# Why is Prince considered to be a genius? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prince-considered-to-be-a-genius/752896 "2016-04-23T13:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 337
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prince-considered-to-be-a-genius/752896/337 "2016-05-17T01:05:19Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You listed a lot of big accomplishments. But it’s telling that you left out one thing: > > The quality of his music. > > Words and music are really the only things I would judge a musician on, and music is on top by a mile. Bob Dylan is the only word genius that I know. His lyrics are ingenious. Are Prince’s? > > That’s the elephant in the room for me. A polymath isn’t necessarily a genius. This is the “sammy davis jr.” argument. You are making the case for him as the greatest all around entertainer of his time, not a genius. Your idea of genius might be incongruent with its definition. Again, no one is saying Prince is unrivaled. But in the music field he’s in the top 1%. That’s basically what genius is in intellect. I don’t see why other fields couldn’t use the same percentiles to rank ability. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prince-considered-to-be-a-genius/752896)._