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Forums - Music Discussion - Why Didnt Anyone Tell Me About Prince?

So Ive lived my life up to this point thinking Prince was just a falsetto guy with a guitar whos only important album was Purple Rain.

Well, I just happened to rabbit hole into his discography on Spotify the other day, and holy SHIT.

He is amazing. Like wow, im not even halfway through his works and im floored. The albums Dirty Mind and Prince are basically perfect, and those are BEFORE Purple Rain. How did this guy not reach MJ level popularity?



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MJ was just a much more talented overall performer. (and Prince was really talented) The guy is probably the best dance act of all time, had a unique, memorable voice (so did Prince) and enormous stage presence. Prince had stage presence too, but nobody ever had the kind MJ had.



Michael Jackson was on a whole different level as an artist as far as popularity was concerned, so Prince not being quite that popular doesn't really mean much. Prince still sold over 100 million albums so it's not like he wasn't massively popular as well.



I realize he was popular, but I feel like I should have known more of his stuff. I guess im just in shock of myself being so ignorant.



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Hmm, now I'm tempted to listen to some Prince.



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Prince is like Magic Johnson to MJ's Michael Jordan. Still great, but not at that same level.



contestgamer said:
Prince is like Magic Johnson to MJ's Michael Jordan. Still great, but not at that same level.

Dude I will be the first to sing MJs praises, I have a Thriller jacket, the album on vinyl, and all of his other solo stuff on cd, I even have one of those Bad 25 Pepsi cans. But heres the thing with Michael, the majority of his best songs were neither written or produced by him. Prince basically wrote and produced everything, and the production level is definitely Quincy Jones level if not better. That being said, i've only got through like 20% of his stuff so far, so who knows.

I'm not going to say he's a better artist than Michael, but I think he may be a better songwriter/producer.

 

EDIT: im aware saying that michael didnt write his best stuff will probably bite me in the butt. Im specifically referring to the Temperton tracks, but yes he definitely became more active in creation Bad and after.



Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!!!!


Bristow9091 said:

While you're at it, check out Rick Astley, he was more than a one hit wonder with a cheesy dance in stalker coat, lol.

But yeah, I actually heard a lot of Prince growing up, thought it was common to know quite a few songs by him or something to be honest.

Yeah Astley is great. Whenever You Need Somebody and Take me to Your Heart are my favorites.



Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!!!!


Arminillo said:
contestgamer said:
Prince is like Magic Johnson to MJ's Michael Jordan. Still great, but not at that same level.

Dude I will be the first to sing MJs praises, I have a Thriller jacket, the album on vinyl, and all of his other solo stuff on cd, I even have one of those Bad 25 Pepsi cans. But heres the thing with Michael, the majority of his best songs were neither written or produced by him. Prince basically wrote and produced everything, and the production level is definitely Quincy Jones level if not better. That being said, i've only got through like 20% of his stuff so far, so who knows.

I'm not going to say he's a better artist than Michael, but I think he may be a better songwriter/producer.

 

EDIT: im aware saying that michael didnt write his best stuff will probably bite me in the butt. Im specifically referring to the Temperton tracks, but yes he definitely became more active in creation Bad and after.

Not sure about producer, but Prince is probably a better song writer. MJ really isn't that great a writer. I just think the difference between them as performers is so vast that it tilts it all in MJ's favor. He was also just a lot more forward thinking and transcendent for his time. 



Michael Jackson was infamous as well as famous.  There was a lot of stuff that went into his fame, including starting out as a heavily produced child act.

Prince, in my opinion, was a much more talented individual but he didn't live the same kind of public life as MJ.  

However, don't discount Prince's popularity during the Purple Rain period.  He was massive and "When Doves Cry" was a smash.

That he also wrote a bunch of songs like Jungle Love, Nothing Compares 2 U, and Manic Monday that became big hits for other people just shows how much depth he had as an artist.