April 21, 2016, - 3:22 pm
Talented Prince Boycotted Israel, Contributed to Decline, Sexualization of US Culture
*** UPDATE: Prince was a fan of Islam, as I’d noted previously on this site (but forgot about – Thanks reader JeffE for reminding me). He said Islamic countries “are fun” and applauded Islam’s forcing women to wear burqas. I wonder if Darling Nikki wore a burqa. No wonder he never played Israel. ***
I have mixed feelings about the death of pop singer Prince a/k/a Prince Rogers Nelson, today at age 57. He was tremendously talented and heavily influenced American music in the ’80s and early ’90s, but he also contributed to the downward spiral of our culture. And he was apparently among the boycotters of Israel.
Growing up in the ’70s and ’80s in America, I was one of the many kids who danced and sang to Prince songs. I really only liked “Let’s Go Crazy” and “1999” (Party Like It’s 1999 . . . or 1399 for you Muslims). I wasn’t a fan of “Raspberry Beret,” “Purple Rain,” “Little Red Corvette” or his other stuff (most of which I found annoying and kinda cheesy). And I remember being grossed out by some of his lyrics and overt sexual stunts on stage at concerts, some of which would still be a big deal in our 24/7 porn Kartrashian culture decades later, today. More on that below.
It also appears that Prince was among those who abided the Jew-hating Arab Muslim boycott of Israel. He never had a concert there. I’d always thought he’d played in Tel Aviv, but I researched it, and it turns out he didn’t. In 2012, several fans raised the question on the Prince-org site about why Prince never performed in Israel, but you can’t access it as I write this. The site is down due to heavy traffic because of Prince’s death. It’s not like Prince didn’t travel worldwide to perform. He did shows all over Europe (several European tours, in fact) and in places like Australia. But no Israel. That’s gotta be a for a specific political reason, even though I can’t find any statements he ever made about Jews or Israel. But Prince was tight with open Jew-haters like Spike Lee. That probably had an influence on him and has something to do with why Prince never played Israel. Religiously, Prince was at times a Jehovah’s Witness and proselytized for the group. But I can’t believe they were down with his open displays of sexuality, some of which was outright porn.
Yes, Prince’s made many “contributions” to the further sexualization and perversion of American culture. If you don’t think Prince contributed to that, all you have to do is look at the lyrics for his hit “Darling Nikki,” which discusses a sex addict’s masturbation and sex toys. Ditto for “Nasty Girl,”the song he wrote and composed for his protege, the late Vanity of Vanity 6. The song talks about having sex on the floor of limousines, with sailors, and how many “inches” she needs (“7 inches or more”). Vanity 6 usually opened for Prince along with his other protege, Sheila E. Prince also simulated sex–oral, masturbatory, and otherwise– on stage at his concerts, as did Sheila E, who opened for him on tour and featured an oral sex simulation at many of her concerts.
From a September 1988 New York Times concert review:
The concert opened with ”Erotic City,” as Prince mimed a menage a trois with Cat and the band’s drummer, Sheila E., and there was no shortage of bump-and-grind in the next two hours of music.
Prince was a weird guy, and among the strange and disgusting things he did was this:
In 1989, Prince put out a 12-inch single called The Scandalous Sex Suite, which featured vocal contributions from Kim Basinger, including some moaning and groaning that was rumored to be taken from recordings of a sex romp between the two stars.
See, they were the original Kim Kardashian and Ray-J (who made a sex tape that made Kim and all of the Kartrashian-Jenners famous and fabulously rich). Was this really good for America?
Yeah, I know, all of this is now “tame” and “passe” and “not a big deal” now. But it was at the time, and we’re used to it now because Prince made it okay and cool.
Given all this, and Prince’s tremendous influence in putting forth fellow lascivious pop acts like Sheila E and Vanity 6 onto the music scene at the time, Prince left his mark on American culture. And not in a good way. He helped usher in the further sexualization and defining of deviance down that has brought us to the sewer point where we are today. You don’t have to be a prude to get that. But, nowadays, you’re backwards and a stick in the mud if you point this out. Open sexuality and the pornification of America–to which Prince contributed–is a fact of life. It’s not just hip anymore. It’s all too common and universal.
Maybe it’s a good thing Prince never played Israel.
Prince was a tremendously talented guy who had a great ear for music and showmanship. He was one of the original image crafters and branders in the era of MTV music video marketing. He played several instruments, and wrote and composed most of his own hits and a lot of hits for others, like one of my guilty-pleasure, cheesy faves, Sheena Easton’s “Strut.” But he also wrote her gross, sexual, and stupid “Sugar Walls.” And it’s yet another example of how he used his talents in a sleazy, lowlife way. Prince had a negative impact on America, even if most Karadashian-and-Real-Housewife-addled Americans are too stupid and IQ-challenged to notice.
Buh-bye, Prince. RIP.
Not so sure it was nice knowin’ ya.
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By the way, poor WWE wrestler and pathetically desperate porn star Chyna a/k/a Joanie Laurer, who made it hip for women to be lowlife wrestling fakers. She died, too. Yesterday at age 45. But her death is eclipsed by Prince’s.
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There’s also this about Prince:
In 2006, Prince rented a Hollywood mansion belonging to NBA player Carlos Boozer. Bad move, Booz. The latter’s former teammate Jay Williams told ESPN Radio that “Prince changed the front gate to the Prince sign … changed the master bedroom to a hair salon … changed the streaming blue waters that led to the front door to purple water,” and so on. Boozer filed a lawsuit over the unauthorized alterations.
Tags: Israel, Jews, No Prince concerts in Israel, Prince, Prince boycotted Israel, Prince Dead, Prince Dies, Prince Israel, Prince never played Israel, Prince RIP, Prince Rogers Nelson
RIP, Artist Formerly Known as Alive. What, too soon? Loved his early stuff but yeah the explicit crap was a bit much.
Sean M on April 21, 2016 at 3:41 pm