My 2023 Prince Year in Review!
My 2023 Prince output and input! And what's in store for 2024?
Author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury on the power of cumulative action:
"Action is hope. At the end of each day, when you’ve done your work, you lie there and think, Well, I’ll be damned, I did this today. It doesn’t matter how good it is, or how bad—you did it. At the end of the week, you’ll have a certain amount of accumulation. At the end of a year, you look back and say, I’ll be damned, it’s been a good year.
My passions drive me to the typewriter every day of my life, and they have driven me there since I was twelve. So I never have to worry about schedules. Some new thing is always exploding in me, and it schedules me, I don’t schedule it. It says: Get to the typewriter right now and finish this.”
Source: Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203
A Year I Will Never, Ever, Eva Forget!
In list form first in no particular order:
Curated my first in-person symposium since COVID-19, #TripleThreat40, and finally got to have multiple conversations on stage and off with my inspiration, Jill Jones!
Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe and Glam Slam Live ‘92
Being afforded the opportunity to write an essay for Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe! I’m still in shock… It’s still so unreal…
Speaking at Paisley Park 4 Celebration 2023!
Being featured in Prince: The Final Secret Documentary
Co-Hosting What Did Prince Do This Week? #WDPDTW alongside the one & only Michael Dean!
Curated the Prince Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe Virtual Celebration #DPSDVC
Spoke at All 7 Years: The Past, Present, and Future of Prince Studies @ UROC in MPLS!
Saw Prince Live at Glam Slam at the Dolby Screening Room in NYC!
Met Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and paid my respect!
My Words in the Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe
In my teens, I wrote for a biweekly newspaper called The Purple Cow, distributed to more than 150 high schools around Atlanta to the tune of about 41,000 copies each time. I primarily wrote record reviews about (drumroll) Prince and associates... Duh!
In the year of Lovesexy (1988), I wrote my final article 4 the Purple Cow. I mentioned that I'd never write "album credits" AKA liner notes, here. It was unfathomable, not even a dream. But, decades later, the Universe opened my reality to extreme possibilities....
Being afforded the opportunity 2 contribute liner notes for the Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe is 2 this very moment—surreal... like my essay is someone else's, not mine. How can I convey the "unlanguageable" (as my brother in Lovesexy would say)? It's nearly impossible... 2 an outsider, this might seem like just another accomplishment but those who truly know me understand the profound significance of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
I wouldn't have gotten here without so many people supporting my #Prince work... So, here are my album credits, once again in no particular order:
Londell McMillan, Charles Spicer, Duane Tudahl, Warner Records, Sony Legacy Records, C. Liegh McInnis, R. Luke DuBois, Scott Fitzgerald, Dr. Deborah Willis, Lisa M. Coleman, Ph.D. (she/hers), Ayoka Chenzira, Joe Holt, Kirsty Fairclough, Ricky Wyatt, Zaheer Ali, Anil Dash, Miles Marshall Lewis, Elliott H. Powell, Arthur Turnbull, Kamilah Cummings, Harold Pride, Michael Dean, KaNisa Williams, Edgar Kruize, jooZt of PrinceVault, Nicolay, Marco 't Hart, Rev3rend, Ivan Orr, Chris Rob, Tammy Sharpe, Sam(antha) Jackson, Tracy Figueroa, special and heartfelt thanks to Krysta Battersby for always having my back even when she doesn't have to do so, Mable Ivory who is the light source that gave me the push I needed to get my ball rolling, and to each and every presenter, roundtable panelist, and moderator of all the symposia, and, last but definitely not least, every single person who has ever attended my weekly, virtual book club, What Did Prince Do This Week?, one of my Prince symposia, listened 2 one of the Grown Folks Music Prince podcasts or my Prince birthday mixes on No Turn Unstoned...
I am deeply grateful to the Prince Estate for affording me this opportunity, and I'm extremely honored to be among the esteemed company of the other essayists: Chuck D of Public Enemy, Andrea Swensson, Jason Draper, Duane Tudahl, and KaNisa Williams!
