DANTRIFICATION

Dan Charnas on IllDoctrine.com

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:41:45 PDT

Jay interviewed me for his second piece on Asher Roth. Check it here:

You can watch his first piece here.

White Devil Becomes White Angel - Tony D. R.I.P. (1966-2009)

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:58:13 PDT

Very few white boys in hip-hop could make the Black heads say, "Damn!"

Rick Rubin did it. Eminem could too. And so could the producer Tony D.

I still have clear memories of that day, 20 years ago, when my roommate Paul incessantly imitated a song he heard on Red Alert's radio show, a song that mashed-up lyrics from Rakim and Chuck D. for the chorus:

Back to the lab/Know what I mean?
Back to the lab/Bazooka, the scheme!

That was Tony D.

There were two Tony D's back in the day, actually. It was very confusing. One Tony D. was MC Serch's partner in the record label Idlers (as in "Tony Dick gets the gas face"). Idlers, of course, was the record label that brought us the Jungle Brothers.

The other Tony D. was Anthony Depula, of Trenton, New Jersey. This was the Tony D. over whom my roommate Paul gushed; the Tony D. I would soon meet when I started working for Profile Records, the home of Run-D.M.C., Rob Base, Special Ed; the Tony D. who brought the world YZ and Poor Righteous Teachers; and the Tony D. who died this past weekend when his car rolled off a roadside in New Jersey. Tony wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and he broke his neck. He was 42, and had a wife and two daughters.

I was, 20 years ago, a very serious little man about hip-hop when Profile Records' president Cory Robbins plucked me out of the mailroom to do radio promotion and write artist bios. Poor Righteous Teachers, three young Five Percenters from Trenton, were the first group I promoted. I took all of this so seriously that I created a glossary of all the terms they used — some from the Five Percent Nation, some Trentonian, others from outer space — and distributed it to national media. Their records were incredible: Red Alert had been running their first record, "Time To Say Peace,"; and their new single, "Rock Dis Funky Joint," was bananas.

So it came as a surprise to me when their producer walked into my office for the first time: 200 pounds of beefy Italian-American, with a stringy mustache, pointy goatee and greasy long hair topped with a baseball cap. Tony was gregarious, in constant motion for a heavy guy, always with a huge smirk on his face. How did a bona-fide, self-admitted greaseball become the producer of Afrocentric, militant Muslim hip-hop artists like PRT and YZ? The way Tony put it was that since he was Sicilian, he was "33 1/3 percent Original Man" anyway. That, he claimed, was his hip-hop pass.

But the real reason was that Tony D. was dope. His beats were always crisp and clean in a way that he himself wasn't. Tony D. achieved something that most hip-hop producers never do: His beats sounded like he made them. It's hard to describe his signature sound. Maybe it was the little after-bounce he gave to his kick drums. Or perhaps it was his collage-art choruses pieced together from two, three, or more different sources:

"Rock dat!" "Funky..." "Joint, joint, joint"

We hung out during the video shoot for "Rock Dis Funky Joint," and I got that record played across the country, from Kiss FM in New York to KDAY in L.A. The hit record made Tony D.'s personal plans possible, and Tony D. landed a solo deal with 4th & Broadway. Yeah, Tony D., a/k/a Harvee Wallbanger, was a rapper, too — sort of a cross between Kool Keith and Dom DeLuise. He was naturally funny guy, so entertaining that Cory Robbins took a throwaway Poor Righteous Teachers song on which Tony made a cameo, and placed it at the beginning of their album. Wise Intelligent, the group's leader, may not have thought much of Tony's lyrical abilities ("rock some of that rubbish you be writing"). But the white devil could sure make a beat.

Tony D. handled being the devil with great aplomb. He was a ball-buster himself, so he didn't get too bent out of shape when you busted his. I once told Tony, always rapping even when nobody invited him to, that I "wanted to sign his breath." Tony took it like a champ.

An amusing truth about white boys in hip-hop is that, often, we tried to outdo each other in games of "Blacker than Thou ." That's probably why Tony D. and Serch never got along, despite my failed attempt once, at Irving Plaza, to get them to talk. They ended up fighting.

After I left Profile and went to work for Rick Rubin at Def American, I tried to involve Tony D. in anything major that I did. I signed one of his groups, the seriously misnamed Blaque Spurm, for its seriously talented MC, Bobbie Fine. When I retreated from hip-hop for a while, resuming the writing career I started many years back at The Source, I lost touch with Tony.

