Talk:Prince (artist)
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I'm pretty sure his Minneapolis band was "94 East", not "94 West". I've got a 94 East CD with Prince and Andre Cymone on it. Allmusic has an entry for "94 East" that links to Prince, a discography,etc. but not "94 West". Therefore I am updating the page.
"In 2003, Prince's lawyer, Londell Macmillan, confirmed his client had joined the Jehovah's Witnesses and that the star was "very committed" to them."
What the Fk? seriously? i thought the guy liked sex.
FWIW, on TAFKAP as a verbal form (change from initialism to acronym).
- TAFKAP isn't an initialism like FBI or BBC, "an unpronounced string of initial letters", because no one ever refers to him as "T-A-F-K-A-P"
- TAFKAP isn't an acronym, like radar or Interpol, "a word made from the 'high parts' of a phrase", because no one ever calls him "Tafkap" either.
It's the unphonetic "K" that is the stopper, I'd guess.
I'm pretty sure it's really just a joke a few journalists made. The true short form of "the artist formerly known as Prince" was "The Artist". Small matter, and I'm not advocating changing it back or eliminating it.Ortolan88
It probably was a joke started by journalists, but AFAIK so was "the artist formerly known as Prince" , since he himself wished to be known as the symbol. Whether "tafkap" should remain in the article or not, it is an acronym: they're not necessarily phonetic. -- Tarquin
- He is now presumably THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE....
- I always thought it was a shame that TAFKAP never played in FYROM.
I'm not sure who started "the artist" bit. We should keep looking on that one.
However, three unabridged dictionaries, Websters, Random House, and Oxford English Dictionary, all say that an acronym is a word and an initialism is not. Since an acronym is a word, it must be pronounceable. No one ever pronounced AFAIK either, as far as I know, but people aren't necessarily consistent about this. By my rule, TLA isn't an acronym either. As I said, I'm only theoretically interested, and TAFKAP can stay for whatever entertainment value it adds. Ortolan88
Everything I've read says that Prince's mother was white, but his father was not and that he identifies himself as an African-American. What source for recent change that states his mother was African-American? Ortolan88
- Ortolan88, For some reason I had the impression that she was of West Indian origin, possibly ethnically mestiza, but I admittedly can't find any sources to confirm this. Cobra libre 20:08, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
RE: 'the artist' - I recall his discussion of this on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She asked him the original of TAFKAP and he stated that it was pinned on him by the media when he changed his name to the symbol used during his period of rebellion from his record label. He liked it, and when she asked what people call him these days he said "Prince, or The Artist...or Sir. I like "The Artist."
RE: his nationality or racial origin...I changed the text to read "He is an African American" instead of "he idntifies himself as an..." When a person states what their racial origin is, it is very disrespectful to refer to them by anything else. The phrasing seemed to suggest that his choice of identification was in question or in doubt, when it is, by his own public statement, a fact. Minor change with great implications of respect. -EB-
No, racial heritage is a matter of fact, not a matter of opinion. He is not wholly of African origin, and thus to say otherwise is a lie. - Khendon 16:31 Oct 9, 2002 (UTC)
Khendon, you will note that the article (A) does not say that Prince is "wholly of African origin" but (B) mentions a white parent. What more do you want?
The Baptist Church I sometimes attend is mostly black, but some of the parishioners are very light-skinned -- and one fellow is apparently an albino. I daresay even the light-skinned and the albino think of themselves as African-American (if they are race-conscious at all). What is this focus on race about, anyway? Shall I start signing myself, "Ed Poor, who thinks he's white"? Get a grip, y'all.
--Ed Poor
The topic of personal racial identification is a new one, but one that is very imortant in a world of changing social morale. Because we are living in a time when any combination of racial backgrounds is possible, it is important that we allow people to choose their own "personal identification." As such, it is very disrespectful to not allow individuals to make that choice for themself. Feminists believe that when you deny an individual the right to define themself in this nature, you are invalidating their racial history and disrespecting them as a human person. (These ideals also extend into the concept of sexual identity, as people in the gay community struggle to define themself as "queer," "transgendered" or what have you.)
