OPRAH (1996)



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Transcript of The Oprah Winfrey Show


Show Number: 1103a6ka
Producer: Kandi Amelon
Date: November 20, 1996
Show Topic: "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince"
Air Date: November 21, 1996


Interviewed by - Oprah Winfrey



OPRAH WINFREY voiceover: He used to be a mystery.


0{+> : I'd sort of shied away from doing interviews.


OPRAH voiceover: He used to be Prince.


OPRAH: What do I call you?


OPRAH voiceover: Now in his first TV interview, he reveals his new identity.


0{+> : That's the other person in me. We haven't determined what sex that other person is yet.


OPRAH voiceover: Meet his new bride.


OPRAH: And what do you call him?


OPRAH voiceover: Go inside his fascinating world. Hear your favorite song.


OPRAH: Can I hear a little bit of "Purple Rain"?


OPRAH voiceover: And experience a concert you'll never forget. (Footage of performing). You'll be talking about this one.


0{+> : I have something for you.


OPRAH: I will keep this.




OPRAH: What a day, what a day, what a day, what a day. What a day. It is an event. The artist formerly known as Prince is here! And whether you're a fan or not, his first TV interview is full of surprises. This is one everybody's going to be talking about. Wish I was in a beauty shop later today, honey. He is shy talking in front of an audience; however, he is anything but that on stage. His extraordinary talents began at a very early age.


OPRAH voiceover: He was born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958. Never the typical boy next door, Prince was a young musical genius who used music as an escape from life in a turbulent household. Prince ruled pop music in the '80s, thrilling audiences with his risqué performances and his sexual lyrics. (Excerpt from "Cream" video)


When he wasn't turning out his own top 10 hits, he was spinning gold for others like Sinead O'Connor... (Footage from O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" video) ...Sheena Easton... (Footage from Easton's "U Got the Look" video ...and Chaka Khan. (Footage from Khan's "I Feel For You" video). Millions of fans literally worship the Prince of "Purple Rain." (Footage of Prince singing Purple Rain")


In 1992, he signed the biggest record contract in the business, but things soured and Prince spent the last few years battling his record label. (Excerpt from "Controversy" video)


The controversy was over artistic control. Prince protested by scrawling 'Slave' on his cheek. He also changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. Today he is a new man with a beautiful bride who just gave birth to their first child. Now he's finally free from his record contract and is celebrating with a new CD set called, appropriately enough, "Emancipation."


OPRAH: Well, because -- because he changed his name to a symbol, everybody was asking me, "What are you going to call him?" I had no idea until our first meeting at his recording studio.


OPRAH voiceover: Paisley Park is an impressive 65,000 square foot complex The Artist built to be his state-of-the-art music video and film recording palace in suburban Minneapolis. The building is seen in his latest video, "Bet Ya [sic] By Golly, Wow." I went there for our first meeting.


0{+> : Hey, hey, hey.


OPRAH: Hey, hey, hey. Great to see you.


0{+> : Thanks so much for coming.


OPRAH: Oh, I'm thrilled to be here.


0{+> : Look at you.


OPRAH: Look at you. Oh, you're pretty.


0{+> : ...(Unintelligible).


OPRAH: You're pretty--really pretty. How's every little everything?


0{+> : Couldn't be better.


OPRAH: Really? Couldn't be better?


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: This is a nice place you've got here. I thought I had a nice place.


0{+> : It was all plain before, but we colored it up for...


OPRAH: This is cool. First of all, what do I call you?


0{+> : Friend, I hope.


OPRAH: Friend. Friend's good. Friend's good. You know that a lot of America and the world is confused about this whole name--what should, how to address you. What the symbol means. And I want you to clarify it for us all.


0{+> : Well, just like Muhammad Ali...


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : ...and Malcolm X...


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : ...people like that change their name, and some people take names that are hard to pronounce.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : And it just so happens I picked one that you can't pronounce. I don't know how to pronounce it even. If ever...


OPRAH: You don't even know to pronounce it.


0{+> : Yeah. If ever--if ever I'm told, you'll be the first to know.


OPRAH: Uh-huh. How to pronounce it.


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: So how did it come about? The symbol came to you and the symbol is like a combination of female and male?


0{+> : Yes.


OPRAH: And that is why you're now --we-- we have no name for you.


0{+> : Well, you do have a name for me. And the interesting thing about it is that some people think sometimes it's me trying to pull a power play or something like that.


OPRAH: Oh...


0{+> : I mean, you can type it on a type writer. I can give you the computer font.


OPRAH: Yeah. I've seen how you do it.


0{+> : And so...


OPRAH: We're going to show you right now on the screen how you do it on the typewriter.


TYPED ON TV SCREEN: 0(+>


OPRAH: So it wasn't about publicity or did you even recognize or think that it would cause this much of a stir about what your name was or what you were no longer?


