Ok, so I was gone even longer this time, but for good reason. As I mentioned earlier, I was working on a 25-page research paper, An Analysis of Rolling Stone's Coverage of Prince, 1978-2004.
It is completed, and I have submitted it to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). Every year, AEJMC holds a conference to discuss the latest mass communications research. If I am selected to present in August (in St. Louis), it will be a great honor and boost to my credibility as a Prince scholar. I will find out in May!
How did I write the paper?
I looked at EVERY Prince-related Rolling Stone article from 1978 to April 23, 2004, when he told Entertainment Weekly, “It took me four albums to get on the cover of Rolling Stone, now it takes artists only one. There should be rules for that kind of thing!”
I also had the honor of talking to five Rolling Stone writers who covered Prince: Anthony DeCurtis, Jim Henke, Tom Moon, David Browne and Robert McNamara.
What did I find?
Prince actually landed his first Rolling Stone cover after the release of his fifth album, 1999. The magazine was beginning to cover African American artists again, and making a shift from featuring aging legends to embracing the new, cutting-edge artists popular with the youth culture. Meanwhile, the magazine was paying increasing attention to him as he recorded, toured, built an audience, and finally had an outstanding commercial success. After that, it could justify putting him on the cover—not only was he a fresh talent, but he would be able to sell magazines.
By contrast, today's music industry has changed to churn out more abrupt successes, and the magazine is often a reflection of that.
Overall, Prince has had a dynamic relationship with Rolling Stone. The magazine built him up to the status of its old heroes, Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones during the 1980s and then criticized him for "mediocre" work in the 1990s.
Although Prince disagreed, the magazine appeared neutral regarding his struggle with Warner Bros.
Prince would eventually land the cover of Rolling Stone later in 2004 on May 27. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and successful tour reminded everyone of what he had accomplished.
I will post a link to the entire paper once I hear back from AEJMC, and, hopefully, develop a website of my music writing.
What about journalists' thoughts on Prince's spirituality?
I had some interesting disucssions with the Rolling Stone writers on that subject. Bits from those talks will be in one of the next few posts.
Happy to be back! Stay with me!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
"It Always Sounds Like I'm Preaching" - Prince and the Media, Part II
I mentioned earlier that I am researching the media's reaction to Prince's spiritual expression. I shared my thought that the media, preoccupied with the lewd components of Prince's work, didn't take the spiritual side of Prince's music seriously in the early period of Prince's career.
By the time the Around the World in a Day album was released (1985), there seemed to be a shift in the mainstream press. Prompted by songs like "Paisley Park" and "The Ladder," reporters began asking Prince about his religion. Prince confirmed a belief in God, but he did not explicitly claim a specific faith (although he was beginning to reference Jesus in his music), or discuss the topic in-depth.
There seems to be one exception: African American media, specifically Ebony magazine. Both Rolling Stone and Ebony had exclusive, one-on-one interviews with Prince during the same period (1985-1986). In his interview with Rolling Stone, Prince gave a vague response about religion, using his song "Paisley Park" as a reference point. However, in his interview with Ebony , he opened up a little more and admitted that God was the key to his happiness.
He did explain his reluctance to speak about religion. "I don't really like talking about it much...it always sounds like I'm preaching."
Prince continued to be forthcoming with Ebony about his faith throughout the years. In fact, one writer, Lynn Norment, wrote the majority of the Prince features. When the magazine did an extensive story on Prince in 2004, the artist and the writer had developed a comfortable rapport. One of my goals is to track down Ms. Norment and talk to her about her experience interviewing Prince.
For my journalism history class, I've decided to focus on Rolling Stone's coverage of Prince from 1978 to 2004. It is not quite in line with my personal project, as I am looking at topics other than spirituality. Back in 2004, Prince made a comment to Entertainment Weekly that it took him four albums to get on the cover of Rolling Stone. One month later, the magazine did a cover story--fourteen years after the last one! Prince has made other comments about Rolling Stone, and I'd like to explore his relationship with the magazine.
After I complete this school paper, I plan to go back to African American media coverage of Prince's spirituality. I'd like to look at other publications such as Jet and some broadcast media.
I will check back in very soon!
By the time the Around the World in a Day album was released (1985), there seemed to be a shift in the mainstream press. Prompted by songs like "Paisley Park" and "The Ladder," reporters began asking Prince about his religion. Prince confirmed a belief in God, but he did not explicitly claim a specific faith (although he was beginning to reference Jesus in his music), or discuss the topic in-depth.