The point of this posting is to clarify why I edited the phrasing of Prince's chosen racial ID. It doesn't matter what it "sounds" like his race is to you, to me, to anyone else. The only thing that matters, in a world of respect for racial difference and integrity, is what he choses to indetify as. That, as we know, is African American. Since it seemed unacceptable to someone for it to simply say "He is an African American," (and because that person consequently changed my change because they apparently don't understand this concept,) I have put the current phrasing in the entry. -EB-
- I agree. In fact, unless someone is suggesting that Prince is not African-American -- in other words, that there is a public issue of what his "real" race is -- I think we should revert to simply saying he's African-American. --Ed Poor
- Willie Perryman, or Piano Red, and his brother, Rufus Perryman, or Speckled Red, both albinos, both pianists, were both emphatically and unmistakably African American cultural icons, to me at least. Shameful as it may seem, "this focus on race" is an important, nay, key feature of American culture and politics and should not be ignored. This is part of the heritage of the "one drop of black blood" myth. Many Americans, not at all black, or even dark, who could "pass for white" choose not to do so, and voluntarily, proudly, "identify" themselves as African American. I would love someday to meet my black cousins in Mississippi (long kept a secret from me, I was delighted when I was finally told) and find out what they think. They are descendants of my Serbian American great great grandfather.
- But then there's Johnny Otis, born Veliotis, of Greek descent, who completely identified with African Americans, and Doug Sahm who was so involved with Mexican Americans and their music that he picked up a Mexican name, Douglas Saldana. I don't know where you'd put them, but they are certainly people I admire whose cultural identifications and choices were reflected in their music. Ortolan88
Folks, please keep in mind that this dichotomization of BLACK / WHITE is largely a USA phenomenon. Many other countries and past cultures manage(d) just fine without it.
- Well, bully for you and them. This is an important part of our culture (and therefore your culture too, wherever you may be from, since our culture has exported so very well). Without the black contribution there would hardly be an American culture at all. It is also a part of our politics, deeply embedded, that we have struggled to deal with for centuries. We won't forget about it, no matter how often we are chided by anonymous remarks. Ortolan88
Sorry, that got misunderstood. I didn't mean that there weren't important contributions by people from many regions, nor that this wasn't important in US history and politics, nor to advocate forgetting any of this. I just want to emphasize that these are artificial or constructed categories rather than graven in stone. Have a good one.
- At least I left the sarcastic part out. Here is my own motto, Langston Hughes's short poem, "Motto", very African American and also very American:
- I stay cool, and dig all jive,
- That's the way I stay alive.
- My motto, as I live and learn, is
- Dig and be dug, in return.