We got re-acquainted when I began writing my book on the history of the hip-hop business. Tony D. was still living in Trenton, still making beats, still managed by Kevon Glickman, the former counsel for Ruffhouse Records. Just over a year ago, I made plans to interview them both for the book. I was supposed to drive down from New York, pick Tony up in Trenton, and then drive us both to Philly to meet Kevon. Tony had to cancel at the last minute.

"I have to watch my daughter," he said. That was the last time we spoke.

Perhaps Tony D. could have been bigger if he had left Trenton behind. But then again, Tony D. knew who he was. Italian, Sicilian, American, Jersey boy, white boy, DJ, rapper, beat-maker, husband, father. How many of us are that secure? Tony D. may have been a devil to some, but I'm pretty sure Black Jesus is saying "Daaaaaayyum!" courtesy of his rotund new archangel. Trenton makes, God takes.

Tony, at last, has gone back to the Lab.

Know what I mean?

2:00 a.m., Harlem

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:05:15 PST

Still noises of celebration in the streets...

Good Night, and God Bless America.

Tonight, she deserves those blessings.

A Nation Changed, A Nation Unchanged

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:14:06 PST

From my piece in NewsOne:

The election of the first Black president of the United States is not the end of white supremacy in America.

But it is the beginning of the end.

America was founded upon the very idea of the white man reigning. America was conceived by conquering, colonial, Christian Europeans. They vanquished the continent’s native population, and enslaved Africans to build their nation.

But America’s independence was won by men who talked of Freedom. The result: America was born with two opposing Manifest Destinies. One was the desire to build a new empire for the European on emptied land. The other was the ideal of a new nation where all Men are free.

The entirety of American history is the result of this split personality, the two sides trying to reconcile themselves — from the 3/5ths Clause in the Constitution, to the Civil War, to the Civil Rights movement. These conflicts were the direct result of the presence of Black people in America, a constant reminder to the white man that his ideals meant nothing if he did not pursue them to their logical end. Every election since then has been a referendum on where we lean on this question: Are we a patriarchal, white, Christian nation? Or are we a multicultural democracy?

For the past two presidential elections, the contest between these two ideas was so close that small acts of fraud kept power in the hands of the party that most represents the interests of the patriarchy. For eight years, the Republicans squandered our treasure on missions to expanding American supremacy against foreign and domestic foes both real and imagined. Faced with the prospect of four more years of war and financial ruin, the American electorate chose overwhelmingly tonight to reject American triumphalism and replace it with American realism.

The Republicans lost for the same reason that all patriarchies eventually lose. The rule of the privileged creates corruption and greed. Corruption and greed inevitably produce ideas so foolish and breed people so incompetent that they burn their own house down. It took just eight years for the idiot son to destroy everything his fathers had built.

The Democrats won for the same reason that all democracies eventually win, by including and inspiring all people. The Democrats, after decades of paying lip-service to Black Americans and taking the Black vote for granted, finally yielded to a powerful candidate who represented Black folks’ interests — not just for who he is but for what he believes. But in so doing, the Democrats tapped into something they never expected: A new generation of young whites who wanted to close the chapter on America’s racist past and be a part of America’s multicultural future.

Obama or not, we are all going there. But the road will not be easy. The Klu Klux Klan of old may not be marching in the streets, but the forces of white supremacy are still very much here. Some of them are skinheads and militiamen with guns and explosives. Others are corporate men who seek to preserve their financial and skin privilege through the power of their money; through their ability to hire, or not hire. Still others are politicians who will use this opportunity to claim that racism no longer exists, and that its remedies should be withdrawn. Right now, these people are all cornered. And a cornered animal is the most dangerous. There will likely be decades of struggle as the political pendulum swings back and forth, as the former powers-that-be adjust to the new philosophical and demographic reality. Some of our foes will go quietly. Others will not. But go they will. Hopefully, the Secret Service will do its job. We must also do ours. Stay vigilant.

Obama’s ascendance to the nation’s highest office will open horizons and create higher aspirations for Black Americans. A Black family will now occupy the same White House from which Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. But a Black Camelot will not immediately heal our country’s split personality, and certainly will not change the facts on the ground for many Black Americans — still the poorest, still without good schools, without decent housing, without health or child care, still without fulfilling jobs that pay a living wage. Even if president-elect Obama is everything we hope he is, it will take more terms than he could legally fill to put all Americans on an equal footing.

