I love that Meshell Ndegeocello is mentioned! you never see ''legends'' artist on her. I have seent hat girl live and she can play the fuck out the bass. Absolutely incredibly bass player! D couldn't touch her on his best day. She also wrote better songs than D'angelo & Lauryn Hill could dream of. But she wasn't very popular or sold a lot of albums. So she's not seen as a ''legend'' or brought up in any discussions. Whatever

Gunsnhalen said:

I love that Meshell Ndegeocello is mentioned! you never see ''legends'' artist on her. I have seent hat girl live and she can play the fuck out the bass. Absolutely incredibly bass player! D couldn't touch her on his best day. She also wrote better songs than D'angelo & Lauryn Hill could dream of. But she wasn't very popular or sold a lot of albums. So she's not seen as a ''legend'' or brought up in any discussions. Whatever

She falls in the Shuggie Otis category.

Like it or not, record sells matter. But so does talent, that's why she goes under that list.

Imagine if she didn't have talent.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Gunsnhalen said:

I love that Meshell Ndegeocello is mentioned! you never see ''legends'' artist on her. I have seent hat girl live and she can play the fuck out the bass. Absolutely incredibly bass player! D couldn't touch her on his best day. She also wrote better songs than D'angelo & Lauryn Hill could dream of. But she wasn't very popular or sold a lot of albums. So she's not seen as a ''legend'' or brought up in any discussions. Whatever

She falls in the Shuggie Otis category.

Like it or not, record sells matter. But so does talent, that's why she goes under that list.

Imagine if she didn't have talent.

Shuggie Otis is a legend, just not an icon.

So is Me'Shell. Artistically, her body of work is as good as anyone's in the last generation or so. But it is true, she hasn't sold, which diminishes her mythical claim to a mythical title. Like the other artists ducci mentioned -- and the artist at issue in this thread -- Me'Shell's sound hasn't been a good commercial fit the Hip-Hop Age. Heck, Prince would have struggled if he'd come up in the Hip-Hop Age. Prince, after all, DID struggle in the Hip-Hop age.

Being a Legend IMO is not Only about being good..

It has a lot to do with connecting with the Masses..

ie: Prince Dirty Mind.. Great artist.

Prince Puple Rain.. Legend!

Gunsnhalen said:

I love that Meshell Ndegeocello is mentioned! you never see ''legends'' artist on her. I have seent hat girl live and she can play the fuck out the bass. Absolutely incredibly bass player! D couldn't touch her on his best day. She also wrote better songs than D'angelo & Lauryn Hill could dream of. But she wasn't very popular or sold a lot of albums. So she's not seen as a ''legend'' or brought up in any discussions. Whatever

Ego101 said:

Being a Legend IMO is not Only about being good..

It has a lot to do with connecting with the Masses..

ie: Prince Dirty Mind.. Great artist.

Prince Puple Rain.. Legend!

Gunsnhalen said:

I love that Meshell Ndegeocello is mentioned! you never see ''legends'' artist on her. I have seent hat girl live and she can play the fuck out the bass. Absolutely incredibly bass player! D couldn't touch her on his best day. She also wrote better songs than D'angelo & Lauryn Hill could dream of. But she wasn't very popular or sold a lot of albums. So she's not seen as a ''legend'' or brought up in any discussions. Whatever

I think that's fair enough actuallty. I just feel D'angelo never connected to the mases. In the way that orgers think that he did. He only had 3 top 40 hits in his careeer. Unless you count him writting U Will Know. And a lot of people my age have no idea who he is. Although hipsters kind of like him nowadays. I never hear his songs on the radio, movies. TV shows etc. I never see anyone covering his stuff either. The closest he had to a ''classic'' is Untitled. But i haven't heard it on the radio in over a decade.

While Prince has When Doves Cry, 1999, Little Red Corvette, Kiss, Purple Rain, Let's Go crazy etc. Iconic songs that are still played, covered, and heard all the time.

Gunsnhalen said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Ego101 said:

Being a Legend IMO is not Only about being good..

It has a lot to do with connecting with the Masses..

ie: Prince Dirty Mind.. Great artist.

Prince Puple Rain.. Legend!

I think that's fair enough actuallty. I just feel D'angelo never connected to the mases. In the way that orgers think that he did. He only had 3 top 40 hits in his careeer. Unless you count him writting U Will Know. And a lot of people my age have no idea who he is. Although hipsters kind of like him nowadays. I never hear his songs on the radio, movies. TV shows etc. I never see anyone covering his stuff either. The closest he had to a ''classic'' is Untitled. But i haven't heard it on the radio in over a decade.

While Prince has When Doves Cry, 1999, Little Red Corvette, Kiss, Purple Rain, Let's Go crazy etc. Iconic songs that are still played, covered, and heard all the time.

I don't necessarily disagree with either of you, I'd just differ on the semantics.

I think a lot of great artists with impressive bodies of work and/or enduring influence but little or no mainstream success are legends. Muddy Waters is a legend. Robert Johnson is a legend. The list goes on.

Few legends who achieve enduring mainstream success can earn the "icon" label. Prince is one of the few who could lay a viable claim to that title. D'Angelo and so many others who can or will qualify as legends, cannot.

