Prince Rogers Nelson was born on June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, John Nelson, was a musician and his mother, Mattie Shaw, was a jazz singer. He grew up surrounded by music in his daily life so from a young age he has been invested and passionate about music even teaching himself how to play the piano, guitar, and drums. Throughout high school, he played in a band with his best friends Andre Anderson and Morris Day. In 1978, Prince signed with Warner Bro Records allowing him to create his own music and image. Following his signing, he released two highly rated albums entitled For You and Prince but it wasn’t until 1980 with his release of Dirty Mind, the 1981 album Controversy, the 1982 album 1999 that Prince’s fame took off. Prince’s music was always provocative, original, and . Unfortunately, in April 21, 2016 Prince died in his home in Minnesota due to a Percocet overdose.
Following the death of Freddie Gray and the riots in Baltimore, R&B legend Prince was deeply moved and used his power and influence to not allow this to go unnoticed. Prince wrote a song entitled Baltimore to speak out on the injustices and police brutality going unseen in Baltimore, Maryland. His song was raw yet also joyful touching society in a real way. Prince recognized his power and used it to stand beside the protestors in Baltimore and Ferguson as well as various other cities in America. Prince highlighted the broken system that is so prevalent in our society and justice system as well as instill his confidence in the youth that is protesting and standing up for their rights. Prince acknowledges that the youth is what will bring a better future through their new ideas and points of views and that he has faith that the youth can and will maintain strong and united to obtain their rights.
Written By Luisa Francisco
Politics Through Rhythm 