Tonight, we are a country changed, and we are a country unchanged.

Tomorrow, America takes her first steps toward her true Manifest Destiny, the multicultural democracy.

I might vote Republican. Sike.

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:26:24 PDT

If the Republicans truly were who they said they were, I might vote Republican.

If the Republicans were truly fiscally responsible, they might have my vote. It’s good to spend less than you make. But the past three Republican administrations have presided over the biggest expansion of debt in U.S. history.

If the Republicans were truly for lower taxes, they might have my vote. But the taxes they lower are for businesses and the ultra rich. Folks who make 50 grand a year lose a third of their salary, so someone who makes a million a year can save 100 grand.

If the Republicans were truly for a strong defense, they might have my vote. But the Republican wars seem to make us weaker. Their bungling of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq give me absolutely no confidence.

If the Republicans truly took our enemies seriously, they might have my vote. But instead of using covert operations and espionage that might create real intelligence about terrorists, they launch full-scale invasions of countries that have nothing to do with terrorism.

If the Republicans were truly tough, they might have my vote. But the Republicans of today are not about being tough. They are about looking tough.

If the Republicans were truly for free markets, they might have my vote. But “free markets” under Republican rule mean handouts for the rich, not the poor.

If the Republicans were truly for liberty and individual responsibility, they might have my vote. But while Republicans don’t want the government telling them where to send their kids to school, they have no problem telling women what to do with their bodies, or censoring what people should watch, hear and read.

If the Republicans were truly for Christian ethics, morality and spirituality, they might have my vote... and I’m Jewish. But so many Republicans vote for policies that are the antithesis of the teachings of Jesus, who called for stewardship of the land, loving your neighbor, and turning the other cheek. Remember, Jesus defended the whore, and despised the money-changers.

If the Republicans were truly the party of Lincoln, they might have my vote. But not since Eisenhower sent troops to Central High in Little Rock have the Republicans been on the side of African-Americans.

So what are the Republicans truly about? They’re not about the lofty ideals of fiscal responsibility, free markets and morality. Republicans are about preserving privilege. For well-off Americans and big business, Republicans promise that no one will share their wealth. And for the white working class, Republicans promise that they will not have to share power with anyone who doesn’t think like them, or look like them.

The Republicans of today are an alliance of the wealthy and the scared. The wealthy get the scared to vote with them by appealing to their fears. That’s all.

One day, if the Republicans do become a party of preserving values instead of privilege, they might have my vote. We might have a true choice. But today, we have no choice. The Democrats, for better or for worse, are the only party who come close to representing the interests of the diverse American majority.

Dan Charnas
Journalist, New York, NY
www.dancharnas.com

That's. What. You. Get.

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:30:07 PDT

The U.S. House of Representatives just rejected Bush's bailout plan, 228 to 205. The revolt was led largely by members of the President's own party.

That's what you get when you elect Republicans on the false pretense that they're going to cut spending from big government and cut taxes for the little guy.

What they end up doing is driving up spending for military excursions and corporate tax breaks, cutting any kind of regulations that would restrict growth for the sake of our overall economic safety, and then borrowing money from China to finance it all.

Bill Clinton may have been a whore, but at least when he left office this country was solvent.

Bush, on the other hand, reminds me of a frat boy who spent his allowance on beer and then begs his Daddy for more.

Now the Republicans who promised their constituents a legacy of slim, efficient government are wetting their pants.

Why Obama hasn't condensed his argument down to this — calling out the Republicans for their political hypocrisy, this Big Lie — is beyond me.

"John" - a reflection on Debate #1

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:00:22 PDT

When I heard it, I winced a bit.

"Good to see you, John," Barack Obama said.

The microphones barely picked it up as the two candidates shook hands at the start of tonight's debate.

Oooh, I thought. That was a bit familiar. Maybe a bit disrespectful? Not "Senator McCain"? Doesn't Barack Obama want to be called "Senator Obama," after all?

Then, as the debate continued, and Obama continued to refer to his opponent by his first name — John, John, John — I realized this was not a sign of offhand arrogance on the part of Obama. It was strategy. That it alarmed me at all was a sign of why he needed to do it.

Our society expects that certain folks are entitled to formality and respect. Formality is something that we give our superiors and our elders. But it has also been something that — historically, at the very least — white Americans have felt entitled to from those Americans who are not.

