Prince vs. Rick James - Who's Better

  • Thread starter Thread starter biggrome
  • Start date Start date
If you know anything about music and how it is composed, produced, and written you wouldn't even have to ask.

Prince

He is a rare talent, maybe as rare as you will ever see in your lifetime in any of the popular non classical music genres.


He has written more than 20 number 1 songs for other artists. He has produced with platinum producers, he can play and compose on every single instrument you can name (Rick James can't touch him as a mucisian) and certainly not as a guitarist if you've ever heard Prince play solo live ( I have) and it is Hendrix level.

Yeah Rick James is funklier and more entertaining in some ways and can probably sing better. Prince is more of an artist and a mucisian.

so when you use subjective terms like "better". It helps to use context to qualify.

better what?

mucisian, entertainer, producer, artist, singer?

The only place Rick beats Prince is in singing, and entertainment in a comedic sense not in a performance sense.


Prince could retire from being an artist and be a top 50 studio engineer/producer tomorrow.

Yeah, Rick is a beast and he made funkier stuff, but he didn't make "better" stuff.

Not if you look at the whole package: composition, mixing, writing, marketing, artistic and album concepts etc.

Then add that he has mastered and has done whole albums where he played every instrument from strings to horns to keys to drums, and well...........................


its not really close
 
Last edited:
haha every since i seen that video with Michael jackson and eddie murphy i just cant look at the man the same.
 
prince all the way, i loved ricks music too, dont get me wrong, but prince was and still is so original, plus he plays more instruments too, prince had more talent
 
Rick did more than play guitar. When I was searching for those YouTube vids to post, I saw Rick playing piano, bongo's all kinds of ish.

Rick influenced Prince.

I compared them because they were both black front men that played guitar and like I said... nobody today or since Prince has come out like that.... Hootie doesn't count...eventhough that dude can sing.

I don't get people saying that Prince is so far ahead of Rick. AND! I think Rick would get him on guitar.

I got another comparison, check the threads...
 
biggrome said:
Rick did more than play guitar. When I was searching for those YouTube vids to post, I saw Rick playing piano, bongo's all kinds of ish.

Rick influenced Prince.

I compared them because they were both black front men that played guitar and like I said... nobody today or since Prince has come out like that.... Hootie doesn't count...eventhough that dude can sing.

I don't get people saying that Prince is so far ahead of Rick. AND! I think Rick would get him on guitar.

I got another comparison, check the threads...
Click to expand...


No offense Rome but I think you are way off on this. if you think Rick James was princes major influence you might want to read up on it. Prince has said over and over again that his major influences were Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, and his minor influences were EWaF and Sly. I can't recall a time that he has mentioned Rick James.

Don't get me wrong, Rick James is an excellent musician but he just isn't in Princes class. James can play electric guitar.

Prince can play 12 string, classical guitars, etc. and write compositions on them or he can play by ear. James did not play acousticaly very well admittedly and was not known to be trained and can play by ear only and cannot compose. Which is what I would expect listening to him on electric (electric hides flaws very well that acoustics make the listener aware of, if you play you know what I mean)

prince is just a better musician period, and that includes the guitar. If you are saying Jasmes is better on electric guitar, then I would have to say wow, because he wasyed his talents trying to be a funk/gimmick instead of dediacting to a truly rare talent.

There are maybe only tyen guitarists living at any time I would put against Prince on electric guitar or any guitar and I never have ever considered Rick James among them. James can play the guitar, real funky and is a good guitar player. But prince? c.mon, listen to the chords he plays, those are beyond advanced, listen to the harmonics of his electric guitar set ups, people have been trying for years to match that harmonic with many different set ups.

I came up playing guitar and can tell you from listening to both of them that the kind of chords and progressions that Prince puts together on the guitar are in another league completely than James. In his solos you can hear it. James cannot go there. he is just not that advanced. Which to say you are not as advanced as Prince is on the guitar isnt exactly a slap in the face.
 
Last edited:
Sparrow - Rick James died almost 4 yrs ago. Wasn't sure you knew by the way you worded your post.
 
lee miran said:
Sparrow - Rick James died almost 4 yrs ago. Wasn't sure you knew by the way you worded your post.
Click to expand...

Yeah. LOL, I knew that. Just worded it in the terms of comparison.
 
Damn I thought you were talking about which dude hit up better women... I'm not interested in this thread anymore. :)

Although I will say I'm prolly a Prince dude by like a 51-49% Obama vs Hillary type margin but I kinda gotta co-sign what Troupe said... I mean Eddie Murphy my dudes... Eddie Damn Murphy!!! :monkey: (partying all the time)
 
Last edited:
To me it seems like Rick was a more in the moment type of artist
where as it would take Prince a long time to create what he creates.

Rick is off the cuff. Prince needs probably weeks to months to get his ish together. Put them in a studio for a day and see who would come out with the tightest song... I'd put my money on Rick.

All of the musical chord stuff aside... Rick's music had more feeling to it. You can't learn feeling.
 
all the musical stuff aside?

c'mon dude, you asked who was better, how can you now requalify that?

"feeling" is subjective, to say prince aint funky is stupid. it just is. Prince made many funky jams, for the revolution, the time, apalonia, shiela E etc.
 
Sparrow said:
all the musical stuff aside?

c'mon dude, you asked who was better, how can you now requalify that?

"feeling" is subjective, to say prince aint funky is stupid. it just is. Prince made many funky jams, for the revolution, the time, apalonia, shiela E etc.
Click to expand...

Not black people type of funky...

Not trying to requalify, there are just other intangibles that go into who's better. Feeling, singing voice, etc have to be considered.

It's all subjective, I think Rick James appeals a certain crowd more than Prince. I don't want to get too offensive so I won't steer the thread down that path.
 
People will throw stuff at me.

I think most people already know what I'm talking about...

that would be an ugly exchange.

and....

Chocolate Rain > Purple Rain

j/k
 
platinumtouch said:
No he didn't!! :bigeyes: lol
Click to expand...

I just saw that vid for the first time yesterday, lol.

I was so weirded out... I watched the whole thing. I couldn't click it off. I was waiting for the devil to jump out of dude or something.... or his head to start spinning around.

Ish was weird.....


CHHOOCCOOLATTEE RAAINNN....

It was like seeing The Exorcist for the first time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
biggrome said:
I just saw that vid for the first time yesterday, lol.

I was so weirded out... I watched the whole thing. I could click it off. I was waiting for the devil to jump out of dude or something.... or his head to start spinning around.

Ish was weird.....


CHHOOCCOOLATTEE RAAINNN....

It was like seeing The Exorcist for the first time.
Click to expand...

LMAO... come on I'm at work... don't make me laugh. lol Dude is crazy looking! lol How bout that keyboard riff!? That **** coupled with the dude, the whole **** is just disturbing. Check out the South Park episode where Zonday loses it and goes batty on the other internet celebs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQT6xNLD08Q)... as dude says "Nothing takes priority over Chocolate Rain." lol
 
platinumtouch said:
the whole **** is just disturbing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the word.

Mannn... I wouldn't hold a conversation with that dude. Imagine him talking in a normal voice to you and then bust out with CHHHOOCCOLATTE RAAINNN!! out of nowhere.

You'd bust yo azz trying to get away from dude, lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top