A local news station in Minneapolis revealed archival footage of 11-year-old Prince Rogers Nelson speaking out in favor of a teacher strike in 1970.
“I think they should get some more money, ’cause they be working extra hours for us, and all that stuff,” the future superstar tells a reporter, smiling, while surrounded by friends in the April 1970 clip aired by WCCO.
The youngster — who was born Prince Rogers Nelson — was recognized by the CBS affiliate’s production manager, Matt Liddy, who watched the 13-minute video, which was restored for a piece on a teachers’ strike in March.
“I grew up in Minneapolis, so all I cared about was looking at cool old buildings from the place I grew up. Did I recognize my old school? Did I recognize any landmarks?”
“I immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people and saying, ‘I’m not gonna tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?’ And every single person [said] ‘Prince,’”
“I think just seeing Prince as a young child in his neighborhood school, you know, it helps really ground him to that Minneapolis connection.
“Even if they’re momentary glimpses into what Minneapolis meant to him, what he stood up for when he lived in Minneapolis, just helps understand that symbiotic connection he had to his hometown,” he added.
Station production manager Matt Liddy came across the clip while doing research on a similar strike this year. Looking through the footage for historical context, he noticed an 11-year-old boy being interviewed about the strike and asked his colleagues for confirmation that the boy was a pre-teen Prince Nelson Rogers. After having the footage expertly restored, Liddy needed to find another boy from the footage, Ronnie Kitchen, as Prince never actually identifies himself in the footage.
When Liddy and crew were unable to get in contact with Kitchen, they turned to historian and archeologist Kristen Zschomler. Zschomler identified the school in the background as Lincoln Junior High School, which Prince attended in 1970, and compared the footage to his yearbook picture from that year. She put WCCO in contact with Terrance Jackson, who went to school with Prince, and finally confirmed that the boy in the video would indeed go on to write “Purple Rain” and “Batdance.” “That is Prince!” he said when shown the video. “Standing right there with the hat on, right? That’s Skipper! Oh my God!”
In the video, Prince says, “I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money cause they work, they be working extra hours for us and all that stuff.” Sounds like even then, Prince knew what was up. Previously, a clip of Prince playing basketball also sent the internet into a frenzy, proving that fans may never get enough of seeing what he was up to before the fame.
This summer, Prince will be the subject of a new exhibit in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile that will include interactive experiences. “Prince: The Immersive Experience,” created by entertainment company Superfly in conjunction with The Prince Estate, will launch on June 9 in The Windy City.
According to Rolling Stone, the new exhibit will highlight Prince’s life and his music through the interactive experience. The exhibit will bring guests across multidimensional spaces that highlight the artist’s career. In addition to those spaces, “Prince: The Immersive Experience” will incorporate an audio-visual dance space that will be soundtracked by the legend’s multiple hits.
“You’re going to be able to step in in a Purple Rain album cover,” Kerry Black, cofounder of Superfly said. “Where you can get your photo up on the motorcycle. But we’re also doing a full buildout of the entire street scene, right? So there’s going to be the First Avenue club and a bunch of the stores.”
“I am looking forward to this exhibition and they better have my brother Prince presented in the royal manner and light he deserves,” said L. Londell McMillan, Prince’s longtime partner, manager, and attorney.
On March 31, tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. 540 N. Michigan Ave. will be the location of the experience.
Prince’s 1986 album Camille was so rare that Jack White once bid close to $49,375 for one of the 25 known copies. White apparently tried to purchase another one at a 2017 auction but was outbid by Questlove. Now, Jack White and his label Third Man Records have gotten the rights to the mythical album that Prince recorded as his feminine alter ego, and will be releasing Camille out into the world.
“We’re finally going to put it out,” Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell was quoted as saying in a Mojo print profile of White. “Prince’s people agreed – almost too easy.” In recording the album, Prince had pitch-shifted his vocals to sound like the album’s titular alter ego, but decided to scrap it shortly before its release. The album’s eight tracks have all been released in some way shape or form in the past, and you can hear the pitch-shifting effect by punching in the album titles into a streaming service. “Rebirth of the Flesh,” which appears on the Sign O’ The Times deluxe edition, is a good place to start.
The exact release date for the album has yet to be set, but Camille is due out via Third Man Records. Check out the complete tracklist below.
