Prince reveals he secretly fanboys Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West
Prince is not generous with his praise so the two rappers must be good
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amid all that moaning about it being a "bad time for music", it turns out Prince has been secretly fanboying two of 2015's biggest stars.
The legendary singer has revealed that he has been playing a lot of rappers Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West and guess what? He thinks they're really good. "Pure" and "perfect", in fact.
"He just has something he has to say. It's pure, and with Thundercat on the album? Come on. You're not taking 'Alright' off my playlist," he told Medium of Lamar's latest album To Pimp a Butterfly.
As for West, it was his sampling of Ray Charles on hit "Gold Digger" that most impressed Prince. "The way he made something new with that sample was perfect," he said.
Prince also has a lot of time for Janelle Monae ("She's gonna be president!" and Jill Scott ("Every song on that first album was the truth"), but he's keen to make sure aspiring musicians "learn from the masters".
"I played Sly Stone to Lianne La Havas and she had not ever heard him," he said. "Then she listened and was totally inspired."
Prince's next album with band 3rdEyeGirl is called HITNRUN and will be released on Tidal later this month.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments