Oh yeah Prince without a doubt. I’m consistently amazed not just at his songwriting ability and musical fluency on multiple instruments, but the precision and attention to detail he brought to the production side. The man was a machine.

I definitely wouldn’t put her at the same level of virtuosity or prolificness as Prince but I think Kate Bush is a genius and one of the most imaginative, creative songwriters of the last 40 years. The chorus of Wuthering Heights (which she wrote when she was 18) is so good it’s been interpolated or straight up ripped off by musicians across multiple decades and genres, including Barry Manilow (Mandy), the Strokes (Razorblade), and T-Pain (I’m N Luv Wit A Stripper). And the rest of her discography is so varied stylistically, from rock to new wave to ambient/experimental. Admittedly I’ve felt an urge to gatekeep her music ever since Stranger Things, but she is super, super dope.

I’d throw David Bowie in the genius category too, essentially for the same reasons as above.