[Edited 12/5/14 9:03am]

Musically gifted (check)
Brilliant songsmith (um, no)
Wildly entertaining (check)
History of bizarre and strange behavior (check)

One of my favorite artists (check)
Unrepentant procrastinator (check)
3 or more groundbreaking albums ( um, no)


My opinion: he does not qualitfy for legend status.

Usher and Adam Levine just covered Untitled on The Voice.

[Edited 12/5/14 14:25pm]

Gunsnhalen said:

chriss said:

this place bore me

Why are you here then?

becuz I'm bored......

chriss said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Why are you here then?

becuz I'm bored......

Listen to D'Angelo, he'll cheer you up.

How many albums has this man put out?

legend

NOPE.

Qazz said:

D was a big deal. Mainstream press loved him. Paper, Mag, Spin, Playboy, Details, GQ etc, all did profiles on him, as well as Time and Newsweek and Rolling Stone.

scriptgirl said:

D was a big deal. Mainstream press loved him. Paper, Mag, Spin, Playboy, Details, GQ etc, all did profiles on him, as well as Time and Newsweek and Rolling Stone.

They did the same for Zac Efron and Lady GaGa are they legends too

Gunsnhalen said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Gunsnhalen said:

They did the same for Zac Efron and Lady GaGa are they legends too

Gaga will,only Zac I know is Zac Morris from Saved by the Bell.

I think she has more of a chance. In becoming a legend then D'angelo ever will. D never had the media hype she had in her prime.

Honestly you guys... what a ridiculous thing to be arguing about. Who sets the criteria for being a 'legend'? What does it even matter? At the end of the day, do you like the guy's music or not? No? Then forget about it. Yes? Then keep on enjoying. End of story.

D'Angelo is simply good. A genuine solid artist and talent.

To be considered more than that by me, he has to deliver more and demonstrate greater range and consistency.

It would also be helpful if the liner notes for his next album (if this mystical artifiact ever arrives) refrained from criticising someone who has demonstrated that in spades and whom he is clearly strongly influenced by.

It might also be helpful if he exchanged his manager, Alan Leeds, for somebody who is not a bitter old bastard

The Dude is Bad!

A Super Talented Artist!

IMO he's getting a bit too close to a Prince tribute act though-

Not Literally obviously, Just a bit too close for me..

The Moves, Songs..Band signals.. (Stop on the One! 2 times!! 3 Times!!! Good God!) ect..

Jesse, Eric Leeds, Alan Leeds, The Voodoo Liner notes..

There's a bit too much "Prince" in D'angelo for me.

OperatingThetan said:

D'Angelo is simply good. A genuine solid artist and talent.

To be considered more than that by me, he has to deliver more and demonstrate greater range and consistency.

It would also be helpful if the liner notes for his next album (if this mystical artifiact ever arrives) refrained from criticising someone who has demonstrated that in spades and whom he is clearly strongly influenced by.

Who are considered Legends to you?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Who are considered Legends to you?

An artist who has been around for many years, released more than a handful of albums and has also influenced many new artists. As much as scriptgirl stans for D, he is not a legend.

Nick715 said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

An artist who has been around for many years, released more than a handful of albums and has also influenced many new artists. As much as scriptgirl stans for D, he is not a legend.

Do they have to have all of those qualities or just at least one of them? Take someone like Jimi Hendrix, he only falls under one of those qualities. He only released three studio albums in his lifetime between 1967-1968 and was only relevant for about four years.

Big Daddy Kane and Rakim, only relevant from about 1988-1992. Unless you're counting their entire time out?

Legend (noun) - an artist, who, 15 years after their last album was released, gets debated on whether they are a legend or not on prince.org for a minimum of 146 posts.

Yes!

nd33 said:

Legend (noun) - an artist, who, 15 years after their last album was released, gets debated on whether they are a legend or not on prince.org for a minimum of 146 posts.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Nick715 said:

An artist who has been around for many years, released more than a handful of albums and has also influenced many new artists. As much as scriptgirl stans for D, he is not a legend.

Do they have to have all of those qualities or just at least one of them? Take someone like Jimi Hendrix, he only falls under one of those qualities. He only released three studio albums in his lifetime between 1967-1968 and was only relevant for about four years.

Big Daddy Kane and Rakim, only relevant from about 1988-1992. Unless you're counting their entire time out?

I feel Jimi's music impacted everone. Jimi played blues, rock, metal, country, jazz etc. And people of almost all those genres thought he was amazing. Plus he has had more posthumous albums in his career. Then D'angelo, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell combined.

I was very young when D was around. But i still remember what was big at the time. Untitled is the only song from him i ever heard get major airplay. And most of that was cause of the video. And the song didn't even reach the top 20 on billboard.

Jimi didn't have a ton of hits at the time. But his music has been overplayed for years. On rock, metal, and mixed stations. There's been literally dozens of cover albums for Jimi. And his music has been in commercials for years too.

I've never heard D in commercials. I've never heard people cover his songs. I know script mentioned he was covered on The Voice. But I've never seen him covered elsewhere. Most people in my generation either have no idea who he is. Or only know him for Untitled only. I never see people wearing D'angelo shirts. Never see his music being sampled or used in commercials. His videos don't have a ton of views on youtube.

Jimi has all of that stuff and more. And i would even say the same for Rakim. But to a lesser extent though.