Publication: St. Paul Pioneer Press [US]
Date: November 12, 1996
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Title: "Babies, Privicy, Fame"
Written By: Jim Walsh

Ex-Prince parries rumors about his baby, as he preps for the chi-chi Chanhassen kickoff of his new album.

In a rare interview Monday, the artist formerly known as Prince talked amiably about tonight's worldwide broadcast, his struggle for privacy, and published reports of his baby being born with deformities.

"My personal life is off limits," he said, in response to a question about the baby. Reports are circulating in the European press and the National Enquirer that the child of the Minneapolis musician and his wife, Mayte Garcia, was born severely deformed last month.

TAFKAP hasn't even confirmed that the baby has been born. "But I will say this: People should stop reading the newspaper," he said. "Whenever we give birth to our children, the world won't know anything. They won't know their names, sex, anything.

"Our child has to make those decisions. What if it doesn't want to be a public person? That's just straight respect; it's their experience."
TAFKAP was sitting in Studio B of his Paisley Park studios in Chanhassen Monday afternoon, which workers were busy decking out for tonight's gala. Invitees include talk show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O'Donnel; musicians Gloria Estafan, D'angelo and Jon Secada; and basketball superstar Michael Jordan.

He gave a tour of the building, showing off the studio where he created his new album "Emancipation," and walked into the huge soundstage where tonight's showcase will be beamed to the world -- via satellite TV, radio and the Internet.

The gargantuan white stage is set up with dormant instruments, and features a mammoth runway. The entire room, much of which has been freshly painted, is draped in white.

"MTV is worried that the white will be too stark," TAFKAP said.

The musician's good nature (despite only sleeping "three hours a night for the last three weeks") and the palpable excitement that permeated Paisley Monday were in contrast to the dour news reports about the birth.

What's more, the vibe of the former Prince's new video for "Betcha By Golly, Wow" -- a cover of the Stylistics' 1972 hit -- is equally ebullient.

The clip features Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes in a dance routine and is filled with the faces of children. It concludes with a play-acted scene of TAFKAP and Mayte in a hospital room, where Mayte has just given birth to their child. The last scene is of the couple in a blissful embrace.

And while TAFKAP maintained that he is fiercely protective of the child, he sampled the child's in-utero heartbeat for the rhythm track to the song, "Sex in the Summer," which is set for release on "Emancipation" next Tuesday. I ask the artist if the recording isn't a form of exploitation?

"It was a hard decision," he admitted. "But Mayte prayed on it, and then she said it was cool."

A similar cloak of secrecy took hold when the former Prince and Garcia were married last February.

"I don't have to make an announcement," he said, adamantly. "Mayte is an adult, and when we were married, she said she wanted it to be (private). So that's what we did. So far, I haven't been told anything by our children. It's their experience, and they get to have it. You know, I can't ask them (if they want to have the glare of the media on them) yet.

"First comes, `What do you want to eat?' and `Do you want to wear your sunglasses today?'"