Publication: WOM Journal [Ger]
Date: January 1997
Section:
Page Number(s):
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Title: "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince A Symbol Takes A New Beginning"
Interviewed By: Georg Stamelos

[Note: translated from German by Whistle (Tom Kafkan)]From a chained slave to a pyramid-builder Because the name under which he presented his best records meant to him the slavery through a multi-corporation, Prince Rogers Nelson chose more and more obscure pseudonyms. Freed from the chains loaded with dollars in form of his contract with Warner, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince sets a statue of his independence. On the occasion of the release of his triple-CD T.A.F.K.A.P. granted us an interview at his majesties premises in Minneapolis.

Yesterday at the "Jam of the Year"-concert at Paisley Park you did not only introduce new songs, but also played "Purple Rain". I thought U never wanted to play that song again on stage ?

I am just happy to be free again. Although I do not own the rights of "Purple Rain" but I know the chords. With this song I wanted to show the world that a lot of things in my life changed to the positive.

You also changed the members of your band. I noticed your bass-player Rhonda Smith and guitarist Kathleen Dyson positively.

Sheila E. introduced them to my for which I am very thankful.

That surprises me. You even had an argument with your brother, because he wanted Sheila E. to play in his Quest-Club. You threatened to have a free premier-concert for your new album at a club next door.

Really? I do not consider her being competition. Nowadays all artists have the opportunity to market their music. I like colleges like Tony Rich, Bjork and D'Angelo.

On Emancipation you cover songs from other artists for the first time.

Yes, I finally feel free again and enjoy what makes me happy in life. I covered Betcha By Golly Wow from the Stylistics because I grew up with this music. And U can see from my cover from Joan Osborne's One of Us that I do not consider today's musicians as competition. The greatest for me however was, that I was able to use silence as an instrument on Let's Have A Baby. There is so much energy in silence. Silence for me is a way to find myself.

That sounds very spiritual. But there must have been a concept for a project as huge as this.

More like a message. Mayte and I are very much interested in Egyptology, most of all pyramids. The Egyptians turned it into an astronomic science. Simply by looking at the pyramids you can tell when they were built. My album also contains such hidden messages. On Sex in the summer I used the sampled heartbeat of my baby as rhythm. This album is also a monument for my regained freedom. That was the reason why I took the effort to make each record exactly one hour long.

How many songs did you have in the vault so that Warner could not get their hands on the rights ?

Let's put it that way, a lot of ideas I had already in my head.

What is the purpose of your company NPG Records?

First of all the goal was to promote the album independently and keep the control at the same time. That's why we could sell 3 CDs for the price of two. Apart from that we already donated half a million dollars for alternative means like hospitals, schools, kindergarten etc.

Have U become a big friend of the human race ? Is that because of the influence of your wife Mayte ?

Finally I have to promote an album that belongs to me. Mayte helped to find a way out of my frustration. I had crawled into a box and limited my creative potential. We believe in reincarnation and that every being has a male and a female part. With Mayte I feel complete, because of her I am happy with myself. My songs gain depth due to her. Mayte helped to see the positive challenge of my quarrel with Warner. Now that I am free I even invited some members of the corporation to the Jam of the Year to take part in the premier-concert at Paisley Park.

Does that mean you will call yourself Prince again?

No, there are too many bad connotations with this name. I simply can't identify myself with that name anymore. To drop the name Prince was also part of my plan too get free myself from slavery. The first well-planned step towards the regained independence. Everybody thought I was gone nuts. 'He should be happy with his millions', they said. But I am an artist and could not tale it that I didn't even owned the rights to my name. The rights to my songs were owned by Warner and the name Prince was nothing more that a brand name they could use to make money as it pleased them.=20

When you look around you'll see that this is a serious enterprise. We get around with each other in a normal way. Here they simply call me 'Sir'. After all I am responsible for all those people working for me.

(Sigh) That all sounds very sensible. Now what about your image as androgynous sex god ? Your work was mainly based on the aesthetics of your love life.

Do you know what is really sexy ? To feel free. When I am on stage and feel the creative power in me, that is sexy. That I am at my own disposal again is more erotic than bodily sex. After a climax you feel empty inside. Doesn’t that make you see your transitorieness ?

And what will you do next with your newly achieved freedom? I will play a concert on Hawaii and will have my honeymoon there. We deserve that after the hard times we went through.