An exploration of the life and legacy of Prince discusses his vibrant and prolific output, the paradigm-shifting ideas in his music, and his wide-ranging impact on modern culture. 505 0 $a Foreword / by Questlove -- Introduction: the end -- Man, music. Life can be so nice: his life and its beginnings ; Baby I'm a star: his music and its beginnings ; Brand new groove: his music and its properties ; Musicology: his music and its imitators -- Meaning. Girls and boys: sex in his music ; Walk by the mirror: self in his music ; What time is it?: others in his music ; I wish u heaven: virtue and sin in his music ; America: race and politics in his music -- Methods, madness. What's my name: why he changed his name, and what that wrought ; MPLS: how his hometown made him and how he, in turn, made it ; Call the law: how he grew frustrated with fans and the internet ; It's gonna be a beautiful night: when he was onstage ; The work: how he produced so much for so long -- Memory. Such a shame our friendship had to end -- Appendix: Let's work: annotated discography and song index.

Ben Greenman's monumental yet intimate book on Prince comes a year after the star's death at the age of 57 in an elevator at the legendary Paisley Park complex. With the release of a string of critically acclaimed albums and a new solo tour, the Minneapolis Genius looked set for a renaissance after a quiet-ish (by his standards) decade or so. And then: the silence, forever. Dig If U Will The Picture is a portrait of The Artist, who was also the artist who will be remembered by many as the brightest, most seductive and enigmatic pop star of his generation. In thematically structured chapters, Ben Greenman anatomizes a career and an aesthetic that at times seemed otherworldly. Drawing on over 40 studio albums, a repertoire of 2,000 plus live shows and close analysis of the unreleased highlights of the Vault, Dig If U Will the Picture is a critical consideration of Prince's art, a testimony to the author's deep and abiding personal connection to the work, and a fitting memorial.

Featuring a foreword by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. When Prince wanted to document his One Nite Alone tour in 2002, he turned to Afshin Shahidi. Again in 2004, he went along on Prince’s record breaking Musicology Tour. Afshin met Prince in 1989 and became his cinematographer and later his photographer. He was the photographer closest to Prince for the last fifteen years of Prince’s life. Afshin is the only photographer to shoot the legendary 3121 private parties in Los Angeles that became the most sought after invitations in Hollywood. Prince: A Private View compiles his work into a journey through Prince's extraordinary life. With many never-before-seen photos, this is the ultimate collection of – some intimate, some candid, some in concert – shots of Prince, but all are carefully directed in the artist-as-art style that we associate with him. Deep photo captions are brief, but complete stories about Prince's life at that moment - some are incisive, others are personal and even funny.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Times, Sunday Times and Telegraph Book of the Year ______________________________________________ 'A triumph ... a masterclass in the bottling of its subject's seductive essence. His presence in this book is so strong that it's hard to believe he has really left the building' MOJO 'Handsomely presented, visually sumptuous' THE TIMES ______________________________________________ From Prince himself comes the brilliant coming-of-age-and-into-superstardom story of one of the greatest artists of all time-featuring never-before-seen photos, original scrapbooks and lyric sheets, and the exquisite memoir he began writing before his tragic death. Prince was a musical genius, one of the most talented, beloved, accomplished, popular, and acclaimed musicians in pop history. But he wasn't only a musician-he was also a startlingly original visionary with an imagination deep enough to whip up whole worlds, from the sexy, gritty funk paradise of his early records to the mythical landscape of Purple Rain to the psychedelia of Paisley Park. But his greatest creative act was turning Prince Rogers Nelson, born in Minnesota, into Prince, the greatest pop star of his era. The Beautiful Ones is the story of how Prince became Prince-a first-person account of a kid absorbing the world around him and then creating a persona, an artistic vision, and a life, before the hits and fame that would come to define him. The book is told in four parts. The first is composed of the memoir he was writing before his tragic death, pages that brings us into Prince's childhood world through his own lyrical prose. The second part takes us into Prince's early years as a musician, before his first album released, through a scrapbook of Prince's writing and photos. The third section shows us Prince's evolution through candid images that take us up to the cusp of his greatest achievement, which we see in the book's fourth section: his original handwritten treatment for Purple Rain-the final stage in Prince's self-creation, as he retells the autobiography we've seen in the first three parts as a heroic journey. The book is framed by editor Dan Piepenbring's riveting and moving introduction about his short but profound collaboration with Prince in his final days-a time when Prince was thinking deeply about how to reveal more of himself and his ideas to the world, while retaining the mystery and mystique he'd so carefully cultivated-and annotations that provide context to each of the book's images. This work is not just a tribute to Prince, but an original and energizing literary work, full of Prince's ideas and vision, his voice and image, his undying gift to the world. ______________________________________________ 'Prince's voice comes through loud and clear; his personality, joie de vivre and single-mindedness jumping off the page throughout.' CLASSIC POP MAGAZINE 'The Beautiful Ones is for everyone. It's not a read, but an experience, an immersion inside the mind of a musical genius. You are steeped in Prince's images, his words, his essence... The book can be a starting point for a Prince fascination, or a continuation of long-standing admiration. Either way, it will deepen the connection of any reader with the musical icon." USA TODAY 'An affirmation of Prince's Blackness and humanity... Prince writes about his childhood with clarity and poetic flair, effortlessly combining humorous anecdotes with deep self-reflection and musical analysis... Prince is one of us - he just worked to manifest dreams that took him from the North Side of Minneapolis to the Super Bowl.' HUFFPOST 'A compelling curiosity that finds its author orbiting around a few touchingly intimate encounters with his sphinx-like subject ... with passages, lyric sheets and photographs from the Purple One himself' TELEGRAPH, Books of the Year 'Both a pleasure and a surprise ... Prince took the project very seriously, and it shows in the work he delivered. ... It shines an intimate and revealing light on the least-known period of his life' VARIETY 'The Beautiful Ones is a book in pieces, fragments of the ground-breaking autobiography Prince had planned. Pieced together after his death in 2016, it collects his handwritten childhood memoires, superb personal photographs and his chosen co-writer Dan Piepenbring's vivid account of their brief collaboration. Yet remarkably despite the central absence, it still catches something of Prince between the gaps - a trace of perfume, a glance to camera, a first kiss' SUNDAY TIMES, Book of the Year 'This is a beautiful book and a must-have for Prince completists' DAILY EXPRESS 'A ghostly memoir of a pop legend' THE i

