Sheesh. The thread starter said artists making better Prince music than Prince. Well, most of these artist aren't making "Prince music" they are making their own music at their own respective paces. Not every artist is clamoring to get every note they play released every chance they get.

At the expense of quality. At this rate, Prince's good ish will be outweighed by the tragic in three years.

namepeace said:

NobodyUknow said:

Like lil Richard said about Prince....

"a little bit of sumthin is better than a whole bunch of nuthin"

Prince has been makin a whole bunch of nuthin 4 YEARS.....

Well, I can only judge by the amount of listens.

I rarely listen to Planet Earth.

I rarely listen to LotusFlow3r.

I rarely listen to Musicology.

Each of them had their moments. But 3121 was the last album I go back to consistently.

Little Richard was right.

Same here.

Actually...I just dusted off my Graffiti Bridge CD (I wanted to put "We Can Funk" on my mp3 player) and I listed to the whole album from start-to-finish for the first time in over a decade. It made me appreciate the originality that seethed within him back then. Yeah the movie was a flop and the album didn't do very well, but overall you can't really get that level of originality in anything that he's done recently.

sosgemini said:

BlaqueKnight said:

I've seen Van Hunt TWICE and I don't live anywhere near ATL where his home base is. YOU are the one who aren't checking for him and you arrogantly believe that because YOU aren't then nobody else is. Get over yourself. Van's been in the business for a long time behind the scenes producing. That takes a lot of time away from a solo career. That's like saying why doesn't Jimmy Jam have umpteen albums out? Prince was/is a POP STAR. Van Hunt is not. Why are you making career comparisons? Sheesh. The thread starter said artists making better Prince music than Prince. Well, most of these artist aren't making "Prince music" they are making their own music at their own respective paces. Not every artist is clamoring to get every note they play released every chance they get.

At the expense of quality. At this rate, Prince's good ish will be outweighed by the tragic in three years.

laura, I agree with Blaque's premise. One doesn't need to sell to be considered a great artist. Hell, a "star" these days is selling albums at 1/10 the clip that the mid-level artists were selling 25 years ago. Hip-hop dominates the look and style of music which makes it harder for great musicians to get on or get over. Van Hunt can't be Prince even if he wanted to -- and he doesn't -- because the way the game is set up.

Music lovers today have no excuse not to go out and find exciting, talented artists. There's more info at their fingertips than ever before. They can support whomever they want and they're not subject to the industry machine. If an artist like Me'Shell disappears off the mainstream map, then you can follow her. Same with Van. I'm frustrated by his inability to release a record but it's hard to do it on your own. But sales matter little.

Blaque: Prince IS a pop star. He always wanted to be. But he so happened to make brilliant music and have an outstanding career. He was the best of both worlds, but hey, everyone loses their stroke eventually.

Plus, what was known as "Prince music" was likely known as "Sly music" or "Stevie music" in prior generations. They each took muiltiple genres and melded them into their own sound, and in the process, created their own voice. So I don't see the "Prince music" moniker as a comparison or a condescension towards newer artists, so much as a shorthand for a musical tradition he represents as its most visible icon.

Prince fans should understand that concept. I outgrew measuring other artists solely by Prince 2 decades ago. It's not workable, and if it were, it's kind of outdated, especially since Prince began following (trends, and his past self) as much as he led.

BlaqueKnight said:

"Prince music" they are making their own music at their own respective paces. Not every artist is clamoring to get every note they play released every chance they get. [/b]

Lol..........I'm glad that he does. I love it and he hope he keeps it coming.

PurpleJedi said:

namepeace said:

Well, I can only judge by the amount of listens.

I rarely listen to Planet Earth.

I rarely listen to LotusFlow3r.

I rarely listen to Musicology.

Each of them had their moments. But 3121 was the last album I go back to consistently.

Little Richard was right.

Same here.

Actually...I just dusted off my Graffiti Bridge CD (I wanted to put "We Can Funk" on my mp3 player) and I listed to the whole album from start-to-finish for the first time in over a decade. It made me appreciate the originality that seethed within him back then. Yeah the movie was a flop and the album didn't do very well, but overall you can't really get that level of originality in anything that he's done recently.

But you just contradicted yourself.

You have not listened to Grafitti in over a decade; being that you have not you indiccated that he was indeed original..however at this time songs like "Love Machine" "The Latest Fashion" "Release It" "New Power Generation" "Shake" did not sound too much different than anything in 1990 at the time; thus NOW you are saying in 2010 it does? Of course it does..nothing sounds like that anymore. Just like nothing today sounds like Emancipation, or The Rainbow Children, and give it some time..let the years pass..open up 3121 or Lotus Flow3r and I BET you will find those to be just as original as previous efforts.

paisleypark4 said:

PurpleJedi said:

Same here.