Amen, brother. :-)
- Orto, I think what our unsigned guest meant was that in other cultures, whether someone is black or white wouldn't be seen as crucial information in an article -- the exception would be if it had some bearing on their achievements, eg, say, Nelson Mandela. -- Tarquin
- Yes. He left me a nice note, signed "Anonymous", on my talk page. That's why I put the poem in here. On the other hand, and obviously this is not the place to discuss it, there *is* racism in other countries besides ours, and there was (and is) slavery. It's just that I believe what Miles Davis said, "They ought to give every black person a medal for putting up with all that sh*t." Or, as Colin Powell put it, "When you're black, you're black all day." I'll forego my further thoughts except to say that black people have treated America much better than America has treated black people, but most of us, white and black, don't like it that way.Ortolan88
I don't think this should be in the article but I feel the need to add it somewhere. The show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue once composed the limerick
- An artist who was once known as Prince
- On the stage he would wiggle and mince
- And then, for a giggle,
- He changed his name to a squiggle
- And nobody's heard of him since
- -- User:GWO
There is nothing wrong with colorful phrasing, particularly in an article about Prince. I'm taking out "very talented" and putting back "crackerjack", defined in Webster's New Collegiate as "a person or thing of particular excellence" and in use in English since 1894. Ortolan88
Removed "Minneapolis Midget". I searched Google and found 3650 hits under the string "Minneapolis" and or "midget" and not a one included a reference to Prince. The article already gives his height and place of origin. Ortolan88
Perhaps you misspelled one of your search keys, I get distinct hits referring to The Artist when searching for Minneapolis + Midget + Prince (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=minneapolis+midget+prince) or "Minneapolis Midget" (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22minneapolis+midget%22). branko
- Okay, searched again, and found a couple, but don't you think its in bad taste? If you want to leave it in, it should be properly formatted, should be in bold and moved up to the first sentence or other discussion where his name is discussed. It still sets my teeth on edge. Ortolan88
- You're probably right, but although I could find evidence that this is a name used for Prince, I could not find any evidence of people finding the name insulting. I can imagine that they do find it insulting, but my imagination does not a Wikipedia article make. If you can rephrase it so that it is still factual, please go ahead. branko
- How would you like it if someone said you were from Minneapolis? Perhaps it is affectionate badinage. I will probably reword it a bit. None of the Google hits seemed mean, so maybe I am too sensitive.
- Incidentally, speaking of Minneapolis, I have a bet with myself that both Prince and The Replacements could probably come up with a pretty good polka on demand, since all midwestern bands that play out at all have to be able to play a polka, and they must have, in their younger years, had to do so too. That sensitive little guy, Ortolan88 22:37 Oct 29, 2002 (UTC)
The link to the symbol doesnt work. Should there be a picture of a glyph in the article itself? Logotu 17:49 19 May 2003 (UTC)
why no reference to his genuine nicknames, "the purple one" and "his royal badness"? searching google for "minneapolis midget" + prince, there was virtually nothing -- Jacob B
- Hello Jacob,
- If you know some facts about the subject, just add them to the article. There is no need to clear it here. :-) branko 16:07, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)
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Portait of the Artist?
Anyone have an uncopyrighted image of Prince that could be used on the article?
List of hits
Is it relevant to include a list of his hits? This list are UK hits, but why UK hits and not US hits, or ...
Black Album?
In 1987 Prince recorded The Black Album, a funky album whose erotically charged lyrics were considered so blatant, Prince decided not to officially release it.
I remember that the black album was withdrawn by Prince because of the car accident at the time, and the fact that he didn't want to be remembered by the hard edged funk and lyrics that this album represented. He therefor withdrew the album and released the spiritual Lovesexy (I haven't read my Per Nil(l)son history book lately :). Anyone else remember this?BFunk 14:12, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Edits.
Hey... What happened to a lot of interesting information that was in this article the last time I read it? Specifically a lot more text about the symbol. Sippan
Personal info
I read this article the other night and was surprised to not find much personal info. A lot of the article has to do with Prince's carreer but hardly any about his personal life. Weren't there two women who he was supposedly dating at the same time in some sort of polyamorous relationship? There's nothing about that. I don't know, I just thought that if someone knew something about the man, and not the artist, it would be good to include it. Dismas 03:09, 13 May 2005 (UTC)
There should be some mention of his second home in Toronto, cuz his wife is Canadian I believe. It's well documented that he lives on the Bridal Path and is known to visit a certain downtown nightclub (can't remember the name) on a regular basis. He has his own private room at the club, sometimes he's known to DJ and spin some tracks at this club. It was reported in the Toronto Star in this feature story a year or two ago. --Madchester 21:24, 2005 Jun 7 (UTC)
Date inconsistency
NPG Records listed date for The Truth (album) is inconsistent with this article. Please resolve and also update the disambiguation page The Truth. Josh Parris ✉ 03:44, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)