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An expansive and insightful exploration of one of the most iconic and electrifying artists ever, this book reveals the stunning, multi-generational influence and appeal of Prince and his revered music—from celebrated journalist, author, and host of the popular podcast The Touré Show. Infused with Touré’s unique pop-culture fluency, I Would Die 4 U is as passionate and radical as its subject matter. Building on his lifelong admiration for Prince’s oeuvre and interviews with those closest to the late artist, including band members, his tour manager, and music and Bible scholars, Touré deconstructs the life and work of the enigmatic icon who has been both a reflective mirror of and inspirational force for America. By defying traditional categories of race, gender, and sexuality, but also presenting a very conventional conception of religion and God, Prince was a man of profound contradictions. He spoke in the language of 60s pop and soul to a generation fearing Cold War apocalypse and the crack and AIDS epidemic, while simultaneously being both an MTV megastar and a religious evangelist. He creatively blended his songs with images of sex and profanity to invite us into a musical conversation about the healing power of God and religion. By demystifying Prince as a man, an artist, and a cultural force, I Would Die 4 U shows us how he impacted and defined a generation.

‘[An] irresistible account of a child’s imaginary 8,000-mile journey through the earth to discover what’s inside. Facts about the composition of the earth are conveyed painlessly and memorably.’ —SLJ. ‘An exciting adventure. . . . Illustrations [by Caldecott Medal winner Marc Simont] explode with color and action.’ —CS. Best Books of 1979 (SLJ) Children's Choices for 1980 (IRA/CBC) A Reading Rainbow Selection

Contributions by Cassandra D. Chaney, Shannon M. Cochran, Samuel P. Fitzpatrick, Judson L. Jeffries, Zada Johnson, Tony Kiene, Aaron J. Kimble, Jerod Lockhart, Molly Reinhoudt, Paul N. Reinsch, Laurel Westrup, and Sherman M. White Prince (1958–2016) looms large in contemporary music history. Despite universal acclaim for his artistry, few scholars and writers have thoroughly treated the underlying ideas expressed in his work or examined his profound impact on popular culture. The Purple One: Prince, Race, Gender, and Everything in Between positions Prince in his proper cultural, political, and social place in history. Contributors employ a diverse range of approaches to explore the intricate facets of this cultural icon, illuminating the many dimensions of his creative output and legacy. The collection is organized around two central themes that shed light on Prince’s artistry and lasting influence. Moving beyond conventional discussions about Prince and masculinity, part I, “Black Masculinity and Gender Performativity,” delves into less-explored aspects of the artist’s gender-bending persona. Essays in this section cover a slew of fascinating subjects, including Prince’s re-scripting of Black masculinity in the cult classic Under the Cherry Moon and an autoethnographic study of African American father-son relationships in the film Purple Rain. Another essay examines the subversive gender performativity of Prince and frequent collaborator Sheila E. Part II, “Beauty, Race, and Spirituality,” explores a range of topics present in Prince’s oeuvre, from the sociopolitical contours of his work to his overlooked but significant projects and protégés. Contributors in this section examine Prince’s representations of female beauty, his articulations of urban rage and protest, and his commercially successful but critically overlooked Batman soundtrack. This second installment of the ongoing scholarly project, PrincEnlighteNmenT: A Study of Society through Music, continues to center Prince as a focal point in music scholarship and enhance our understanding of his complex life and work.

Prince: When The World Turned Purple tells the story of one of the most influential and enigmatic musicians of our time. The book begins with the author's personal account of first discovering Prince's music, and how it sparked a lifelong love and appreciation for his artistry.

2022 NAACP Image Award Winner Crystal Wilkinson combines a deep love for her rural roots with a passion for language and storytelling in this compelling collection of poetry and prose about girlhood, racism, and political awakening, imbued with vivid imagery of growing up in Southern Appalachia. In Perfect Black, the acclaimed writer muses on such topics as motherhood, the politics of her Black body, lost fathers, mental illness, sexual abuse, and religion. It is a captivating conversation about life, love, loss, and pain, interwoven with striking illustrations by her long-time partner, Ronald W. Davis.