TS: Beck's Debra vs D'angelo's Untitled (How Does It Feel) - battle of two classic Prince slow jam tributes

Beck: I was gonna ask you about Prince because he was a big inspiration for Midnite Vultures.
Andre: Prince, to me, is the greatest of our time, as far as songwriting and producing and all that.
Beck: It's funny now because when I was making my last record, Prince wasn't somebody that people were talking much about. He kind of ebbs and flows. People don't cite him as an influence much these days, especially not in the rock world. For me, he represents possibilities, you know. He does it all.
Andre: Most definitely.
Beck: He has that sense of humor that I think you guys have, which is a rare commodity.
Andre: Yeah, man, you've got to keep it fun.

i don't think anyone was saying "debra" was intended to mock prince

'i like prince but i cant be prince, i want to sing like prince but i cant sing like prince with conviction, i dont sing about sex so i cant sing about things prince does with sincerity, isnt singing about sex a bit silly lol, how can i do it? i will sing about it as if i know it is silly, that way i can get away with this without anyone saying i am just singing about sex like so many commercial artists do; also i think if you are too sincere and emotional, it means you are not intelligent, i am intelligent, and i want people to recognise this, so i will not succumb to such simplicity'

“step inside my hyundai”

'i like prince but i cant be prince, i want to sing like prince but i cant sing like prince with conviction, i dont sing about sex so i cant sing about things prince does with sincerity, isnt singing about sex a bit silly lol, how can i do it?

two better answers are "write it for someone else to sing" or "maybe not"

also, obv: hipsters gonna be hipsters.

There’s probably something to unpack at length w/r/t Beck’s relationship to Black music in general (including hip-hop in his earlier stuff), but I’m not sure he’s an interesting enough artist to warrant it.

his relationship to Black music is as fraught and interesting as any modestly intelligent regular dude's.

def interesting. and def warrants it. obv he likes it. but obv he also has some rockist supremacy in relation to it so i wonder how much he really respects it. i remember hearing live shows on bootleg mp3s from the 90s that he had where he was, IIRC, kind of taking the piss out of james brown somewhat, affecting JB-isms for comedic effect, which didnt sit that well with me at the time tbh. i think he has quite a detached relationship to it, i doubt he would ever get as ridiculously romantic about old bluesmen as someone like keith richards in that sort of over-affected indebtedness, he just sees it as something to keep up to date with as its doing new stuff that might be interesting for someone like him to utilise, which leads to things like his work with timbo and pharrell (though the pharrell stuff was years after the neptunes heyday). i think he has different relationships with the stuff thats rock canon that he did in his americana, bluesy folksy periods, then a diff relationship with whats come after.

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I am genuinely curious to see how many votes "Debra" will get

"Debra" voters, reveal yourselves

NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF! SOMETHING TELLS ME YOU WANNA GO HOME!
Champagne, bibles, custom clothes you own
Calling up from special area codes
Hollywood notes with the Hollywood phones

That's the part that always sticks with me from Midnite Vultures.

How Does It Feel obv. Silly poll but the beef upthread is also silly.

Not gonna vote, but when I saw Beck he encored with “Debra” and there were approximately zero layers of irony; shit was ridiculous but he was completely into it

we'll finally know how many drive an elantra

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Okay, all nine of you reveal yourselves