I have started writing this several times. I am trying to not be emotional as this is a very emotional moment for me as with a lot of you. With that said, this issue is devoted to his impact on the world. Not just music, but the world.
I discovered Prince through a song called " Free " when I was very young. I was a troubled and bullied child who sought refuge in music. Artist like The Emotion, Curtis Mayfield, Parliament and Earth, Wind and Fire are among some of the artists that would touch lightly on what I felt. But Prince, that song at that time commanded and received my full attention. I then heard the rest of the album which was crazy. At the time I had been expressing myself through poems but this album made me want to express myself through song. My brother( Anton / Buff, rest his soul) and I start a band called " The Risky Boys ". I laugh thinking about it. We could not afford equipment so we had a harmonica and a guitar that our Granny( love and miss her) had gotten me for Christmas. Needless to say we could not sing and sucked horribly and never made it outside our basement. But at least to us the songs sounded like something from 1999 lol. I discovered Kurtis Blow ' s " The Breaks " earlier and figured how to arrange his words for my benefit, so now with this album. YES!! I can be the rappin Prince and tell my story about how I felt. Go ahead and laugh because I am. But over the years I looked at how he told stories that you could see in your mind on songs like " The Ladder and Sign O the Times " and this made me a better writer. You can say reading and listening to him was like an artist clinic for me. Though I still had issues in my life, I would throw on a Prince record and zone out. The answer would reveal itself to me while listening. No I ' m not psycho I just concentrated better listening to him. As a troubled child I found all the bs that most kids find in the Chicago streets and then some. I often wondered would music take me out of it. It was I believe the summer of 1984 shortly after being mesmerized by Purple Rain I was cleaning the yard of a restaurant where I worked off and on( End of the Line / Terry’ s Place) when I saw Prince walking down our street. When I got out the yard he was gone. I said“ kid you better quit listening to so much Prince” lol. But later that summer I saw him again. He and group were walking and they ate in our restaurant. He began his meal by saying who want to do the blessings? AHH MAN, I was blown away. Prince does Church so I ' m gonna stop tripping and go when my Granny wake me up. There was only one problem I did not know what to say to him. Blown opportunity.
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I signed up for a talent show and when I arrived Prince was on stage. Noooooo this ain ' t real. But I found out it wasn ' t Prince the artist was named Romance. But show-wise, vocally and entertaining; he was Prince. I caught a number of his shows and was really impressed, luck would have my Mother secretly arranging a meeting between us. I was in my basement one day making a track when standing in my door was Prince saying that ' s real nice, now do your rap to it. Now I must fully disclose here during that time“ The Rick James music school” lol said you should be good and high while creating and let ' s just say Mary J and I were somewhere around the moon smh. I truly thought I was smoking too much until he interacted with me. It was Romance not Prince, but the brother took time and educated me over the years becoming my mentor and in my mind even though I knew different it was like Prince was teaching me himself. All three of us were Gemini, Romance, Prince and myself so this seemed like a sign. I give a lot of my developmental credit to Romance aka Kenneth Wright but Prince inspired and taught me also. Watching his battle with Warner Bros and listening to him explain about intellectual properties educated me as an artist on how to protect myself. Watching all the creative directions he took his music and career in made me feel limitless. To watch him stand at the top for so long reigning and never call himself the king of anything taught me a new level of humility. Reading about his hours and days in the studio to make sure it was perfect before presenting it to the world gave me a strong foundation for what a true entertainer’ s work ethic should be. I sit now in disbelief as I try to accept that he is no longer with us. I tear up not because of his death. I tear up because of the great use he made of his life. How can you not be happy for someone who was disciplined enough to not only elevate their career, but others whom they had never met, others whom they took an interest in and others who’ ll learn from them in the future. Yes, I held on to a childhood dream that we’ d work together one day and that reality hits hard but the fact that I won’ t see the next phase of the ever evolving Prince hits harder. Rest in Peace my Gemini brother, the rest is well deserved. C U in the Dawn …
P. S. I must say Thank you to my wife Tanya the Prince concert that she surprised me with for our anniversary was by far one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given. He actually acknowledged me�
I do hope you like our small glimpse at his life and have fun recalling the moments in time. On behalf of all of us at Lawless Entertainment Group, Inc. We salute and toast to your life Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson.
- TL Lewis aka The Chairman
Lawless Entertainment Magazine – www. llemag. com