Barack Obama is, in that sense, an upstart. He jumped the line in so many ways. He jumped the line as a Democrat. He jumped the line as a Senator. But primarily, he jumped the line as a nonwhite male. And there he is, onstage, opposite Senator John McCain, the old lion of the Senate, appearing as an equal.

Remember Michael Richards' rant? Remember his reaction to Black hecklers who had the temerity to interrupt his funny? Did he assail them for their behavior? No, he attacked them for who they were. "Back in the day," he said (I paraphrase), "If you had spoken up, you would've been upside down with a fork up your ass." Or something like that.

Richards was saying: You don't get to do that to me, because of who I am and who you are. That's the Order of things. You are upsetting the Order.

That's what Barack Obama is doing. That's what he represents. That why — even though he supports many of the same lame establishment politics of the Clintons — his impact as a politician is so fundamentally different. He upsets the Order.

And so, Barack Obama says, "John."

He says: I get to be on this stage with you. I am here. And you don't get respect for who you are anymore. You get respect for what you do.

One thing, at least, we can love about the 21st Century.

How We Will Win

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:27:22 PDT

How We Will Win from Dantrification on Vimeo.

Dan Charnas says it ain't about Obama.

(iPhone users: Click here for the YouTube version)

Can the Democrats redraw the map?

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:14:07 PDT

Can the Democrats redraw the map? from Dantrification on Vimeo.

White People, Get Over Yourselves

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:01:56 PDT

On Obama's "race" speech.

Once Upon A Time...

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:22:38 PDT

... I wrote this article for YogaJournal.com

Apparently, it is now in the running for a Maggie award.

You be the judge.

UPDATE: I won. :-)

She's so out there, she's in there.

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:00:21 PST

Erykah Badu has finally given us a new album, only her third full LP of new music in, oh, eleven years.

Now she says she's learned to use iChat and Garage Band, so she's got two, maybe three more albums coming this year. "New AmErykah, Pt. 2" in the Spring. Then her alterego "Lowdown Loretta Brown" in the Fall. And then she's got her new supergroup with Ahmir & Mike Elizondo, "Edith Funker."

EDITH FUNKER!

She may be the world's biggest tease, that Erykah, but she sure is funny.

Peep the video and my review in the Washington Post.

He Gave His Nose

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:06:19 PST

It's the 25th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Writing my review in the Washington Post gave me occasion to really think on the album's importance, which runs so much deeper than it's status as the greatest selling album of all time. More than all of that, in 1983, "Thriller" almost singlehandedly achieved the reintegration of American music.

P.S.: If you really want a renewed respect for the Jackson family, just listen to this home demo that Michael, Randy and Janet (yes) put together in 1978, setting out the now famous arrangement of "Workin' Day And Night." They are so in the pocket with the percussion, it's insane.

Obama and the Skittles vote

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:29:41 PST

...and for a non-ignorant analysis, peep Jeff Chang's blog here.

Evolution of an Outlook

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 07:55:44 PST

The first time I saw the Palestinian hip-hop group D.A.M. was in 2005, when they did their first gig in New York.

A lot has changed since then for this Jewish-American hip-hop writer. Now that D.A.M. released their first album (which I reviewed in the Washington Post), apparently the change shows.

I went to the West Bank in 2006, and saw some things that I needed to see — the Deheisha refugee camp near Bethlehem, Israeli settler terror in Hebron, the streets of Ramallah, and of course, the Wall, the Wall everywhere. It was a sobering counterpoint to my trip to Israel proper the year before, something that I wrote about in my-yet-to-be-published-Masters-Project-because-I’m-neglecting-
everything-else-in-my-life-but-this-book

In it, I described my outlook in the years prior to the West Bank trip...

"My politics aligned with standard “liberal Zionism.” I supported a two-state solution and believed that the failure of the peace process lay not with “us” — reasonable Israelis and Jewish-Americans — but with “them” — the unreasonable Yasser Arafat and Palestinian militants, who had been offered 95 percent of what they wanted, yet still resorted to violence."

After the trip, I summarized my transformation this way:

"If Israel is a democracy, I conclude, it is the democracy of Jim Crow. And if being a Zionist means supporting that, then I am most certainly not a Zionist."

