Before Prince was big, Rick James was the man

[Obtain Knowledge]

Man i got all of rick's stuff.....that nikka is one
of the Goats.

Yeah, his albums are overlooked outside of Street Songs. Rick James' music is always referred to as the classic singles off of Street Songs or "Mary Jane" but dude had a lot of other classics too:

 

[Real]

Well, of course... Prince can legitimately claim to be the greatest musician of all-time pre Trinidad James.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand there goes the thread.

Congrats.

 

[Obtain Knowledge]

Then who could forget The Mary Jane Girls, one of his groups outside of The Stone City Band:

 

[JulesWinfield]

this man was a genius.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Prince and Rick's pimp game were both
Rick would just call a chick over like it's nothing, and Prince had Vanity; Appolonia, and Electra

 

[Dafunkdoc_Unlimited]

Something most people overlook when appreciating Rick James: Dude was a DISCO artist that made some funk tracks. Really not a big deal, but I grew up listening to the dude when disco was still huge........





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[thaKEAF]

I'm waaay more of a Rick James fan than I am a Prince fan. So much of Rick's stuff if overlooked past Street Songs like someone said. Garden of Love and Cold Blooded are personal favorites.

 

[abominable1]

Rick james was that nikka....period!

 

[MBwithadream]

Well, of course... Prince can legitimately claim to be the greatest musician of all-time pre Trinidad James.

 

[cleanface coney]

my unc told me back int he days he went to Rick James concert
said the nikka came on stage on motorcycle
hopped off and a big ass joint came from the sky
said that nikka Rick took a big ass puff
blew it out and screamed

im on some serious shyt! lolol

 

[beenz]

what is the threadstarter talking about??? prince and rick james's rise to stardom was during the same time period.

 

[Danie84]

Sadly, I don't think Rick truly gets the credit he deserves. His music is the foundation of early 90s Hip-Hop and R&B.

 

[Obtain Knowledge]

I'm waaay more of a Rick James fan than I am a Prince fan. So much of Rick's stuff if overlooked past Street Songs like someone said. Garden of Love and Cold Blooded are personal favorites.

Yup!

 

[Obtain Knowledge]

what is the threadstarter talking about??? prince and rick james's rise to stardom was during the same time period.

Yeah, they both dropped their first albums the same year and even in the same month but Rick James was the break out star first, before Prince was. Prince didn't really start hitting it big up until 1982 with his 1999 album. Before that, Prince was more of just like an underground kind of artist. Prince opened up for Rick James' tour back in 1980, Rick was the headliner.

But soon after Prince started receiving a lot more attention than Rick (Prince was stealing a lot of Rick James' moves) and Rick was angry about it. But Prince didn't start becoming a cultural icon until the 1999 album when Little Red Corvette hit it big on MTV and then he became an international super star with Purple Rain. It was a wrap for the competition between him and Rick James after that.