1. “Rebirth of the Flesh”
2. “Housequake”
3. “Strange Relationship”
4. “Feel U Up”
5. “Shockadelica”
6. “Good Love”
7. “If I Was Your Girlfriend”
8. “Rockhard in a Funky Place”
Music icon Morris Day is currently in a legal and social media standoff with Comerica Bank, the Personal Representatives of The Prince Estate. Morris Day and Prince met in their early teens, leading to their careers in a band called Grand Central. Prince’s longtime friend and collaborator are presently seeking the ability to continue using the name “the Time” in future career efforts without payment for the name created and legally trademarked by Prince.
According to Yahoo! News, Morris Day’s use of “the Time” is currently restricted as an attorney representing Comerica Bank claims ownership of the rights to the name, noting a 1982 contract between Day and the late singer. D y, however, stated by a representative that Prince never provided hurdles to his use of the name called out the estate, while a representative shared a letter from the attorney asking for Day to pay a fee.
“I’ve given 40 years of my life building up a name and legacy that Prince and I came up with. A name that while he was alive, he had no problem with me using,” Day wrote on Instagram. ” literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into bringing value to that name. In fact, he booked me on several tours, and many jam packed nights at Paisley Park, under the name Morris Day & The Time. N t once ever saying to me that I couldn’t use that name configuration.”
“However, now that Prince is no longer with us – suddenly, the people who control his multi million dollar estate, want to rewrite history by taking my name away from me, this impacting how i feed my family.”
Prince’s estate is moving from Comerica Bank to three of Prince’s six heirs and other Interested Parties including L. Londell McMillan (owner of The Source), Charles Spicer, and Primary Wave, which acquired the interest of most of the other three heirs not represented by McMillan. Currently aware of the name issue, McMillan and Primary Wave has indicated that they will support the continued use of “the Time” by Morris Day when the opportunity arises.
On Day’s Instagram post calling out the actions of Comerica, McMillian openly supported Morris Day. “Comerica and their advisors currently run the Prince estate,” he wrote. ” think this is horrible. I support Morris Day 100%. W cannot wait to take over the estate from those in charge. Hopefully soon…. #LetMorrisDayUseName.”
Speaking with Variety, McMillan said, “In terms of the license, I wish to communicate directly with Morris (we are not strangers) and we will determine what is best for the use of the Time’s name together. W are not solely looking to charge him for the name. W need to all collaboratively discuss how to do what is best, period. W love Morris and we love Prince whom we have a duty to his legacy.”
Current representation for the Comerica Bank has not provided details or a statement on the matter. However, if the rights of “the Time” were awarded to Morris Day, other properties and naming rights of acts Prince founded, such as Sheila E. and The Revolution, would similarly demand and have a case for receiving naming rights owned by Prince.
McMillan has had his disputes and legal issues with Comerica Bank despite having initially served as the expert entertainment advisor to the Prince Estate and serving as Prince’s attorney and manager for over a decade in the late 1990s and early 2000s. All the heirs, along with McMillan, Spicer, and Primary Wave, seek to have the Prince Estate transitioned to them as soon as possible to make the business and legacy decisions in the future. U til such Time, this is the “sign of the times” with the Prince Estate, and the transition will result in a new form of emancipation.
This past Friday, Prince’s estate released Welcome 2 America, the late singer’s first full album solely comprised of previously unreleased material. The 11-track project — which was recorded back in 2010 prior to his Welcome 2 America tour — captured Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for society at that moment and how he believed politics, disinformation, and the growing push for social justice would affect the world in the future. Now his estate has made some new moves that may make even more of his work more accessible.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the late singer’s three youngest siblings agreed to sell a large portion of their inheritance in the estate to Primary Wave, an independent New York music publisher and talent management company, which is in control of a catalog that also includes music from Ray Charles, Nirvana, and more.
According to Rolling Stone, the exchange grants Primary Wave the rights to Prince’s name and likeness, royalties from his masters and publishing rights, as well as his beloved Paisley Park studios. The late singer’s three oldest siblings — Sharon, Norrine, and John Nelson — have all said they have no plans to sell any part of their stake in the estate. “We’ll never sell out. We know the prize,” Sharon said to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
L. Londell McMillan, a New York lawyer that represents Sharon, Norrine, and John Nelson shared a statement on behalf of the trio. “There’s not much anyone can do about family members who sell out for the dollar,” he said. “That’s their right.”