In other words: If I am a staunch multi-culturalist while in America — meaning that I believe in creating a plural society where people of different ethnicities co-exist on an even playing field — then I must be a multi-culturalist everywhere, and Israel/Palestine can be no exception. Whether that means a one-state or a two-state solution is up for discussion — and frankly, at this point, neither one seems possible despite what our Hypocrite-in-Chief says. (Remember when he slammed Clinton in 2000 for getting too tied up in the peace process? NOW look who wants to leave a legacy.)

All I know is that you can’t solve one refugee problem by creating another one. It was true in 1948, and it’s still true now.

--Dan Charnas

Let's Not Get Carried Away

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:26:30 PST

Read the rant here.

Happy 2008

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:40:04 PST

After an extended holiday both here and abroad, it’s time to dig into this year’s work:

• As many of you know, I’ll be spending most of my time reporting and writing my book, “The Big Payback: How Hip-Hop Became Global Pop,” coming out on New American Library/Penguin in the Fall of 2009. See y’all in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and Houston soon.

• Music criticism for the Washington Post, and posts here and on hiphopmusic.com.

• Other ventures, coming soon.

Wishing power to all of your resolutions.

-D

Checkmated in Cali

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:42:09 PST

Read all about it on hiphopmusic.com.

American Cuisine

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:46:08 PDT

Thoughts on Sylviagate here.

Good Intentions

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:34:22 PDT

The confluence of genius and psychopathy is all too common in hip-hop, the convergence of genius and altruism all too rare. Few rappers possess what Chuck D. had, try as they might. From today's Washington Post.

America's Two Destinies

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:43:26 PDT

Read my 9-11 post on hiphopmusic.com

Hydrated Fo' Life

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:36:54 PDT

Reviewed the new Fitty for the Washington Pizzy today.

And got Milk some ink too.

The Torch Ratings — 2007 VMA Edition

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:41:36 PDT

Even if you hadn’t watched the VMAs Sunday night, you’ve heard about the fiasco. But there were some encouraging moments too.

Torch ratings go from a scale of -5 to +5, with -5 being abysmal behavior and no f**king balls and +5 being completely courageous in making a sincere point on behalf of the hip-hop generation.

Here they are, from worst to best.

BRITNEY SPEARS: -4

Britney Spears has been getting by on her skin privilege for years. On Sunday, this non-talent was finally naked for the world to see. Let this be the last time that more deserving performers get bumped for her ass.

KANYE WEST: -1

Really, Kanye. Who gives f**k about a goddamn Moonman?

TIMBALAND: 0

This was the super-producer’s finest year, and should have been his night by default, but Timbo awkwardly insinuated himself into his artists' finest moments. And is the new "Maestro" title mandatory like “The King of Pop” or “The King of all Media”?

RIHANNA: +2

For being a class act and paying a visit to the rockers’ suite.

CHRIS BROWN: +3

A star is born.

JUSTIN: +4

For telling MTV to cut the shit.

TOMMY LEE & KID ROCK: +5

For giving us pundits some fresh bad-white-rocker behavior to reference the next time Bill O’Reilly needs a comment. HONORABLE MENTION: JAMEY FOXX & SEAN COMBS for perfectly encapsulating that shit.

Aiight, kids. Get back out there, and remember to hold the torch.

Where hip-hop lives...

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:41:33 PDT

...on Monsieur Talib Kweli's new album, Eardrum.

From today's Washington Post.

It’s not about the music. It’s about the songs.

blog3@dancharnas.com (Dan Charnas) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:06:11 PDT

Just to show you how big of a Prince fan I was in high school:

On Class Night — the annual party where the outgoing seniors ripped the teachers, and the teachers roasted us back — the faculty sketch ended when Principal Chestnut came out dressed as yours truly, holding a framed portrait of the Purple One.

“Prince and I are here,” he exclaimed, closing the show.

By the time I left college four years later, Prince and I were through.

Why? I think Jon Hein had it right: Prince jumped the shark at “Sign O’ The Times.” Until that album, Prince was an innovator. As popular as he became with mainstream audiences, he was always doing something bold. A new album from Prince was like a musical middle finger to everyone, even to some of his fans.

But “Sign O’ The Times” was different. If, as Alfred Hitchcock once said, the definition of style is self-plagiarism, then Prince was becoming very stylish indeed. He began repeating himself. As much as I liked “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” I couldn’t help hearing his re-use of the stutter-step riff from The Time’s “Get It Up.” As much as I liked “Dorothy Parker,” I couldn’t listen to Prince drone on about things like taking a bubble bath with his pants on, not when another group, Public Enemy, was just starting to talk about some really important things. Songs like “Hot Thing” and “It” seemed like self-indulgent double-album filler. That year, during the sultry summer of 1987, was the last time I really heard Black radio play a Prince song to death. “Adore” was his swan song, the last grind.