There seems to be one exception: African American media, specifically Ebony magazine. Both Rolling Stone and Ebony had exclusive, one-on-one interviews with Prince during the same period (1985-1986). In his interview with Rolling Stone, Prince gave a vague response about religion, using his song "Paisley Park" as a reference point. However, in his interview with Ebony , he opened up a little more and admitted that God was the key to his happiness.
He did explain his reluctance to speak about religion. "I don't really like talking about it much...it always sounds like I'm preaching."
Prince continued to be forthcoming with Ebony about his faith throughout the years. In fact, one writer, Lynn Norment, wrote the majority of the Prince features. When the magazine did an extensive story on Prince in 2004, the artist and the writer had developed a comfortable rapport. One of my goals is to track down Ms. Norment and talk to her about her experience interviewing Prince.
For my journalism history class, I've decided to focus on Rolling Stone's coverage of Prince from 1978 to 2004. It is not quite in line with my personal project, as I am looking at topics other than spirituality. Back in 2004, Prince made a comment to Entertainment Weekly that it took him four albums to get on the cover of Rolling Stone. One month later, the magazine did a cover story--fourteen years after the last one! Prince has made other comments about Rolling Stone, and I'd like to explore his relationship with the magazine.
After I complete this school paper, I plan to go back to African American media coverage of Prince's spirituality. I'd like to look at other publications such as Jet and some broadcast media.
I will check back in very soon!
Friday, February 11, 2011
"What I Learned from Layin' in the Cut" - I'm back!
Unfortunately, my one-week hiatus turned into a very long break. The intensity of my one-year master's program is starting to take its toll. Although I have been busy with school and personal matters, my Prince project has never left my mind. Here are some updates:
I am so close to securing the next big interview for my book. I was actually set to do the interview back in mid-January, but we had to reschedule. I am being persistent, and I'm waiting for my source's schedule to free up next week. I hope to have good news soon.
I have been continuing my research on Prince and the media, and I am really intrigued by African American magazines' coverage of Prince's spirituality. I will elaborate on this subject in the next post.
I have been swamped with reading for school, but I managed to finally get through the first few chapters of Dez Dickerson's book. So far, I'm really enjoying it, and I look forward to learning about his exit from The Revolution in his own words. Based on other Prince biographies, his departure was spritually motivated. Honestly, I probably won't get back to the book until spring break when I have time to continue in chronological order (I don't like to skip ahead). After all this time, I just noticed that Mr. Dickerson included a personalized autograph in the front cover of my copy! Whether or not he signs them all, I think it's pretty cool. I hope he decides to talk to me in the future...
I recently received information that some of Prince's acquaintances are under orders not to speak to the media about him. That makes sense. If nothing else, I want them to understand that I don't have any ill intentions, and I'm not interested in writing a tell-all. On the other hand, I'm not trying to paint Prince as a saint. My desire is to be as objective as possible. I think people will be interested and hopefully inspired by the story. I think anyone's growth and maturity over the years can be inspiring to others.
With that said, it's probably best to start contacting the people who are the most removed from Prince. I would absolutely love to talk to Ingrid Chavez, his co-star in Graffiti Bridge. She appears to be continuing with her own music career. According to other biographies, she seemed to have a profound effect on Prince, and she was present during a crucial time of spiritual development in the artist's life. I tried to contact her a while back via her website, but I didn't get a response. I will definitely try again.
One of my loyal readers mentioned that she really wants me to find out more about the "Prince and the occult" rumors. As I've said, I have never read or heard anything about that, but I will look into it in the future. I have not forgotten!
Well, I dreamed that I met Prince twice in the past month. I hope that is a good sign! The rest of my quarter is looking pretty unpredictable, but I don't want to stay away this long again!
Thank you so much for reading.
I am so close to securing the next big interview for my book. I was actually set to do the interview back in mid-January, but we had to reschedule. I am being persistent, and I'm waiting for my source's schedule to free up next week. I hope to have good news soon.
I have been continuing my research on Prince and the media, and I am really intrigued by African American magazines' coverage of Prince's spirituality. I will elaborate on this subject in the next post.
I have been swamped with reading for school, but I managed to finally get through the first few chapters of Dez Dickerson's book. So far, I'm really enjoying it, and I look forward to learning about his exit from The Revolution in his own words. Based on other Prince biographies, his departure was spritually motivated. Honestly, I probably won't get back to the book until spring break when I have time to continue in chronological order (I don't like to skip ahead). After all this time, I just noticed that Mr. Dickerson included a personalized autograph in the front cover of my copy! Whether or not he signs them all, I think it's pretty cool. I hope he decides to talk to me in the future...
