real shit. he's underrated as a producer and instrumentalist to most of the world. in the era of him, Madonna, and Michael Jackson, Prince is the only one who really didn't need help to compete with the big dogs.
"In advance of each session, he used a little hand-held cassette recorder to hum the bass, guitar, keyboard and synth-produced horn parts, and he also mouthed the beats,” says Z. "I set up a station for each instrument and, using the cassette machine to remind himself what to do, Prince played every single part. It was amazing to me, because that's pretty hard to do while retaining your objectivity. However, right from the start he was great; the complete package from the first minute I heard him. He did nothing but eat, sleep and make music"
"Indeed, titled For You, Prince's debut album would not only be produced and arranged by him, but it would also feature his own compositions, as well as his playing of all 27 instruments."
Prince ‘Kiss’