When I think of music, the first name that pops into mind is Prince. Prince is inarguably one of the most talented artists of our time. Many people may say that Michael Jackson was the most influential artist of his time, and while he was great at what he did, Prince was always a step ahead of the artists of his time. Not only was Prince an excellent singer, he was also an excellent songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, record producer, fashion icon, actor and philanthropist.
When it came to fashion, Prince was the most daring male artist of his time, I mean what other man could wear your mother's clothes and make them look better than she did? He challenged the boundaries of gender, masculinity and race with his outfits that often included Victorian style blouses, high heels, lace and sequins. Along with the purple trench coat, white ruffled shirt, and skin tight black pants, the high heels were the most iconic part of his style. Even though he only stood at 5'2, he claimed he did not wear the high heels because he was short, he wore them because that was what the women liked. The owner of Andre No. 1, where Prince got his shoes from, says that nearly all 3,000 pairs of his shoes are identical except for the color with the brace of the heel made of stainless steel. The brace of the heels had to be stainless steel so that they were light weight and durable when he would do his splits and jump of things on the stage. Prince's influence on fashion can be seen today by artists like Janelle Monáe and Jaden Smith.
At just the age of 18, Prince became the youngest producer associated with Warner Brothers and played nearly every instrument on his first five albums. Even though he was competing with artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna, he quickly made a name for himself. What set him apart from most other artists of his time, was his ability to adapt and change his style of music. Prince did not tie himself to one genre of music. While artists like Michael Jackson took multiple years to release an album, Prince released an album every year or two. This was possible because he wrote one to two songs a day. It is even said that he even has enough songs in his vault to produce albums for almost 100 years. When he wasn't releasing his own music, he was writing songs for another artist such as Sheila E, Sinead O'Connor, Alicia Keys, etc. Many artists that we know and listen to today have some sort of Prince influence in their music whether it is the lyrics or the beat they choose to use. Prince's music was so influential, that he is the reason that explicit albums must have a "Parental Advisory" label on them due to his song Darling Nikki on the Purple Rain album.
Along with everything he contributed to music, Prince was a huge activist for other musicians and minorities. For many years he wrote the word "slave" on his face and changed his name to a symbol as an act of defiance to Warner Bros after they refused to give him ownership to his masters and artistic control over his music. Not only did he do this to get control over things he felt he rightfully owned, but he did it as a warning for younger artists to be careful with what they were getting themselves into. As he got older he started to heavily get into activist movements like Black Lives Matter. He would hold concerts and create new songs to raise awareness about what has been going on in our country and even used the time during his 2015 Grammy acceptance speech to let everyone know that records and black lives still matter.
Although Prince liked to keep a very secretive life and stay away from tabloids, it did not stop him from making a statement, whether it was in his music, his clothing or his actions. While he may be gone, his legacy will live on in the music of many artists to come. He will be remembered as one of the most significant and daring artists in American music history.
~ R.I.P Prince Rogers Nelson Ƭ̬̊