Don’t get me wrong: I think Black people will always, always love Prince. But that doesn’t mean they’ll listen to him. Ironic indeed that, in 1988, the bootleg “Black Album” surfaced, a meandering collection of mediocre songs that were rumored to be a meditation on Blackness but, if anything, showed how Prince felt about being upstaged by hip-hop during its Golden Age:

“Riding in my Thunderbird on the freeway
I turned on my radio 2 hear some music play
I got a silly rapper talking silly shit instead
And the only good rapper is one that's dead.”

And I was like, “Fuck that.” I’d much rather listen to Nice and Smooth rip “Starfish and Coffee” over the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band than Prince’s pretty, precious original any day of the week.

Prince entered his jingle phase in the 1990s, nice, easy-listening pop confections like “Diamonds and Pearls” and “Cream.” And what do you do, a few years later, after putting out garbage like “My Name is Prince” and “Sexy MF,” when nobody gives a shit about your music anymore? Blame your record company.

I was at Warner Bros. during his ugly split with the company. Russ Thyret, the chairman of Warner, the man who had found Prince and signed him in the 1970s, had just invested millions in Prince’s new label deal when The Kid announced that he would no longer record for Warner. Russ felt completely betrayed. One time, Rick Rubin began to ask Russ about it, and Russ pointed a finger at him: “Don’t – You – Say – That – Word.” The “P” word, he meant.

In the post-Warner years, I must admit to a hope that Prince would somehow find a renaissance in the opening of his vaults. But I listened to all three CDs of “Emancipation” — I remember because it absorbed an entire road trip from LA to San Fran — and the only songs I liked were the ones he didn’t write: “Betcha By Golly Wow,” and the Bonnie Raitt song, “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” The album was as boring as the Central Valley landscape rolling by my window.

Still, Prince was one of the first artists to try to tap the power of the Internet. Even if I didn’t care for his music anymore, I developed a new kind of admiration for him: Damn, he can really do this himself. An artist can make a living, even remain a star, without the help of a major record company.

I hadn’t much considered Prince until 2004, when my college roommate invited me to see Prince at Meadowlands, a stop on his “Musicology” tour. As expected, his mode of distribution was ingenious: Everyone who bought one of the pricey concert tickets walked away with a free album. What I didn’t expect was how the show would move me.

For a guy in his 40s, dude looked, played and moved spectacularly. Entering my late 30s, that was inspiration enough. But at mid-show, he started doing this tune, “Prince Is The Name” (unrecorded, I guess, because I can’t find it anywhere). He said:

“Warner Bros. used to be a friend of mine/
Now they’re just a motherfucking waste of time”

...and by 2004, Warner had become the exact same thing to me. He continued:

“If you cant do it on your own/
It ain’t worth the fame/
Everyone gets older/
But I remain the same/
Prince is the name”

Hot damn. People cheered, the confetti came down, and damned if I don’t still have a few pieces of that sacred paper on my altar.

As a performer, as a human being who does “himself,” Prince is a renewed inspiration. His performance earlier this year during the Superbowl half-time deluge was a modern day miracle: How did he keep from tripping on the rain-slicked stage? How did his hair stay up? How could he move his fingers so accurately over those wet guitar strings (I can’t even do it well dry)? How did he keep from electrocuting himself? Dude is blessed.

Even so, I wouldn’t go as far as Jon Pareles did in his recent article in the New York Times, in anticipation of Prince’s new album, “Planet Earth.” In “The Once And Future Prince,” Pareles intimates that Prince gets that, in the 21st century, it’s not about CD sales, it’s about the music. I wouldn’t even be as nice as my pal J. Freedom DuLac was, when he pronounced in the Washington Post that the new album was “30 percent bad, 40 percent mediocre and 30 percent really, really good.”

As much as I admire Prince, I want to like his music more than I actually do. The truth is, even with Prince’s independence and brilliance as a performer, I can’t remember a single song he’s done in the past decade. And when it comes to being culturally relevant and resonant, it’s not about the music. It’s about the songs.

The fact is, R. Kelly is writing better songs than Prince. Has been for a while, actually.

God help us all, but it’s the sad, sad truth.