“If I control the car right now, we won’t veer off the road. He liked controlling situations because he knew where the road was going to end up. Prince was very protective of his independence, so much that he operated sometimes without a manager or a record label, what impact do you think that had on the music industry? After he passed, all these fans came and shared their stories about what Prince did in their lives, through his music. But when he died and the entire world lit up in purple, there was no questioning it. So I stopped listening to Prince’s music and missed a lot of years, and therefore I didn’t see what the world saw. I didn’t want him to do anything for me because then I’ll never know if people liked my music. I never wanted my name associated with him. I didn’t want to copy him in any way, shape, or form. Because I’m a songwriter, I never wanted his name to affect mine. I was working for him and I had to look at videos, I had to listen to every song, and every note and, when I saw this man in action over and over and over - I had no clue. Why do you think it took you a long time to realize he had become an icon? Now, as his legacy lives on, the careful work of preserving these creations unfolds. Prince was notably skeptical of the music industry’s benevolence and, in a prescient move, fought to wrestle back ownership of all of his masters. It’s just one example of how much of his music the world has still never heard. This week, the estate announced the upcoming release of Welcome 2 America, an album Prince recorded in 2010 but never released. For Tyka, it’s an opportunity to fulfill her brother’s wishes, which he shared with her three years before his passing: “I won’t get off this planet until he gets every single solitary thing he worked so hard for and preserved for all of the world to hear.” Tyka, along with others who Prince trusted with his most prized collection, has spent the last four years uncovering and preserving treasures that only an artist as transcending as Prince could create. Fans have eagerly demanded a taste of what the artist never got the chance to release on his own. She shares one-sixth of Prince’s estate, with thousands of unreleased songs reportedly stowed away in Prince’s vault. Since Prince’s death in 2016, Tyka Nelson, the musician’s younger sister, has been tasked with helping preserve the Purple One’s legacy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |