Prince - Baltimore

Via USA Today:

The promised Prince track about the unrest in Baltimore has dropped on SoundCloud. The serious subject matter is juxtaposed against a bouncy, guitar-based track, recorded at the singer's Paisley Park Studios in Minnesota with a vocal assist from Eryn Allen Kane. The Purple One begins by alluding to the 1992 Ice Cube track It was a Good Day: "Nobody got in nobody's way / So I guess you could say it was a good day." The hook features Allen crooning "Baltimore," while backup singers chant, protest-style, "If there ain't no justice, then there ain't no peace." The song ends with a radio announcer breaking in to announce the 1992 Los Angeles riots (the anniversary of which just passed), making the listener wonder if things have changed at all over the last 23 years.

Proposed Copyright Law Change Could End Streaming & Downloads Of Cover Versions

Via Billboard Magazine:

On Thursday morning, the U.S. Copyright Office released a 245-page review of the music licensing regime with some bold proposals. It's not beach reading season, though, so it's understandable why the tome hasn't triggered a mass frenzy just yet. But wait! The government has just suggested a change that would make it possible for Taylor Swift not only to forbid her own works from appearing on Spotify, but stop those covering her there too. Specifically, the Copyright Office recommends that songwriters or their publishers still won't be able to stop cover songs in certain formats — presumably physical compact discs, broadcast radio and live concerts — but could stop covers from being posted on interactive (otherwise known as on-demand) sites or download sites. (The proposal might also give a non-interactive site like Pandora one advantage over Spotify.)

In 2011 famous control freak Prince declared that any covering of his songs without permission should be illegal. Prince: "That doesn't exist in any other art form, be it books, movies. There's only one version of Law & Order. There's several versions of Kiss and Purple Rain." Millions of YouTube's music clips are cover versions and its unclear if the original artist would have to take action to have them removed.

Prince Drops Lawsuits Against Fans

Prince has dropped the million-dollar lawsuits he filed against 22 fans for posting self-made concert clips to their Facebook pages and personal blogs.

Prince had only filed the original lawsuit less than 2 weeks ago ... going after 22 anonymous bloggers (for $1 mil-a-piece) who posted concert footage on Facebook and other websites without Prince's permission. But after news of the lawsuit went public ... it only took a few days before Prince decided to end his crusade on the bootleggers. TMZ has obtained legal documents filed in federal court in California to dismiss his lawsuit ... but it's without prejudice, which means he could refile the suit if he feels like it.

Was it shame or was he just told he didn't have a shot at winning?

Prince Sues 22 Fans For $1M Each Over Postings Of Self-Made Concert Clips

Prince has filed million-dollar lawsuits against 22 fans who posted self-made concert videos to their Facebook pages or personal blogs. According to the suits, these fans provided links to download their clips.

The "Purple Rain" singer filed a copyright lawsuit on 16 January in the Northern District of California, targeting 22 individuals he believes have committed "massive infringement and bootlegging" of his copyright. Prince, real name Prince Rogers Nelson, has named just two of the defendants by their real names - Dan Chodera and Karina Jindrova. The remaining 20 are referenced only as 'Doe', bar eight who are indicated by their website titles. Monikers such as PurpleKissTwo and FunkyExperienceFour suggest the content, some of which dates back to 1983, is aimed at Prince’s most dedicated fans. "Defendants rely on either Google's Blogger platform or Facebook, or both, to accomplish their unlawful activity," court papers read. "Rather than publishing lawful content to their blogs, they typically publish posts that list all the songs performed at a certain Prince live show and then provide a link to a file sharing service where unauthorized copies of the performance can be downloaded."

Prince is well-known for employing a team that scours YouTube to file take-down notices against any user that posts self-made clips from his tours. The Electronic Freedom Foundation, which advocates for the open use of the internet, recently named Prince to their "Hall Of Shame" for filing take-down notices against six-second clips on Vine.

New Prince Track With Homophobic Lyrics

Nothing else prejudicial? Here are the lyrics.

Yesterday I saw you kickin’ it with another girl
You was all wrapped up around her waist
Last time I checked, you said you left the dirty world
Well it appears that wasn’t the case
Hey, I see you undercover like the CIA
Snatching little wigs from another bouquet – that’s French
I guess a man’s only good for a rainy day
Maybe your just another bearded lady at the cabaret
I wish I never kissed your (spits in disgust) ugh
Doesn’t replace the memory

RELATED: In 2008 Prince declared his opposition to same-sex marriage and said that gays got what they deserved in Sodom and Gomorrah. From a New Yorker piece at the time: "When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, 'God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’" (Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Prince - Rock N Roll Love Affair

Last night Prince made a rare television appearance when he debuted his new single on Jimmy Kimmel Live.  Prince's last commercially released single was the 2006 flop, Fury, which did not chart. I'm not really feeling this new one.