Prince is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Over the weekend was the 20-year anniversary of Songs In A Minor, the breakout debut album from Alicia Keys. She marked the occasion over by joining Ebro Darden on Apple Music Hits to discuss the album. Since the release contains a cover of Prince’s “How Come You Don’t Call Me,” they talked about The Purple One (who would have celebrated his 63rd birthday today, June 7), including the specific demand Prince had of a young Keys before letting her perform at Paisley Park.
Keys told the story:
“He takes me to Paisley Park, and this place is like a dream. And he’s walking me through Paisley Park, [I’m] 18 years old. He has like 900 pianos. ‘This is the piano from Purple Rain. This is the piano when I wrote ‘When Doves Cry.’ This is the room that we sit on the floor with the purple things, and we write songs.’ I could not believe it. Then he says, ‘This is the stage. We want you to perform a little set for my closest people.’ He would invite them to Paisley Park every whatever he did. He had his own universe going. And he was like, ‘One thing: You can’t curse.’ And I was like, ‘Well, he must not know me, because I curse.’”
Keys was there to request Prince’s approval of her cover, which she eventually got. During a Tonight Show appearance from 2017, Keys spoke more about her first phone call with Prince, the first step in getting his blessing for the cover:
Watch the full Apple Music Hits interview here. Also revisit Keys’ cover of “How Come You Don’t Call Me” below.
Prince recorded his final album Welcome 2 America over a decade ago and now, it’s finally about to be released. Prince’s estate first announced the exciting project back in April with the title track, which is a spoken word reflection on the pitfalls of mass media. Now offering another look at the album, Prince’s funk-forward track “Born 2 Die” is officially here.
As noted by Prince’s team, the song was conceived over a decade ago as Prince reflected on issues of racial justice:
“The song was recorded during a flurry of studio activity in the spring of 2010, when President Obama was just a year into his first term and Prince was reflecting deeply on the issues affecting the Black community and the role he hoped to play. As happened countless times throughout his career, Prince ended up shelving the song and the rest of Welcome 2 America in his legendary vault.”
Prince’s collaborator and longtime music director Morris Hayes recalled how the musician wrote “Born 2 Die” after being compared to Curtis Mayfield. “We got to ‘Born 2 Die,’ and Prince said, ‘I’ll tell you how that came about,’” Hayes said. “He had been watching videos of his friend Dr. Cornel West on YouTube, and during one speech Dr. West said, ‘I love my brother Prince, but he’s no Curtis Mayfield.’ So Prince said, “Oh really? We will see.”
Listen to “Born 2 Die” above.
Welcome 2 America is out 7/30 via The Prince Estate/Legacy Recordings. Pre-order it here.
Prince was a legendary musician who happened to be very good at basketball, and basically every mention of this now involves Dave Chappelle thanks to Charlie Murphy. So it’s no surprise that a video that circulated of Prince playing basketball made the legendary sketch comedy segment trend once again on Thursday.
Basically, any sight of Prince playing basketball evoked memories of one of the most famous sketches from Chappelle’s Show, in which Charlie Murphy retells a story about Eddie Murphy’s crew playing pickup hoops against Prince after a night at the club. You can watch this sketch below, in case you have not seen it yet.
On Thursday, another clip of Prince with a basketball started circulating on Twitter. The clip came during a concert, with the musician spinning a basketball on his finger and shooting a jumper.
him spinning the ball on his fingers was all you needed to see, but to me the best part is when he stuck his tongue out just before throwing in that j. that’s a real baller there https://t.co/zc2BlVqwRG
— Stay in the car, we’re still going to revolution (@THEEBlackleftie) March 18, 2021
Though many reminisced about the sketch, for some it was the first time they saw it or even knew Prince had a basketball history. Which is why some other photos of Prince in uniform also made the rounds on Thursday as well.
Y’all thought Charlie Murphy was lying about prince playing basketball? real prince fans know prince use to play ball back in his high school days pic.twitter.com/W5mo0bEhja
— They Want Me Dead Like Pac (@KingMosesDaGod) March 18, 2021
The video was enough to get “Charlie Murphy” to trend on Twitter, and give a new group of people online more chances to say “game, blouses.”
(@freezep0p) 
real prince fans know prince use to play ball back in his high school days