Even on his first two albums, Prince was musically brilliant, but he still lacked his own style. Much still sounded predominantly like the then typical funk and soul sound of the late 70s

At the latest from then on Dirty Mind Prince copied nothing and no one, from this album on he was really independent and unique. And he made no more concessions to mass taste. The album sounds raw and sparse, but it also offers Prince in absolute purity. What always made Prince: His authenticity, his bite, his instrumental prowess, or his radical lack of inhibition in lyrics and interpretation - it's all there on this album, and not in its early stages, but already in perfection

"Dirty Mind" was at that time commercially not yet the big hit but still this album is a jewel, and what for one. Because here was the first time to hear that here was a real artist at the start, who expressed something true and real, something that has real musical meaning and was not limited only to optics and good shows