Why Prince Was More than “Weird”
As of 7:36PM April 21 while I start this piece, it has only been a few hours since one of my favorite “weird” people in the world has died, of yet undiscovered causes. When the news first broke, and major sites began to pick it up, I sincerely hoped it was a hoax, mistake, or rush to label him dead and perhaps he was just injured or sick.
When enough time had passed, and every major credible news source confirmed his death, I felt something.
That something is important to note, because I usually convince myself to feel empathy or sadness out of respect for admired celebrity deaths. But this was different. It felt real, and it was the first time as a fan of a celebrity who died, that I instinctively reflected on what he meant to me. Prince is personal for many reasons, and upon reflection, I realized he was personal to me for a long time.
Currently my social media is flooded with tributes, but also accompanied by plenty of ignorant remarks about Prince’s weirdness and outlandish public persona. People thought Prince was “weird”, but Prince’s weird was different, special, and inspiring.
Prince was Special even to a Pre-Schooler
Growing up in a culturally black household, my mother and stepfather exposed me (fortunately) to some of the greatest music of their time. The soul, funk, R&B, and classic jams from the 60’s through the 90’s bumped on vinyl in our household during cleaning, holidays, cooking, and actually anytime, really. From the doowop and MoTown highlights like the Spinners, Manhattans, Chi-Lites, Sylvers, and Delfonics, to the funky feels of Zapp and Roger, Raydio, Sly and Family Stone, Prince always stood out.
At around 5 years old, one of my earliest memories is seeing the music video for Raspberry Beret, and starting to swiftly bob and shimmy my awkward growing bones to his magnetically funky boom-bap country vibe of a smash hit. I’ll never forget my mother in her rocker, turning to me and saying “You like Prince, Key? I love me some Prince, but that boy is a freak. Prince has always been a freak”. From that moment on, I also loved me some freaky Prince. His appeal in Raspberry Beret was obvious. If you hear the song and see the music video, it strongly resembles a children’s show similar to Sesame Street musical cutaway. My developing ears and ADHD eyes at 5 couldn’t resist the colors, hair, musical ensemble, and vibe of the whole Princedom before me.
But my mother’s comment raised a question in my young mind:
What was a “freak” and why was he one?
Prince’s “Weird” is the Weird We all Should Strive to Be
Prince has hordes of stories surrounding his legendary oddness, especially made famous on Chappelle’s show and through infamous tales from legions of talented luminaries in all areas of life, ranging from Jamie Foxx to Kevin Smith of Clerks. When you create unforgettable stories and even the people retelling them become iconic from sharing the myths, you have achieved a special kind of weirdness.
To those who questioned his music, fashion, sexuality, and androgynous nature, you didn’t really understand him.
Not like a “you don’t understand Kanye West’s craziness, he’s a genius (not)” type of misunderstanding . You really did not accept and embrace a person who brought a weirdness so consistent and authentic that impressions of him always bring smiles and hunger for more of his music. His weirdness created stories and engagement, and it’s important we all dare to take it to the level he did so proudly.
What utterly radiated from Prince that other artists could never execute on a similar scale was the balance of having a fascinating sexually seductive, magnetic edge to his persona but have it be 100% authentically him.
In high school, I was in a men’s pageant fundraiser, filled with other fun extroverted kids who weren’t too shy to go shirtless on a stage or parade around in a costume to raise some money in a contest. So fresh to me was the Artist Formerly Known As, that I chose to be him during my performance segment, and I hardly had to imitate his “ooOOOooh’s” and dramatic shifts from falsetto to deep baritone sultriness. The crowd was putty in my hands even just looking like him. This was in 2005, probably 20 years after his biggest hits were even relevant, and yet his legendary weirdness was still, to everyone. Ending up winning the popular vote, it was a performance that would never leave my memory and change my life for the better in giving me more confidence to perform and pursue other performance arts.
He was different, and his music was always different than what was out. He strived to put the kind of awe and fear of the unknown in his music and performances that could only be compared to society’s reactions to witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. He offended, surprised, mesmerized, and allured the attention of his following and those on the outside of Princedom.
Why do we hold back on offending, surprising, mesmerizing, and alluring the inhibitions out of us? We too can embrace our weirdness and forge moments that translate to stories for others to tell for a lifetime.
Prince’s Legacy as an Awesome, Funky Freak
As I got older, I greatly expanded my exposure to Prince’s amazing catalogue of music. The more I dug into his music, videos, and art the more I realized how eclectic and broad his talents were. The man could play several instruments, act (those who dare say his presence on screen is easy to ignore need not read further), and had such effortless flamboyance for artistic creativity in everything he did in fashion, production, performance, dance, and namely everything.
People were drawn to Michael Jackson’s reclusive and meek nature. They were enraptured with Madonna’s brash antics and strong female voice and identity. Even newer icons with fascinating personas such as Lady Gaga charm fans with what feel like gimmicks and a reclusive nature. Prince was a different kind of weird. The kind that didn’t just proudly wave, but danced and funky color-guarded the bejeezus out of his freak flag. His performances, personal life, and interviews were all genuine and he worked hard to let every ounce of his being symbolize the meaning of artistic expression without limit.
Outside of his personal goals in expression, he also rallied hard for the creator’s role within music. As one of the largest icons to battle the music industry, he famously fought against Warner Brothers in a contract dispute even going so far as to strategically change his name to offset their benefits. He was one of the first artists to not only combat the dilution of artist earnings through online distribution/streaming, but is one of the only to remove nearly 100% of his catalogue from all internet distribution. His goal is to ensure that all talented artists can earn their proper share as a creator. Though an ambitious and admirable crusade, he ultimately cared about maintaining a more intimate relationship with his loyal following as a true artist. Prince was only 57, and had even just torn down the house only four days ago on April 17th for a small group of fans in Paisley Park.
There’s so much that impacted me about Prince’s persona, lifestyle, music, and role in the music industry, and even more that had an influence on me in pursuing my passions. He will definitely be missed as a very talented and amazingly weird, true role model.
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