PRINCE'S SPIRITUAL LIFE and JOURNEY:
Pt. 10(d): "Rap and Hip Hop, Miles Davis, Spike Lee, and Prince 1991-2016 and Beyond"
Released on Patreon 4/30/2022
Run Time: 2 HRS 43 MIN
Episodes of "Prince's Spiritual Life and Journey" are available to view ONLY on The SPOOKY ELECTRIC XPOSED Patreon channel for patrons of the "Sign O' The Times" tier of support and higher.
Part 4 of “The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince” series has concluded with SEGMENT “19” of the series, so in this companion series, “Prince’s Spiritual Life and Journey”, we will go back and review Prince’s spirituality at a central time in his career: 1989 to 1996.
"The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince" series will pick up Prince's story in 1996 with Part 5, in early 2022.
1991: Prince infuses Rap and Hip Hop into the “Diamonds and Pearls” Music
It is often discussed by those who study and document Prince’s career, that 1991 was an important year musically for Prince. This is because “Diamonds and Pearls” was released in October 1991, and on this album, Prince began to insert Rap and Hip Hop into his music.
At this time, in the early 1990’s Rap and Hip Hop music had become a commercially viable genre of music, with many of the early 1990’s biggest stars being rap and hip hop artists.
Prince was not simply “jumping on the bandwagon” of the popularity of rap and hip hop music, but as Prince has always done, he observed and listened and figured out how to integrate this Black American art form into his music and make it his own.
Also, at this time George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic fame was a Paisley Park artist, since he signed to Prince’s label, Paisley Park Records in 1988. Rap and Hip Hop musicians of the 1990s were sampling the music of James Brown, Sly and The Family Stone, and Parliament Funkadelic most commonly in their songs.
Prince observed the work that George was doing with these young artists, most notably Bay area group, Digital Underground. Prince then began working with many of this young generation of rap artists, allowing them to rap on his songs, or for only a handful: to sample his music.
We discuss and track some collaborative friendships from the 1980’s up through the 2000’s that developed between Prince and many rap artists that lasted up to Prince’s death in 2016.
Miles Davis and Prince: A Destined Connection
In all the years that I have been this work, decoding Prince’s coded and scripted life, I have never come across an individual whose Gematria coding was as karmically linked to Prince as Miles Davis. This coding would explain the intensity of the connection between Prince and Miles, though the two only shared a stage once. And this coding would indicate two people who would be linked throughout their lifetimes, and even after death. I think this is true of Prince and Miles.
Miles Davis is of course a jazz legend, who began recording in the 1940’s. Miles became a Warner Brothers artist in 1985, and soon after, those around both Prince and Miles were trying to figure out how to get the two together to collaborate.
In 1986, Warner Brothers was anxious to have Prince and Miles work together on a song for Miles’ first album with the label. Prince began sending Miles some Madhouse tracks to add trumpet to. The two worked on “Can I Play With U?” for months into 1987, sending the tape of the song back and forth. Eventually, both Prince and Miles lost interest in the song and it was shelved. “Can I Play With U?” was mastered and released by Prince’s estate in 2020.
In this section of the episode, we compare Prince and Miles’ coding and discover some interesting things. All of these “coding synchronicities” discovered, led me to understand the true “destined” nature of Prince and Miles' friendship, and why they are energetically linked, even after Miles Davis’ death in 1991.
Spike Lee and Prince Through the Years
Prince and Spike Lee first became friends in the late 1980’s, when Spike mentioned Prince in his 1989 movie, “Do the Right Thing”. While filming “Graffiti Bridge”, Prince watched Spike’s first film, “She’s Gotta Have It”, called Spike and invited him to Paisley Park. Reportedly, Prince kept stopping the shoot so that he could talk to Spike between scenes.
When Spike Lee made the film “Malcolm X” in 1991, Warner Brothers Pictures pulled the plug on the film, when it ran over budget by about $5 Million. So Spike approached some wealthy black celebrities, to ask for “donations” or “gifts” in order to complete the film. Among these celebrities was Prince, who of course agreed to give Spike money to complete “Malcolm X”. In return, Spike Lee would direct the music video for Prince’s song “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night”, the final release from the “Diamonds and Pearls” album.
We track Prince and Spike’s friendship and collaborations through the years, like the “Girl 6” movie soundtrack, Spike’s 1996 film that featured a soundtrack of strictly Prince songs. The friendship continued through the years, with Prince and Spike Lee regularly spotted courtside at NBA games in New York and Los Angeles.
In the years after Prince’s death in 2016, Spike held an impromptu block party and celebration outside of his "40 Acres and a Mule” production office in Brooklyn. From that point onward, Spike held “Purple People Party” celebrations each year in June, to celebrate Prince’s life and legacy.
Spike continued to tribute Prince in his film and television projects, culminating with the 2018 film, “BlacKKKlansman”, that featured an unreleased Prince song from 1983, "Mary Don't You Weep". Then, Spike Lee won his first Academy Award (or “Oscar”) for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film.
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