Getting the good news already! @polishedsolid announced the Triple Threat symposium already, but she also announced a one day symposium for The O(+> album!
Alright kicking us off on day 3 is @Journalistorian on How Prince Used 'Controversy' To Address The News Cycle Of 1980-1981 Through Song
He's talking about how the Controversy album was Prince addressing questions about his personal politics.
"PrInCe NeVeR TaLkEd AbOuT PoLiTiCs"
False a thousand times over...
Up next is @stevengfullwood with Was Sexuality All He Ever Needed? Exploring Context and Currency in Prince’s Controversy
Lots of easter eggs here for sure!
Yesss we bout to talk about this poster with @dmsr89 (and his cat haha
I Wish We All Were Nude: Allen Beaulieu’s Infamous “Shower Poster” as Aesthetic Linchpin & Artifact
(again this poster still comes with the reissue if you want to have one!)
"Vulgar stream of water from the bulge in the black panties"
(Zach is also the reason why I met @scottwoodssays@Miss_EThompson, Harold Pride, and legit half of my online Prince fam super thankful I originally found him on tumblr and disagreed with 70% of his Prince opinions! 😂)
Next up Mr @EdgarKruize with New Age Revelation looking sharp in presentation AND in style!
Some cool artifacts from Prince's first official Fan Club! Unfortunately...it didn't really stand up and organize, lol...
Also super love laying the trajectory of Prince's career over The Hero's Journey.
Not wanting to dance with dudes to Prince is so. Real. Thanks for surfacing that Dr. Morgan.
Quietly, or maybe not so quietly, I love to see all this melanin discussing a Prince album in this way. And I'm kind of sad that this is notable enough to comment on. This happens in our spaces often, but it doesn't get the visibility it should... #1plus1plus1is3#Controversy
Also resonate with what @arrthurr is saying re being the "token". "Am I Black or White"....also a question I got asked a lot. And same with Prince/Dez being a bridge to liking Rock as well as "Black" music.
Another good point by Dr. Morgan...the "nasty" sex stuff wasn't early rap. That was already established in R&B. I'm personally thinking of Love Won't Let Me Wait by Major Harris. P would take that idea and use it on Come's Orgasm in the 90's.
Need a little more nuance around discussion of queerness...🙃
Also need more awareness of what queer means. Not sure her question was understood...
Just kidding…a taste….of Joy…in Repetition. Circa 2002. It’s fine I didn’t technically share it just pointing y’all to this fine soldier in Prince’s army
04…we knew the things that happened then…but here’s another thing that happened….Pulling a song he wrote, covered by Tevin, reclaimed by him on 95’s Gold Experience, presented to you here by a mature Professor.
Prince is an icon. A legend. A mood. Sometimes though, it seems like his image crowds out his gift as a musician. Why were so many people blown away by the RRHOF performance? Why didn’t people know that kind of thing was a regular occurrence for him…for decades?
Why did a panel of musicians and critics not tap him to be a recognized and celebrated guitar player until 2011 when he FINALLY made the list of greatest players at #33?
There may be a few reasons, but I think it's mostly because people truly had no idea. The fun part of being an admirer of Prince is that his best work requires effort to find. A regular treasure hunt.
A lot of my dude insecurity stuff is linked to internal expectations of what I'm supposed to do and want and be as a Black woman within my own culture. That pressure comes from family as well as general expectations of needing to have booty and breasts to be attractive.
My family literally has a retrospective at the end of the year to talk about stuff we should have done better. For the two sisters who are unmarried, we are talked down to because we are too independent (they raised us to be this way)
Sorry we have our own careers and houses and cars and whatever else. We are set financially on our own accord. When you have a woman who can provide for herself financially, it's much harder to find someone who can be there for her emotionally. Patriarchy doesn't work that way
I'm in an interesting mood where I feel extremely present and human in a way that I don't usually feel during the day. I'm definitely a night person.
Daytime feels like obligations and jobs and stuff. Night time is quiet and reflection and feeling present on top of time. 💜
If you are a nap person like me, invest in blackout curtains for your bedroom. I got these ones for me and they literally changed my life. (Photo of my bedroom before I bought my house... I have these curtains up now and it's like perfectly dark at noon)