Actually...I just dusted off my Graffiti Bridge CD (I wanted to put "We Can Funk" on my mp3 player) and I listed to the whole album from start-to-finish for the first time in over a decade. It made me appreciate the originality that seethed within him back then. Yeah the movie was a flop and the album didn't do very well, but overall you can't really get that level of originality in anything that he's done recently.

But you just contradicted yourself.

You have not listened to Grafitti in over a decade; being that you have not you indiccated that he was indeed original..however at this time songs like "Love Machine" "The Latest Fashion" "Release It" "New Power Generation" "Shake" did not sound too much different than anything in 1990 at the time; thus NOW you are saying in 2010 it does? Of course it does..nothing sounds like that anymore. Just like nothing today sounds like Emancipation, or The Rainbow Children, and give it some time..let the years pass..open up 3121 or Lotus Flow3r and I BET you will find those to be just as original as previous efforts.

I'll disagree a little bit.

GB incorporated a lot of the sounds of that time but they it still had the DNA of the Minneapolis Sound as its base. "New Power Generation" has a new-jack feel but it's still a Prince song. "Release It" has that East Coast hip-hop hook, but with that "Irresistible B" style as well. And I don't recall any songs at that time that sounded quite like "Joy In Repetition" (an outtake, but still the standout of the whole album) or "Still Would Stand All Time."

A lot of Prince albums sound even better with time, and maybe the recent efforts will as well. In any event, each album is part of a whole with Prince fans.

paisleypark4 said:

PurpleJedi said:

Same here.

Actually...I just dusted off my Graffiti Bridge CD (I wanted to put "We Can Funk" on my mp3 player) and I listed to the whole album from start-to-finish for the first time in over a decade. It made me appreciate the originality that seethed within him back then. Yeah the movie was a flop and the album didn't do very well, but overall you can't really get that level of originality in anything that he's done recently.

But you just contradicted yourself.

You have not listened to Grafitti in over a decade; being that you have not you indiccated that he was indeed original..however at this time songs like "Love Machine" "The Latest Fashion" "Release It" "New Power Generation" "Shake" did not sound too much different than anything in 1990 at the time; thus NOW you are saying in 2010 it does? Of course it does..nothing sounds like that anymore. Just like nothing today sounds like Emancipation, or The Rainbow Children, and give it some time..let the years pass..open up 3121 or Lotus Flow3r and I BET you will find those to be just as original as previous efforts.

A applaud your enthusiasm and well... I applaud your enthusiasm.

NobodyUknow said:

I believe these Cats are doing better Prince music than Prince himself is doing of late...

1.Van Hunt

2.Maxwell

3.D'Angelo

4.Sam Bostic

5.Justin Timberlake

6.Bilal

7.Robin Thicke

There could be more....

Feel free to add 2 the list or rip mine a new 1.

How can they do "Prince music" without being Prince?

What do u expect from "Prince music"?

And what music is Prince playing when he is not doing "Prince music"?

Define "Prince music" please.

namepeace said:

paisleypark4 said:

But you just contradicted yourself.

You have not listened to Grafitti in over a decade; being that you have not you indiccated that he was indeed original..however at this time songs like "Love Machine" "The Latest Fashion" "Release It" "New Power Generation" "Shake" did not sound too much different than anything in 1990 at the time; thus NOW you are saying in 2010 it does? Of course it does..nothing sounds like that anymore. Just like nothing today sounds like Emancipation, or The Rainbow Children, and give it some time..let the years pass..open up 3121 or Lotus Flow3r and I BET you will find those to be just as original as previous efforts.

I'll disagree a little bit.

GB incorporated a lot of the sounds of that time but they it still had the DNA of the Minneapolis Sound as its base. "New Power Generation" has a new-jack feel but it's still a Prince song. "Release It" has that East Coast hip-hop hook, but with that "Irresistible B" style as well. And I don't recall any songs at that time that sounded quite like "Joy In Repetition" (an outtake, but still the standout of the whole album) or "Still Would Stand All Time."

A lot of Prince albums sound even better with time, and maybe the recent efforts will as well. In any event, each album is part of a whole with Prince fans.

namepeace said:

paisleypark4 said:

But you just contradicted yourself.

You have not listened to Grafitti in over a decade; being that you have not you indiccated that he was indeed original..however at this time songs like "Love Machine" "The Latest Fashion" "Release It" "New Power Generation" "Shake" did not sound too much different than anything in 1990 at the time; thus NOW you are saying in 2010 it does? Of course it does..nothing sounds like that anymore. Just like nothing today sounds like Emancipation, or The Rainbow Children, and give it some time..let the years pass..open up 3121 or Lotus Flow3r and I BET you will find those to be just as original as previous efforts.

I'll disagree a little bit.