But, above all #Prince4Ever! 💜
#Prince AKA Violet The Organ Grinder grindin' on music, movies, videos, live performances every. single. day... Oh, boy!
If you're into music like I am, I hope you will take a moment to listen to this extraordinary release, again and again again! And, if you have any opportunity to watch the included Blu-ray Prince Live at Glam Slam '92, DO NOT pass it up! To see live musicianship and showmanship at a level of "the bar above the bar," look no further.
Recorded my first unboxing ever with the nudge of Natalie Serrano!
Spoke at Paisley Park 4 Celebration 2023!
The little southern girl at 10 or 11 listening to Prince’s Dirty Mind album for the first time in North Carolina at my Aunt Net’s house would have never ever ever eva in a gazillion years thought she would be afforded the opportunity to speak on Prince’s stage at Paisley Park, his 65,000 square-foot recording studio, soundstage, and home, for Celebration 2023.
I am DEEPLY grateful to the Prince Estate for this INCREDIBLE WOW AKA “The Unexpected”!
“You can call it the unexpected or you can call it… WOW!” ~Prince
Featured in Prince: The Final Secret Documentary
Another first this year! I’m featured in a documentary, Prince: The Final Secret, alongside one of my musical/bass heroes, Levi Seacer, Jr., as well as Michael Bland, David Z., and several others. You can watch it on Peacock.
I was thrilled this documentary finally came out. It is the first to focus on Prince's philanthropy, and I agreed to participate only because of this. Prince was a generous giver, and his philanthropic side should be talked about more. This documentary only touches the tip of the iceberg, and we’ll probably never know the depths, as more often than not Prince gave, anonymously. Many thanks to Randy Martin, the director, and David Cook, the writer for a wonderful documentary and experience!
Co-Hosting What Did Prince Do This Week? #WDPDTW alongside the one and only Michael Dean!
I’ll have to do a bonus special edition for this eventually, but in the meantime…
What Did Prince Do This Week? #WDPDTW an interactive, virtual book club where we very slowly read Duane Tudahl's entire Prince Studio Sessions book series in its entirety. Michael Dean is my co-host, as he is the only other person in my purple circle crazy enough to commit to this!
It is a very, very slow read of Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 (Expanded Edition) by Duane Tudahl over the course of two years. Yes, it is a commitment, but we’re reading the book in very short, digestible, bite-sized chunks! Here’s the schedule.
We’ll then move on to Duane’s 2nd book, Prince and the Parade and Sign O’ The Times Era Studio Sessions: 1985 and 1986. And, in four years, Duane’s 3rd book will most likely have been released.
Join us live every Saturday at noon ET on @polishedsolid on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch to discuss with YOU what Prince did during the parallel week, beginning in 1983. We just wrapped 51 episodes for year 1 of #WDPDTW—a milestone worth celebrating.
However, you can catch up because they’re archived every week on my YouTube channel in the #WDPDTW What Did Prince Do This Week? playlist. There are also accompanying playlists with the music or documentaries we discuss for the more recent episodes.
You can also get ready for Year 2 of #WDPDTW by watching the recap reel below, which squeezes 100+ hours into < 1 hr!
We began this journey in January 2023! Hope some of you will be committed, brave, and crazy enough to join us on this very LONG journey!
The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is not affiliated, associated or connected with the ‘What Did Prince Do This Week?,’ etc.
Curated the Prince Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe Virtual Celebration #DPSDVC
MASSIVE THX 2 every single speaker & attendee who made Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe Virtual Celebration #DPSDVC truly special! Please keep spreading the Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe love & specifically Glam Slam '92 w/ everyone U know! Prince deserves it!
I also need to create an entire BONUS newsletter issue around the Diamonds & Pearls Super Deluxe Virtual Celebration #DPSDVC, a 2-day virtual celebration on Saturday, December 9, 2023, and Sunday, December 10, 2023, for the release of Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Edition. It is overdue! I KNOW, but it is coming! I still need to create the recap video before I do.
