RICK JAMES VS. PRINCE

Somebody posted this old concert poster and asked about the rumor that Prince was so good, Rick James kicked him off the tour! 😊 I lovingly remember those days, having been Blessed to see both of them live. This was my response... .........................

I heard about this early tour! Don't blame him. I've seen them both live. Prince, multiple times.

Prince was the CONSUMMATE showman. Rick James got arrested for obscenity in Tallahasse, FL and banned from coming back. I was at that concert too. I fell to my KNEES in SHOCK at Rick James' show! 😄 So lewd! But, I had a GREAT time! 🤭

This was also around the time he got in trouble for holding some girl hostage. The hotel where it allegedly happened wasnt far from where I lived. I went over to see the news vans and reporters bustling around outside! I was hoping to get a glimpse of them bringing Rick out, but he was leading a standoff, refusing to come out of the room.

Kinda exciting. But kinda boring too. Just waiting around for him to come out. Lol

And, that was the biggest difference between them, though!

Rick, as brilliant and talented as he was, was living wild and UNDISCIPLINED. Coked up and taking his talents for granted.

PRINCE, on the other hand, was MILITARISTIC about HIS show! GRUELING rehearsals, every BEAT worked out to perfection, the choreography... Prince was DISCIPLINED and CONSTANTLY worked to PERFECT his talent.

HIS show defied NATURE! It was like a ROCKET launching into space, defying gravity, and NOTHING happenstance! Every, single, second of the show, obviously the fruit of TIRELESS WORK! Even the spontaneity was the fruit of hard work becoming second nature. Prince, and his crew, were a PHENOMENON!

He didn't just rely on "shock value" to entertain. He delivered finely honed CRAFTSMANSHIP within the CONTEXT of entertainment.

BOTH Rick AND Prince were BRILLIANT though! Don't get it twisted.

I will never forget Rick James on Nightline with Dan Rather, taking on the top Exec at MTV for not allowing Black artists on. He was more masterful, brilliant, articulate, and knowledgeable than Johnny Cochran, F. Lee Bailey and Rob Kardashian put together! He left BOTH that executive AND Dan Rather near SPEECHLESS with his case against the music industry and it's historic racism against and exploitation of Black artists.

He exposed how Warner Brothers had to THREATEN to take ALL of their artists off MTV if they didn't let Michael Jackson and Prince on, who were the biggest selling artists of all time, at that time!

It was, NO DOUBT, in large part, because of Rick James' WORLD CLASS exposition of the music industry and it's INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM, presented on this top rated, "legitimate", national newscast, that Prince and MJ were subsequently allowed on MTV and the world got introduced to the iconic "Thriller" video and more. We have RICK JAMES to thank for that.

Later, Prince would launch his own strike against how the industry robs and exploits Black artists, changing his name so the label couldnt use his new music, and brandishing the word, "slave" across his face, to protest the gargantuan inequities. What made him even MORE threatening, was that he was encouraging OTHER top Black artists to do the same!

And Michael Jackson would try to even the playing field by purchasing the Beatles catalogue and purchasing controlling interests in Sony. UNHEARD of, for a Black artist, even though MANY white artists own OUR catalogues.

For instance, Mick Jagger owns the catalogue, and all the publishing rights, of JAMES BROWN. Even though James Brown FAMOUSLY detested Jagger for how he was disrespected on the Rolling Stones tour.

But THOSE types of purchases are kept quiet. White people are SUPPOSED to own Black people, right? And, almost ALL of the big time junkie Rock and Rollers, of that age, are STILL ALIVE and looking as sage as Mt. Rushmore in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Even IGGY POP, who has looked like walking death, since the EIGHTIES, is still up, out, and performing!

Hmmnn... 🤔

But, MICHAEL JACKSON turned the table!.... And, that was BLASPHEMY. How dare he upset the "natural order" of things!

So, all of them are dead now.

After fighting for his publishing for 7 years, and finally securing them, Prince was dead within 3 months.

Each time the Beatles catalog came up for renewal, Michael would get hit with another child abuse allegation. Meanwhile, that "dying cancer kid" is still alive TO THIS DAY! Trying to launch a music career!

James Brown went into the hospital in Georgia, for something totally recoverable, and never came out. He left $115 million dollars to be used to educate poor children in Georgia.

To this day, NOT ONE DIME has gone to a single kid, or even his family! Politicians and the courts have presided over it. We can only guess where the money went.

Bill Cosby was "this close" to owning controlling interest in NBC when all of these women came out of the woodwork from over twenty years ago (THIS... AFTER his son was killed after his INITIAL attempt to buy the network). Of course, that barrage of accusations derailed THAT purchase.

Sam Cooke declined an "offer" to give up the publishing to his GOSPEL music! Suffice it to say he was not killed by some chick with a broom.

And, after that Nightline episode, even as a kid, I knew Rick's days were numbered. His recklessness made it too easy to erase HIS legacy.

But I know.

I know.

EVERYBODY in the music industry has some jacked up ways. EVERY industry where the money is so big, creates a cannibalistic feast.

But they gave us everything they had and helped create the images and the soundtrack to our best memories. For that, I love and appreciate them all.

Always will. ❤️