I listened to a podcast regarding Prince, and especially his rise in popular music with how he used technology and adjusted his musical sound. 

Anil Dash - a major Prince fan and host of a TV show - was brought onto the podcast and contributed much information. Multiple times, it was mentioned that Prince was "ahead of his time". An example was given of the song "1999", which was actually released in the year 1982. I find that kind of funny, and had never considered that before. His songs, in particular in this album, were different from the other songs of the time (i.e. new wave, early hip hop, etc). Creating these sounds from new technology/instruments could maybe be why Prince gained such popularity. 

It was discussed how Prince employed very synthetic, electronic sounds in his music. I think this is pretty apparent when one is listening to most of his music. The sound is cool, and clearly something that is different and almost futuristic. The podcast hosts mentioned that Prince used a drum machine and synthesizers, as two examples. It makes me reflect that Prince was not just a singer and dancer, but also very intelligent and musically/technologically gifted. 

The voice of Prince and this distinct sound really pushes him into the mainstream of popular music. His wall of sound and type of music are even thought to have influenced Michael Jackson, and the song thriller. I had never thought that perhaps those two artists were connected, so I found that very interesting. It is amazing how the progress of one artist can impact others and in turn, popular music as a whole. 

I am not a huge fan of Prince, but in listening to this Podcast it made me realize how many songs/albums Prince actually had. Some of his songs are very unique, which just shows his confidence as an artist, even if not all of them were huge hits. Overall, a very interesting podcast and quite informational.

PODCAST

Sloan, Nate, and Anil Dash. “Switched on Pop.” Why U Love 2 Listen 2 Prince, 22 Oct. 2019, https://open.spotify.com/?_ga=2.264972687.1827844742.1575658621-1145566277.1564276748.