Sign O the Times - Prince and Beyonce

Okay, Prince, baby, we know you are a star. Beyonce told us so.

Did you see Saturday Night Live a couple of weeks ago with Janet Jackson? Hee-larious. I'm glad to see that Janet is willing to parody herself, which is always fun for me. When folks take themselves too seriously, it makes me sleepy. Janet does Condi. Janet does Paula. Janet reprises Penny from Good Times, a skit that really clinched how rotten this family had it. Penny had a goddamned rat for a pet that ate a winning lottery ticket, which was purchased with the family's rent money. Then the rat dies. Wylona gets a fist the eye for being sassy. To close the skit, JJ asks "Is this a bad time to tell y'all I got Sickle Cell?" Then the theme music comes on. Too fucking hilarious. Kudos to Janet. Her music performances? Light and airy. She can still dance with the best of them, but her new music is pretty fluffy. Listening to it now. Full report later.

Now, for SNL best new skit, The Prince Show. Thank God SNL writers saw fit to spoof what may be the weirdest duo since Whitney and Bobby. P&B's Grammy's performance was surreal. Beyonce singing "Baby I'm A Star," is fine. Beyonce singing "Purple Rain" and shaking her ass basically told me everything I needed to know about why these two kooks paired up. Prince is trying to comeback, Beyonce is trying to take over the world. Prince has vintage clout (kinda) and Beyonce has mad appeal. They could have just as easily presented an award together, that way I wouldn't have any nightmares about these boneheads pulling a stunt like this again.

Now, to the skit. Maya Rudolph (Minnie Riperton's daughter) as Beyonce is a treat. She stands in a not-so-exagerrated Beyonce sexy pose while another cast member does a pretty good, mysterioso Prince, whom when you're not looking, will disappear. Prince is portrayed as a kook of the highest order, which for me, is payback for all those fucked up albums he made back when he christened himself "slave." Hey Prince, why make the public pay for your goofy mistake, your hundred-million dollar contract? I never knew of a "slave" who signed his own papers, let alone make millions of dollars.

Anyway, he's got a new album out too called Musicology. I want to review it later in the month. I really love Prince's old music, so I'll admit my bias upfront. It's kinda hard to please me at this point, now that my ears have been blessed with the classic "When Doves Cry." But I will try. Until then...

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 @ 12:23 PM