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