0{+> : On the publicity tip, I --I could...


OPRAH: It wasn't calculated.


0{+> : Yeah, I could do without that, yeah.


OPRAH: Yeah. I've seen you referred to many times as The Artist, but what do your friends call you, just folks I've seen around here?


0{+> : I find it quite interesting some people now call me 'Sir.'


OPRAH: They just call you 'Sir'?


0{+> : Mm-hmm. They've never called me that before.


OPRAH: That's interesting.


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: Do you think it left some people around here a little confused?


0{+> : At first, yeah.




Kirk Johnson: I was his best man at his wedding. I co-produced the "Emancipation" album. I'm now his drummer, used to be his dancer. I called him... 'Hey, boss. Hey, man. Hey, bro.'


Annie: This is Arlene and I'm Annie.


Arlene: I'm his personal assistant. How we call him? Very hard question. Sometime we walking down the hall and I will have to say, 'Excuse me, can I talk to you?'


Annie: And when I talk to him I say, 'Sir?' that way, I got his attention.


Ms. Kim Berry: My name is Kim Berry. I'm his personal hairstylist, and I call him 'Boss.'


Ms. Nelle Garcia: I'm Nelle Garcia. I'm Mayte's mother. He is my son-in-law. I sometimes call him son-in-law and sometimes I call him son.




OPRAH: Well, most people call him simply The Artist. He describes his new three-D -- CD set "Emancipation" as the album he was born to make. I've been listening to it during my workouts every day. (Footage of OPRAH working out [to the title track])


OPRAH: It's great to work out to. I've been listing to it. (From footage) Ow! Free, free, free, freedom.


Loving every--loving every cut. Feeling freedom myself. Here to perform some of his hits from the Prince days is The Artist and New Power Generation, welcome The Artist!





performs ["Do Me, Baby" - "If I Was Your Girlfriend"]






OPRAH: Next, you'll meet the woman who entered the Artist's soul and captured his heart. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.


0{+> : This album is probably the most joyous one I've made. It's by far the most romantic because I've never been this much in love.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm. Did you think you'd find a love like this?


0{+> : Yeah, it was a dream


OPRAH: It was a dream?


0{+> : Right, I -- almost willed her to me.




(Footage performing "I Would Die 4 U)


OPRAH: Well, his erotic onstage image is quite different than the soft-spoken man I talked with who dreams of having a big family.




OPRAH: "Sex in the Summer." This is a song that featured the ultrasound heartbeat of your baby?


0{+> : Yeah. What we did was take a microphone and place it on Mayte's stomach and move it around with the gel until we got the right spot. And then (imitates heartbeat) you know, you start to hear that And then we put the drums around that. That's the baby.


OPRAH: When you heard that sound for the first time, what did you think or feel about yourself?


0{+> : I was pretty much speechless.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : It--it really grounds you, it makes you realize that things you thought wee important aren't really. That's what it meant to me.




OPRAH: "Let's Have a Baby" is such a beautiful song. I've got to tell you, my friend The Artist is in love, you-all--in love--gone, in love. I met his new bride during my visit to Paisley Park.




OPRAH voiceover: If you spend any time around the newlyweds, it's very clear that he has found his 'most beautiful girl in the world.' They first met in 1990 and married just this year on Valentine's Day.


OPRAH: Tell us the story when you saw her outside at a concert. I think it was in Germany, and you just said in passing to a friend...


0{+> : I saw her and her mother outside a concert in Frankfurt. And I said, 'That's my future wife.' Just as, you know...


OPRAH: Mm-hmm. And what did you think? First of all, you're introduced to Prince, and I understand you-all became friends. Did you think. 'This is my future husband'?


MAYTE: No.


OPRAH: You didn't? What did you think?


MAYTE: Well, I mean, I was 16 when I met him, so just the idea of meeting him -- I was really scared before I met him.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm


MAYTE: And then when I met him, I just felt this -- I was just calm and I didn't feel nervous.


OPRAH: Mm. The couple say they are soul mates and believe they knew each other in a previous life.


0{+> : I feel like she was either my sister or we were the same person or something in another life. It -- there's a closeness that -- that you know is right and you don't argue with.


OPRAH: Well, isn't this all kind of weird?


0{+> : Well, it depends on how you look at life.


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: It seems to me -- I would just s -- say this is a description of the two of you. I'm -- when he talks about you, there's a thing that happens in his eyes.


0{+> : I -- I do feel that I've come closer to who I aspire to be by being with her.


OPRAH: Really?


0{+> : Mm-hmm.


OPRAH: And what does she do for you that you didn't -- that you didn't have alone?


0{+> : She makes it easier to talk to God.


OPRAH: Really?


