28/07/2022
On July 25th, 2020, I did my first Twitch stream with a Prince vs. Michael set.
On July 25th, 2022, my streaming computer called it quits, thereby ending my stream career.
Meanwhile in 2020, I was doing one of those Facebook 10 album challenges. July 26ths submission was a tie between Michaelâs Dangerous and History Disc 2. Two years ago on this day, the submission was Princeâs Musicology. Check out why below.
I was nominated by David Rowan for the 10 Day Album Challenge.
No explanations, no reviews, just the cover art. 10 Day challenge of albums that have influenced me.....yeah, except I am going to do explanations/reviews because that's who I am and that should be the fun of this!
3) Musicology - Prince
The return of Prince, but don't call it a comeback. We know he hadn't gone anywhere. On the contrary, during the previous 8 years under his famous Love Symbol moniker, a.k.a The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, he remained just as active, likely more than any other artist, releasing 8 studio albums, 2 live albums, 2 special edition albums, and 12...count 'em...12 internet albums. Now, Prince was finally able to release a studio album under his own name.
At the time, Prince faced a lot of scrutiny, as the masses didn't understand that he wasn't being some weird artist using a symbol for his name, or some ego-maniac by calling himself The Artist. He legally could not work under his own name! This period of the 90's was one of increased battles between artists and record companies. Artists were tired of being "slaves" to the record companies, and not receiving anywhere near a fair share of the proceeds from their creative work or freedom of choice. Prince had been a leader of this charge, and a vocal one, for a number of years against his label, Warner Bros. It resulted in a brave step, deciding that he would not complete his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. Furthermore, he refused to buy out of his contract. And so, for the coming years, he could not be Prince, as Warner Bros. owned his name. Talk about successful re-branding and building! Currently, artists everywhere are struggling to figure out how to continue working in the current climate. 20+ years ago, Prince figured out how to adapt better than anyone else. Hell, dude figured out how to release internet albums before internet albums were a thing! The artistry and business sense that this guy had is out of this world. BUT, that's a whole other story. Prince is Prince again and he releases Musicology, and what an album!
Everything about this album symbolizes his return as Prince. The title, Musicology, is a bold statement. 26 years into his career with FORTY ONE cross platform/cross genre albums under his belt, he's the authority on music. As a funk based album, he returns to his Prince roots, with odes to the greats. He also throws historical shade, including a bad ass MJ dis, "My voice is gettin' higher, and I ain't neva had my nose done". He runs the gamut of everything that he had become famous for: funk, rock, soul, swagger, party, politically/socially conscious lyrics, and guitar heavy tracks. He runs three tracks together, almost as a medley, as had become expected from his live shows. Then, he wraps the whole album up with Reflection. A beautiful, acoustic love ode to reminiscence, it is not only a sweet song of growing relationships, it is an allegory to a prolific career with humble beginnings, transitions, and foreshadowing. "Still, it's nice to know that when our bodies wear out, we can get another."
If you've been following my posts of late and tuned in on Saturday night, you know we've been celebrating the historic battle of Prince vs. Michael Jackson. Of course, I love these two artists equally, and in many ways, they cannot be compared. If I had to choose, though, Prince would be my favourite artist. We can debate the skills, influence, impact, etc of who is the greatest pop/music artist until the cows come home. I think it is unquestionable, however, that Prince is the most prolific artist of our time, and perhaps of all time. With a 38 year career consisting of 39 studio albums, 5 live albums, 9 compilation albums, 17 video albums, 13 internet albums, 6 special edition albums, 2 Madhouse albums, 3 NPG albums, 1 NPG orchestra album, and countless writing and producing credits, all crossing genres from funk to rock to soul to r&b to jazz to orchestral to hip hop to new jack and so on, it will be a looooonng time before Prince is matched by another.
It was insanely difficult picking a Prince album to highlight here. All of them have served as an influence to me. But just as Musicology was his symbolic return, it served as a revitalization of my love for Prince, sending me back through the years and confirming he is the greatest for me. If you want to rediscover a love for Prince, or introduce someone to him, try Musicology. The first track and final track alone offer a fair scope of the album. Listen to them below. When I'm DJing cocktail parties, lounge events, funk parties, I always play the song Musicology. No other song gets people of all lifestyles bopping and moving like this one does instantly. None! One of my favourite observations at a wedding was to this song. But that's a story for another day.
Musicology:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zILabWVdIMs
Reflection:
youtube.com/watch?v=yza5PjjfmUo