There is no one way to define Prince. Never afraid to experiment, to buck trends or to swerve left when the world expected him to go right, Prince's long and illustrious career is a testament to his relentless musicianship. Prince was an artist's artist. He was influenced by the greats—from David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix to The Beatles and Joni Mitchell to Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder—and it can be heard in his vast array of albums spanning more than three decades.
Pop, rock, R&B, funk, jazz—even hip-hop. Nothing was off-limits for Prince. His keen understanding and love of different types of music made his own so singular. Here was a man unafraid of pushing himself and twisting conventions (consider his bouncy, apocalyptic rock 'n' roll on "Ronnie, Talk to Russia," or his satirical proto-house on "All the Critics Love U in New York") to write and perform and live freely as a true artist. But if there's a downside to Prince's many accomplishments, it's that his catalogue is almost too vast to approach. Prince has done everything. And now that his music is available across streaming services, all these different facets of Prince are at everyone's fingertips, all at once. So where does one begin with Prince and his staggeringly rich career? Here are five different sides of Prince to explore.
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