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Honoring Prince, The King Of Shade

Nobody threw shade quite like Prince

Prince was a brilliant musician, a prolific songwriter, and an undeniable sex icon. A sexy MF. A master of funk and rock and roll. He was a chameleon, a man who defied genre and expectations. He also knew how to throw A-plus shade.

Nobody could suffer a fool less than Prince Rogers Nelson. What he lacked in stature, he made up for in attitude. He didn't hide his emotions; he wore them right on his lace embroidered sleeves. He could make even the most overstuffed celebrities feel insignificant with little more than a gesture, a smirk, a roll of his eyes, or a blistering guitar solo.

As we celebrate Prince's legacy, his artistry, and his indomitable spirituality, let's also remember the Purple One for his magnificent ability to throw epic shade and give zero fucks about it.

The moment Prince realized he was not feeling Trey Songz's tribute at the BET Awards

Songz has never quite recovered from the moment Prince through this epic side-eye his way during his mashup of "Your Side of The Bed" and "Purple Rain." Lesson for the wise: if you can't hit a high note like Prince, don't even try.

"Remember albums?"

During the 2015 Grammys, Prince famously walked on stage and mocked contemporary music culture -- a.k.a. digital singles and streaming. "Remember albums?" Prince says, before poignantly stating, "Like books and black lives, albums still matter."

When he said "no" to Michael Jackson's "Bad"

In 1997 Chris Rock interviewed Prince, then known solely as The Artist, for MTV News. When Rock addressed those Michael Jackson feud rumors, Prince recalled the moment he knew "Bad" just wasn't for him -- but not before throwing a little shade at the King of Pop, and his innocuous lyrics, first.

That legendary moment Prince told Kim Kardashian to leave the stage

In 2011, Prince pulled Kim up on stage at Madison Square Garden to dance because, you know, her entire career was built on her inherent sex appeal. When he saw her mediocre dancing skills, however, he quickly told her to GTFO the stage with, "Get off the stage! I need a dancer."

When he delightfully dragged MTV News's Kurt Loder

AIN'T YOU GOT A WOMAN, KURT? Prince was famously not interested in media interviews, but the rare televised interviews gave us beautiful, majestic moments like this.

This iconic moment Prince told a group of Old White Dudes what's good

No disrespect to Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, and Jeff Lynne, but they were clearly the opening act for Prince's face-melting guitar solo during this legendary tribute to George Harrison at the 2004 Hall of Fame Inductions. Even the ghost of Harrison himself was shook.

When Alicia Keys climbed atop a piano...

In 2010, a very pregnant Keys climbed atop a piano during a televised tribute to Prince, and this glorious moment happened. Oh, and there was also that time Prince put Keys on hold a whopping 10 times before she finally got through to him. Keys recorded a cover of his song, "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" -- retitled "How Come You Don't Call Me" -- for her debut album, Songs in A Minor.

The time he declared, "The internet's completely over."

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The internet has never fully recovered from Prince's 2010 drag.

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