In the meantime, you can watch the entire virtual celebration on YouTube and learn more about the event at https://dpsdvc.polishedsolid.com.
The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is not affiliated, associated, or connected with the #DPSDVC Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Virtual Celebration, etc.
Curated the Prince #TripleThreat40 Symposium
I also still need to create an entire BONUS newsletter issue around the #TripleThreat40 symposium, a 3-day symposium celebrating Prince for 40 years of the albums 1999, What Time Is It?, and Vanity 6 on Friday, March 31, 2023–Sunday, April 2, 2023, at NYU in Brooklyn, New York. It is long overdue! I KNOW, but it is coming! I still need to create the recap video before I do. In the meantime, you can watch the entire symposium online on YouTube and Vimeo.
THANK U from the bottom of my heart 2 every single attendee, speaker, staff/crew, & most of all the generosity of her time & spirit of the 1 & only Jill Jones and Chris Rob & his band, for his explosive performance, and Tammy Sharpe and Chinisha Scott for adding the chili sauce!
#TripleThreat40 was the best 1 yet! Hope Prince’s spirit felt the purple bat signal we were shining! Memories were definitely made! #Prince4Ever
The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is not affiliated, associated or connected with the ‘Prince #TripleThreat40 Symposium,’ etc.
Thank you, Edgar Kruize & DJ UMB, for the #1999Thread #PrinceTwitterThread!
Thank you, Edgar Kruize and DJ UMB, for creating a companion #1999Thread #PrinceTwitterThread as a prelude to the #TripleThreat40 symposium! I am forever grateful for your continued support!💜
Spoke at All 7 Years: The Past, Present, and Future of Prince Studies @ UROC!
I spoke at All 7 Years: The Past, Present, and Future of Prince Studies at the University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), on Prince’s birthday, June 7, 2023, alongside Kirsty Fairclough, Andrea Swensson, and Elliott H. Powell! Many thanks to Kirsty and The International Centre 4 Prince Studies for the invitation to participate!
Met Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis at Pop Conference 2023!
It was an honor and privilege to be in the same room as Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis at Pop Conference 2023 at NYU in Brooklyn! Massive thanks to Jason King for allowing me to ask my question about my favorite album by The Time, Pandemonium!
Save The Dates!!!
Every Saturday at noon ET! What Did Prince Do This Week? #WDPDTW in 1984
If you want to join us, subscribe to @polishedsolid on YouTube! Again, you can find the reading schedule on the dedicated website.
#EroticCity40 Symposium (April 2024)
#EroticCity40, a polished solid symposium, is coming Friday, April 12, 2024–Sunday, April 14, 2024, to celebrate 40 years of Prince’s Purple Rain, The Time’s Ice Cream Castle, Apollonia 6, and Sheila E.’s The Glamorous Life at NYU in Brooklyn.
The Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson is not affiliated, associated or connected with the ‘Prince #EroticCity40 Symposium,’ etc.
#Come30 Virtual Symposium (August 2024)
#Come30, a polished solid virtual symposium, is coming on August 10-11, 2024, to celebrate 30 years of Prince’s Come. This will be one that you don’t want to miss!
A Mental Note To Myself
Curated “with love, sincerity, and deepest care”!
If you made it to the end, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this all the way through! And if you’ve watched, attended, participated, or helped me along the way with my Prince passion projects, mad thanks for your encouragement and continued support!
Now, go watch that Glam Slam ‘92 show, one mo’ gin, if you can💜
Hi De Angela,
You have done a fantastic job keeping the legacy of Prince alive. Keep up the good work. I will be attending your Erotic City symposium this weekend. Congrats again on your work!
Hi De Angela,
You have done a fantastic job keeping the legacy of Prince alive. Keep up the good work. I will be attending your Erotic City symposium this weekend. Congrats again on your work!