Thursday morning, April 21, 2016. Paisley Park, Minneapolis.
A panicked call to 911. An unresponsive male in an elevator. Paramedics rush to the scene, performing CPR, but alas it is too late. Prince Rogers Nelson is pronounced dead at 10:07 AM.
The world goes into shock. At only 57 years old, a legend has died. Rumors start circulating. Hushed whispers, hesitant questions. What happened?
But as the world seeks for answers, all we can do is try to remember him, in any way we can. Remember who he was, what he did, what he accomplished, and now, what he left behind.
It almost would feel wrong to just sit here and not try to pay tribute in some kind of way. Prince was a legend. No doubt about it. There’s no way to deny the incredible impact that he had, which transcended beyond just music.
I think Frank Ocean said it beautifully, in this tumblr post : “I’m not even gonna say rest in peace because it’s bigger than death. I never met the man (I was too nervous the one time I saw him), and I never saw him play live, regrettably. I only know the legends I’ve heard from folks and what I’ve heard and seen from his deep catalog of propellant, fearless, virtuosic work. My assessment is that he learned early on how little value to assign to someone else’s opinion of you… an infectious sentiment that seemed soaked into his clothes, his hair, his walk, his guitar, and his primal scream. (…) He was a straight black man who played his first televised set in bikini bottoms and knee high heeled boots, epic. He made me feel more comfortable with how I identify sexually simply by his display of freedom from and irreverence for obviously archaic ideas like gender conformity etc. He moved me to be more daring and intuitive with my own work by his demonstration – his denial of the prevailing model, his fight for his intellectual property – ‘slave’ written across the forehead, name changed to a symbol, an all out rebellion against exploitation. A vanguard and genius by every metric I know of who affected many in a way that will outrun oblivion for a long while. I’m proud to be a Prince fan(stan) for life.”
Now, I don’t have the privilege of saying that I was raised on Prince. I can’t tell stories of how my parents used to always play “Purple Rain” in the house. Honestly, the only story you’ll get out of me about Prince is that road trip, with my poor parents, who had to listen to me trying to imitate his piercing vocals from “Kiss” in the car, for hours on end. But I know that he was truly incredible. His music, an indescribable hybrid of pop, rock, funk, and soul, was limitless. He wasn’t the type of musician to be fit into a perfect little box. No, he was dynamic, diverse, crazy, wild, bursting at the seams with creativity and expression. And he was a true musician, in every sense. He never did it just to be famous, or to make money. It was always truly about the music. One of the most fascinating things about his first few albums, I think, is that he actually played all the instruments on the recordings. He was very much a solo musician, because he was truly invested into creating exactly what he wanted, and what he wanted the world to hear.
His impact can be heard even today. Artists like The Weeknd, Beyonce, Lenny Kravtiz, Pharrell, Miguel, Frank Ocean, Janelle Monae, Alicia Keys, and Beck are all influenced by the amazing music that Prince created.
And he was an inspiration beyond his music. He pushed boundaries of art, changed standards on gender roles, on masculinity and femininity. He fought for justice, often addressing issues like police brutality, or intersections of race and class. He was a humanitarian, devoting time and money into helping others, although most of this was out of the public eye. And above all that, he was truly a legend.
And I’m not going to pretend that I can summarize his life, his impact, and his legacy within a post, because gosh, how do you even begin to talk about Prince? But all I can say is that although he was taken away from us far too soon, he leaves an incredible legacy that continues to inspire and influence the world, and I really hope that’s what he wanted. To leave a mark. And he certainly did.
