Okay so if technically Prince was in Andre's band before he became the man we know now, then how come Andre's career didn't become big like Prince's did?

I think Andre had a comparatively good career, at least compared to most other artists who started out with or around Prince. He stayed very independent from him and established a career as a producer of quite a few very successful singles, for instance the work he did with his wife Jody Watley.

You can see him in a couple of her videos, too.

Here he is sitting in a convertible car:

And here he is playing drums (0.15 min.)

I don't think Andre had the stage presence or the songwriting talent to the level that Prince did. They could both play many instruments, play songs, and write. I think Prince's talent seemed to flourish more. Andre's albums are just mediocre at best. They're an interesting part of MPLS history, but let's face it, folks are wanting A.C. because of the Prince track. He's co-written some catchy songs with Jody Watley, but those are minimal in the breadth of his career as a producer or writer.