Many of Wonder's songs were co-wrote and a lot of the cleverness in the finished product is not owed to the songwriting itself but to the production, which also was not done by Stevie.

Prince on the other hand wrote most everything himself and produced it all too...oh, and often played all the instruments. For me, it's a no brainer: Prince is the victor.

It doesn't matter. Stevie Wonder still wrote alot of his work and to sit here and say that Prince wrote ALL his work is not accurate. For the most part both artists wrote most of their work but both at some point or another has had a hand in the writing aspect which is nothing wrong with it. There still talented. Stevie Wonder was heavily involved with the production and the creation of the music, literally in almost all his work. He may not have played every single piece of instrument on every song that he has made but for the most part he played a key role in the music BUT the same goes with Prince. Prince doesn't play all the instruments on EVERY song he has written so why hold that against Stevie?

Stevie Wonder and also alot of other artists open doors for prince and made it so he could do alot of the things that he has done AND no I'm not naming him one of prince inspirations but just what he contributed to music in general and especially as a black artist.

The mere fact that Prince plays instruments is nothing "innovative" because their are plenty of musicians and artists who played all instruments who were black BEFORE prince.

Stevie and Prince BOTH are great.
Prince is great but Stevie Wonder surpasses. Just because Prince writes and plays instruments doesn't make him no better, once again Stevie Wonder does the same and was doing it long before Prince came into the music industry.

Hi, came across this site while doing some googling.

You do realize that Stevie Wonder has his own recording studio, and that he actually knows how to operate equipment , right? On many of his albums/songs, you can see that he has written, played instruments and produced the tracks himself. Obviously he's blind, so there are going to be some things out of his hands, but I have no doubt whatsoever that what you hear on the albums is the sound as Stevie himself intended, not someone else. Stevie often plays all the instruments himself as well. He usually does produce his own albums and material as well.

Let's take a look at the Innervisions credits:

Too High - Every instrument was Stevie. Background vocalists were used, that's it.

All In Love Is Fair - Scott Edwards plays bass. Everything else is Stevie.

Living For The City - All Stevie.

Jesus Children Of America - All Stevie.

Higher Ground - All Stevie.

On the other tracks, people are credited for things like shakers, hand claps, bongos, etc... things Stevie likely could have done himself but opted not to for whatever reason (he recieved a Motown contract from Berry Gordy when Gordy saw him do drums, bongos and harmonica).

This is just one album, I'm sure he picked up more skills as the years went by. Prince is damn talented, and I have mad respect for him, but I simply can't put him on Stevie's level. Nothing Prince has done has matched up to Innervisions, Talking Book or Songs In The Key Of Life for me. Contrary to what some say, I think Stevie's 80's work and beyond has been really good, to say the least. I know a lot of people love 70's Stevie and little else, but I guess that's the pitfalls you face when you reach unimaginable heights when you're barely halfway through your twenties. The fact is that if Stevie's only work had been in the 80's, he probably would still be remembered as a very successful solo pop/r&b star. In terms of consistency, quality and overall talent, I would vote very few people over Stevie Wonder, if any.

Nice contribution thanks for adding this.

BOOGIE DOWN REGGAE WOMAN! I love stevie!

The fact that Stevie was around way before Prince, and the fact that Prince was influenced by him surely speak for themselves. I think Stvie's music, both lyrically and musically have a lot more depth to them. Oh, and he sounds better too!

Where's the love for Wevie Stonder?

Steveland Morris
 

Listen carefully...buy "Music of My Mind" and veg out on it and Talking Book together and you'll understand why these two albums are his masterpieces...all this material was recorded at the same time during a period long session in NY where he literally lived in the studio...the material recorded during that time was trickled out as seperate albums...Music and Talking Book!

Another thing...although l love Prince's contribution to music..his pales in comparison to Steveland Morris...All u have to do is look at content...who cares who produced and wrote and played...Stevie is always talking about something...not too many artist can match his level of content...content the world can chew on!!!!

ive gotta go for superstition but only cause i can play it on guitar