80's Flashback

Chaka Khan, I Feel For You, 1984. Lots of folks covered this track from Prince's 1979 debut second album, including Rebbie Jackson, the Timberlake-Spears edition of the Mouseketeers, and the Pointer Sisters, whose limp 1982 version was particularly forgettable. But it was Chaka Khan who used the track to rocket out of her post-Rufus doldrums and return to the pop Top Ten for the first time since 1975's classic Sweet Thing, reaching #3 Pop, #1 UK, #1 Dance, and #1 R&B. The opening rap by Melle Mel was famously a studio mistake by producer Arif Mardin, who meant for it to appear at the break. But that mistake provided (what I've read, but cannot document for this post) the only instance of a #1 song on any major chart that begins with the name of the artist. I Feel For You also triggered a years-long run of chart-topping Prince covers by other female artists such as Sheila E, the Bangles, Sheena Easton, and Sinead O'Connor.

Prince Doesn't Even Vote

Despite Prince's anti-gay and anti-marriage equality stance revealed by New Yorker in November, now he tells the LA Times that he doesn't even vote at all because his religion forbids it.

He did not vote for Proposition 8. In fact, he didn't vote at all. "I didn't vote for Obama either," he explained. "Jehovah's Witnesses haven't voted for their whole inception." The controversy over a recent New Yorker "Talk of the Town" item, which Prince feels implied he supported the gay-marriage ban, has upset him. It's the first thing he wanted to discuss when the Web geeks had gone and we were alone. "I have friends that are gay and we study the Bible together," he said. He added that two sides fighting "only benefit the third person" who instigated the fight.

Ah, the famous "I have gay friends" line. Yeah, don't hold your breath for one of Prince's imaginary gay Jevohah's Witness pals to step forward. As a reminder, here's the bit that Prince feels was misinterpreted:

When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’”

According to this Slate article, voting is not expressly prohibited for Jehovah's Witnesses, but it is strongly discouraged. Good.

New Yorker Stands By Prince Story

I never mentioned it here (because..hello...the source was Perez Hilton), but moments after it made the news, a flack for Prince was denying his anti-gay quotes in the New Yorker, saying that the Artist Formerly Known As Interesting had been "grossly misquoted and misinterpreted."

Misinterpreted? "God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, 'Enough'." Unless that line was delivered in a foreign language, there isn't any room for misinterpretation.

Anyway, the notoriously rigorous-with-the-fact-checking New Yorker is standing by their story and manages a jab at Perez Hilton at the same time. Beginning with Prince's reference to the Bible, they say:

At the other end of the literary spectrum is PerezHilton. The publication claims an outraged source within Prince's camp accuses the New Yorker of misquoting Prince. The source also apparently claims that the New Yorker's reporter, Claire Hoffman, did not record the interview, which could make it hard to unravel what really happened. However, the New Yorker stands by its story, as a spokeswoman confirmed to Wired.com on Tuesday morning. It sounds like this Prince insider may have been doing some damage control for his client, whose views may come as a surprise to some of his fans.

Prince Comes Out (As Anti-Gay)

Ugh. I so didn't need to read this today. The Artist Formerly Known As Brilliant now says that gays got what they deserved at Sodom and Gomorrah.

Recently, Prince hosted an executive who works for Philip Anschutz, the Christian businessman whose company owns the Staples Center. “We started talking red and blue,” Prince said. “People with money—money like that—are not affected by the stock market, and they’re not freaking out over anything. They’re just watching. So here’s how it is: you’ve got the Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this.”

He pointed to a Bible. “But there’s the problem of interpretation, and you’ve got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn’t. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got blue, you’ve got the Democrats, and they’re, like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’ Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right.” When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”

The irony, it burns. The pop star who made his name on his effete, androgynous "Is he GAY or not?" persona - now he hates us. Here's a guy who made zillions on some of the most deliciously filthy music in history (Head, Sexy Motherfucker, Erotic City, Darling Nikki) who now says that "people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever" were justifiably wiped out by God. I guess it's time for US to justifiably wipe out Prince from our computers. And the next time your local gay DJ drops a Prince tune, make sure to let him know THIS story.

A lyrical flashback:

I just cant believe
All the things people say
Controversy
Am I black or white?
Am I straight or gay?
Controversy

(From New Yorker Magazine, via Good As You)