I recently received information that some of Prince's acquaintances are under orders not to speak to the media about him. That makes sense. If nothing else, I want them to understand that I don't have any ill intentions, and I'm not interested in writing a tell-all. On the other hand, I'm not trying to paint Prince as a saint. My desire is to be as objective as possible. I think people will be interested and hopefully inspired by the story. I think anyone's growth and maturity over the years can be inspiring to others.
With that said, it's probably best to start contacting the people who are the most removed from Prince. I would absolutely love to talk to Ingrid Chavez, his co-star in Graffiti Bridge. She appears to be continuing with her own music career. According to other biographies, she seemed to have a profound effect on Prince, and she was present during a crucial time of spiritual development in the artist's life. I tried to contact her a while back via her website, but I didn't get a response. I will definitely try again.
One of my loyal readers mentioned that she really wants me to find out more about the "Prince and the occult" rumors. As I've said, I have never read or heard anything about that, but I will look into it in the future. I have not forgotten!
Well, I dreamed that I met Prince twice in the past month. I hope that is a good sign! The rest of my quarter is looking pretty unpredictable, but I don't want to stay away this long again!
Thank you so much for reading.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
"Even the Soliders Need a Break Sometimes" - Be Back Next Week
Hey everyone! Just checking in to say that I will have a full blog entry up next week (or sooner). My schedule is very hectic this week. However, I am working on securing a big interview for my book next week! If all goes according to plan, I hope to have another sneek peak posted by next Wednesday. I am also expecting to have my official "Welcome 2 America" concert review posted on a music website shortly. Please continue to keep your fingers crossed for me, and as always, I will keep you up to date!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
"All the Critics Love You" - Prince and the Media
As I mentioned last week, I was invited to talk about my book on Paisley Radio! I participated in last Sunday's show, and I had a wonderful time. I discussed the four phases of Prince's spiritual development (based on my research and interpretation) and some of my favorite Prince songs with spiritual messages, among other topics. I will embed the audio in a blog entry in the near future. You can listen here for a limited amount of time.
Some of my other plans for the past week were put on hold as I prepared for the start of the winter school quarter. However, I did receive helpful feedback from the director of my graduate program after he read an excerpt from the book. I'm meeting with him tomorrow to talk more about my project.
I intend to get back to contacting agents, creating my source list, requesting interviews and reading Dez Dickerson's book, but I also want to start expanding my research on a particular subject: Prince and the media. Specifically, I would like to scrutinize the media's reaction to Prince's spiritual expression in his music and interviews.
I've found that throughout the early period of Prince's career (1978-1983), the media recognized the artist's consistent mix of the sacred and profane, but didn't take the spiritual side seriously. Then, at the height of Purple Rain's success, the media seemed preoccupied with the lewd components of Prince's work. Because Prince did not open up to the media about his beliefs (or anything else, for that matter), his overtly sexual image became crystallized among the public. Perhaps this explains why today, a more outspoken Prince has trouble convincing people of his spiritual rebirth. Prince is no longer a commercial force in the vein of Purple Rain, and the world, already having acquired a solid image of Prince, is not watching as closely.
I've already written quite a bit about this issue, but there is room for more analysis. I wanted to briefly introduce this topic because I plan to cover it frequently in this blog as I do more research for my book.
Thanks for reading!
Some of my other plans for the past week were put on hold as I prepared for the start of the winter school quarter. However, I did receive helpful feedback from the director of my graduate program after he read an excerpt from the book. I'm meeting with him tomorrow to talk more about my project.
I intend to get back to contacting agents, creating my source list, requesting interviews and reading Dez Dickerson's book, but I also want to start expanding my research on a particular subject: Prince and the media. Specifically, I would like to scrutinize the media's reaction to Prince's spiritual expression in his music and interviews.
I've found that throughout the early period of Prince's career (1978-1983), the media recognized the artist's consistent mix of the sacred and profane, but didn't take the spiritual side seriously. Then, at the height of Purple Rain's success, the media seemed preoccupied with the lewd components of Prince's work. Because Prince did not open up to the media about his beliefs (or anything else, for that matter), his overtly sexual image became crystallized among the public. Perhaps this explains why today, a more outspoken Prince has trouble convincing people of his spiritual rebirth. Prince is no longer a commercial force in the vein of Purple Rain, and the world, already having acquired a solid image of Prince, is not watching as closely.
I've already written quite a bit about this issue, but there is room for more analysis. I wanted to briefly introduce this topic because I plan to cover it frequently in this blog as I do more research for my book.
Thanks for reading!
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