I'm just curious because this tends to happen quite a bit, and I just want to understand what's behind it. I wonder why are many artists (recently Van Hunt) who are discussed on the board are compared to Prince? Is it some automatic Princedar that comes on and you make some connection? Also, does it affect positively or negatively whether you can listen to an artist who happens to be influenced by him? Or is it just a game to see who gets annoyed first? I'd really love to hear from those who do so.

no! sheesh.

funkyslsistah said:

oh. To answer your question. I never look or expect a "Prince Influence" in anything I decide to listen to. If I hear a similarity, then fine. But what's the point. I mean why bother looking for Prince influenced artist when you can listen to the man himself? And it's definitely NOT important!

Though "MILKSHAKE" by Kelis reminds me of Purple Rain alot.
Madonna's "Take A Bow" is clearly a rip off of P Control. Just slowed down a bit.
And have you heard Jessica Simpson's rendition of "Take My Breath Away" ? They updated it to give it a more Prince sound. A lot like "Cloreen Bacon Skin".
The nerve!!!!

Supernova said:

Supernova said:

Most Definitely!

Chico319 said:

That's too much!

funkyslsistah said:

Prince doesn't even come to mind when I listen to an artist. If I hear something that sounds Prince influenced. Its just that and nothing more. I try to accept each artists' musical contributions as that of the individual(s).
The arguements that ensue around here usually come about from people making blanket statements about artists' being Prince copycats. Usually the statements are unfounded. I've noticed that almost every artist that sings in falsetto gets called a Prince wanna-be, as if Prince invented falsetto. That's just plain insulting. Also, most artists who combine more than one style of music or play more than one musical instrument get compared to Prince as if he started that. Also insulting. It seems that around here, "influenced" means something different when pertaining to Prince than it does to other artists. So many on here leave the implication that anyone influenced by Prince is trying to copy him, while being influenced by say, Stevie Wonder is just an influence. Fact is EVERY artist is influenced by other artists, but around here a lot of posters seem to lean toward crediting Prince as having a larger part in influenced artists' writings than other artists, which is total bullshit in most cases. Bottom line is in many cases, Prince gets credit for damn near everything on Prince.org. Other artists who are "influenced" are either deemed beneath him or are labeled as a "copycat". In most cases, it would seem that those labels are VERY incorrect. It does seem that for another artist to admit admiration of Prince equates itself with being a copycat around here. Sometimes it seems like many people posting don't seem to like to give credit or respect to anyone but Prince; or any merit given to an artist is given because that artist was being "Princelike". This may be because many of the posters here listen to Prince primarily. This is not the case for me, so to answer your question in one word: NO.

When I was in my teens, yes. Now I simply want to listen to music that adds a new flavor or is entertaining in its own way. When I detect a Princely sound in the work of a recent artist, I smile and move on.

The problem is, many Prince fans (for a while, myself included) tended to think that everyone was ripping off Prince. Many times, we were right. Many times still, we were wrong. Now that Prince has been around long enough that he is openly and explicitly referred to as an influence by other artists, if Prince fans say that now, others will be less inclined to believe us.

But, thankfully, there are several artists out there that are creating their own styles and sounds. In my mind, when it comes to new material, Me'Shell leads the pack by a mile. But there are others who are "doin' their own thang." Let's not drown our new flavors in Princely comparisons. It's hard, I know, but to those of you who have that inclination, let's try!!!

namepeace said:

Meshell raised the bar in the '90s alone while leaving most folks in the dust. Prince mostly treaded water.