jun 19
2009

Purple Rain Created Hip-Hop

"Purple Rain really started hip-hop culture, whether the historians want to view it that way or not. You have Prince himself, a very unusual-looking figure, five feet tall -- pretty much anybody considered a musical genius in hip-hop has some sort of odd physical feature, i.e., Biggie's lazy eye. And then the whole idea of beefs -- Prince and Morris. Morris' whole pimp attitude, that was something you didn't hear since the blaxploitation films of the early '70s. Prince sang about sex and he worked with drum machines."

That's ?uestlove in this month's Spin cover story, which is an oral history on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Purple Rain.
7 comments

Talking of Hip-Hop and Prince ...<br /><br /> http://www.moovmnt.com/2008/09/09/black-milk-music-from-the-color-purple-beattape/

posted by Rich at 2009-06-19 20:26:43

In mspmag this month, Rob Nelson has a pretty good essay on WBros making Prince appear "straight" in Purple Rain.

posted by Stevemarsh at 2009-06-20 16:04:10

Remember <a href="http://blog.92y.org/index.php/weblog/item/q_tip_swears_its_just_his_allergies/" target="_blank">that jam session</a> at 92YTribeca with ?uestlove and Q-Tip? <br /><br /> <br /><br /> Which reminds me, Paul F. Tompkins and Janeane Garafolo <a href="http://blog.92y.org/index.php/weblog/item/what_you_missed_92ytribeca_comedy_below_canal/" target="_blank">were bantering about on stage last week</a> for Comedy Below Canal when Janeane mentioned she was at Bonnaroo being interviewed for something with SPIN magazine. Which prompted Paul to ask, incredulous: Does that thing still exist?"<br /><br /> <br /><br />

posted by paolo mastrangelo at 2009-06-21 02:45:21

I remember singing to this song back in the 80's. For the kids too young to remember here it is:<br /><br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8fjo9JYrjc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8fjo9JYrjc</a>

posted by Dax at 2009-06-21 22:22:06

...while those big poseurs Run DMC and LL Cool J were pulling on their sweater vests and harmonizing. MC Prince ftw!

posted by Eric at 2009-06-22 00:07:44

And here iTunes was trying to tell me it was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five...

posted by Chad at 2009-06-22 10:56:50

You Must Hear This: Prince's 'Purple Rain'<br /><br /> from All Things Considered today.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105669291<br /><br /> <br /><br />

posted by Badasstronaut at 2009-06-23 00:54:19