you're talking aesthetics again. just because he doesn't do "rock" the way some of your fave rockers do "rock" doesn't mean it's not geniune rock. i mean, by definition, it IS rock. as recently as 2010, a song like "dreamer" was nominated as a rock song. it's rock.

if prince were just a guitarist and your overall opinion of him didn't color your view of that single skill, you'd appreciate him that much more as a guitarist.

that's why dudes like vai, corgan, clapton, white, etc. can filter out prince the crooner, the dancer, the omni-sexual man-pixie and FOCUS on the guitar playing and say "oh, THAT guy is my favorite guitartist" (or one of their fave, because only calton and vai are on record as saying absolute "favorite")...because it's all they care about, dogg. just the guitar.