GB incorporated a lot of the sounds of that time but they it still had the DNA of the Minneapolis Sound as its base. "New Power Generation" has a new-jack feel but it's still a Prince song. "Release It" has that East Coast hip-hop hook, but with that "Irresistible B" style as well. And I don't recall any songs at that time that sounded quite like "Joy In Repetition" (an outtake, but still the standout of the whole album) or "Still Would Stand All Time."

A lot of Prince albums sound even better with time, and maybe the recent efforts will as well. In any event, each album is part of a whole with Prince fans.

Actually, I'll disagree ALOT.

GB was by no stretch of the imagination a masterpiece, but it was NOT another C&C Music Factory or Teddy Riley clone. The album

Of course the album had fluff ("Love Machine") and as Namepeace mentioned, there is "feel" to the music of the time, but overall it was still a uniquely "Prince" album & as a whole was generally still too "weird" to garner favor with the teens of the time. It had that "Prince" sound at its very core, most especially with the ones that were UNMISTAKENLY "Prince" songs ("The Question of U", "Joy In Repetition", "Tick, Tick, Bang!").

What song do you think on 20TEN could fall into the latter category???

Philly76 said:

NobodyUknow said:

I believe these Cats are doing better Prince music than Prince himself is doing of late...

1.Van Hunt

2.Maxwell

3.D'Angelo

4.Sam Bostic

5.Justin Timberlake

6.Bilal

7.Robin Thicke

There could be more....

Feel free to add 2 the list or rip mine a new 1.

How can they do "Prince music" without being Prince?

What do u expect from "Prince music"?

And what music is Prince playing when he is not doing "Prince music"?

Define "Prince music" please.

I'll take a shot, while (somewhat) playing 's Advocate.

"Prince music" is sui generis, but only because he bent numerous sounds and influences to shape his own work, and because it has had such a notable commercial and creative impact. Not counting his associated artists over the years, other artists have copied his sound, so other artists play or have played Prince music. A lot of people can disagree on the scope and breadth of that impact, but that is indisputable.

Now, there are a lot of different strands to the DNA of "Prince music" but there is such a sound. In the sense that what Prince does is a genre to itself, Prince always plays Prince music, but not all Prince music is created equal any more than all jazz, blues, soul or rock is created equal.

Alternatively, "Prince music" can be described, somewhat inaccurately as a general process of that synthesizing disparate styles/genres of music into a cohesive work or body of work. Prince is the most identifiable (and arguably most successful) modern icon for this process, but "Prince music" in this respect could easily be called "Sly music" or "Stevie music" or fill in the blank with any other suitable artist. A lot of newer and/or lesser-known artists fall into this tradition as well (Me'Shell, Van Hunt, Beck, et cetera).

"Prince Music" can be identified specifically with its namesake, or more generally, with a musical tradition.

D'Angelo? Don't make me fucking laugh. He has only released about three memorable songs. People hardly know who he is in Europe. You can't accord him that status with only two albums released. It has nothing to do with quality: D'Angelo has not released material because he turned into a fat Junkie. 'Voodoo' is a good album, but he does not have the range of Prince. As to whether D'Angelo can have a 'legendary' career remains to be seen.

I'm suprised no one has mentioned 'Plantlife'. They are the closest to Prince's funk I've heard in awhile.

Van Hunt, Andre 3000 etc are all brilliant Artists but have no real relation to Prince. They don't have the genres from rock, funk, jazz, pop, soul etc. Most, if any, are not multi-instrumentalists. me'shell is the closet.

Remember, also, that Prince is 53. Prince has spent 30 years recording. He is not going to make another 'Dirty Mind' in his 50's.

Will any of these Artists still be recording and touring in 30 years time?

[Edited 7/13/10 15:49pm]

OperatingThetan said:

D'Angelo? Don't make me fucking laugh. He has only released about three memorable songs. People hardly know who he is in Europe. You can't accord him that status with only two albums released. It has nothing to do with quality: D'Angelo has not released material because he turned into a fat Junkie. 'Voodoo' is a good album, but he does not have the range of Prince. As to whether D'Angelo can have a 'legendary' career remains to be seen.

I'm suprised no one has mentioned 'Plantlife'. They are the closest to Prince's funk I've heard in awhile.

Van Hunt, Andre 3000 etc are all brilliant Artists but have no real relation to Prince. They don't have the genres from rock, funk, jazz, pop, soul etc. Most, if any, are not multi-instrumentalists. me'shell is the closet.

Remember, also, that Prince is 53. Prince has spent 30 years recording. He is not going to make another 'Dirty Mind' in his 50's.

Will any of these Artists still be recording and touring in 30 years time?

[Edited 7/13/10 15:49pm]

The jury's out on D'Angelo and that's on him.

Granted, early in his career, Prince never had to contend with the music industry as it exists now. And some of these artists have indeed been in label purgatory for long stretches of time. But at some point, they have to be responsible for their own careers and output. Some of them have acted more like Sade than Prince, showing up once every 8 to 10 years with a legit album. The greats have been far more prolific than that.