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: Oh, I could cry. Was it like a traditional ceremony? Like there's a minister and...


0{+> : Yes.


OPRAH: ...'You take and you say and until death do us' -- the whole thing?


0{+> : Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We had a very small wedding. We only invited friends and family -- mostly family. And there was a big empty section in the church. And she said that she's glad that it was empty because it left room for the angels.


OPRAH: Is he romantic?


MAYTE: He's romantic, yeah.


OPRAH: Yeah. I'm thinking, if he ain't romantic, who is?


MAYTE: He's very romantic.


OPRAH: Like romantic how? Life rose petals in the -- you know, in the bed and the bathtub and the...


MAYTE: Well, that's just -- well, roses. But for me, the most romantic thing that he's done is -- is write these beautiful songs for me.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : You know? "Let's -- Let's Have a Baby," because of that, I mean, I got pregnant. (Excerpt from "Let's Have a Baby")


OPRAH voiceover: It's been rumored that the couple's baby boy was born with health problems, and the reports have fans concerned.


What is the status of your -- your -- your baby, your pregnancy, your...


0{+> : Well, our family exists.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : We're just beginning it.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : And we've got many kids to have, a long way to go.


OPRAH voiceover: And that's all The Artist and his wife choose to say at this time. But while touring Paisley Park, he showed me their newly decorated playroom.


Oh, wow.


0{+> : And here's my favorite room.


OPRAH: The children's to be, the children's to come?


0{+> : Yes, ma'am.


OPRAH: The child in you, or just the children?


0{+> : Oh, the children, yeah.


OPRAH voiceover: And all those rumors about their baby -- well, the Artist shared this with us.


0{+> : It's all good. Never mind what you hear.


OPRAH: He said that he wants to -- in 10 years, he's going to have babies crawling all over him, on his ears and around his neck and calling him 'Daddy.' Do you want the same thing?


MAYTE: Oh, yeah. I never wanted it more.


OPRAH: Ten -- you really want 10, you think?


0{+> : It's up to her.


MAYTE: I hope I get some twins in there so I can...


OPRAH: Take a break. When you call him, what do you call him?


MAYTE: When I met him, I didn't call him Prince. I never called him that. Because I didn't see him as that person.


0{+> : She slipped out of that, didn't she?


MAYTE: What did I call him? I never -- I -- I just talk to him. You know, people always say, 'Well -- well, what if you need him to bring you something, pass the tea or something?'


OPRAH: That's right.


MAYTE: I just say...


0{+> : She sa -- you say, 'Hey.'


MAYTE: Hey, Hey.


0{+> : She says, 'Hey.'


OPRAH: So you just go around the house -- you -- so you never call him -- you never -- you never slip and say...


MAYTE: Because I never did.


OPRAH: Because you never did call him.


MAYTE: So it's not a...


OPRAH: 'Hey, you.'


MAYTE: ...big issue for me. It's, 'Hey.'


0{+> : Man, I would drop -- I would drop the tea if I heard 'Prince' come from the kitchen. I'd (imitates dropping something).


OPRAH: Would you really?


0{+> : Oh, man. It would scare me to death.


OPRAH: Does he make you laugh?


MAYTE: Oh, yeah.


OPRAH: Is he fun?


MAYTE: Yeah.


OPRAH: Does he tell jokes?


0{+> : No, I'm not.


MAYTE: Yes, you are.


0{+> : I don't tell jokes. I'm serious.


OPRAH: Yeah.


MAYTE: No.


OPRAH: Really? (Excerpt from "U Got the Look" video)


OPRAH: When we knew him as Prince, he was romantically linked with Sheena Easton, Kim Basinger, Vanity... (Excerpt from Vanity's "Nasty Girl" video)


OPRAH: ...and Apollonia.


Do you ever, you know, run into your past girlfriends or...


0{+> : Very seldom.


OPRAH: Very seldom.


0{+> : No. When I got married...


OPRAH: What's your relationship with them?


0{+> : None.


OPRAH: None?


0{+> : I mean, once -- once I got married, it just -- the phone stopped ringing.


OPRAH: Really?


0{+> : It stopped ringing, yeah.


OPRAH: Uh-huh. What would you like to say about your relationship? Will it be forever?


MAYTE: Just -- yes, it -- it will be forever.




OPRAH: Well, you know, many people think the artist formerly known as Prince is flat-out weird. You-all know a lot of people think that. So I asked him how he responds to those opinions. And you'll find out if he regrets anything from his sexy, sexy past. But first, remember this one? (Excerpt from "Kiss" video)




(Excerpt from Little Red Corvette" video)


OPRAH: We're talking to the usually reclusive and media-shy artist formerly known as Prince, who's famous for singing about sex and sex and sex and more sex.




OPRAH: I wanted to know do y -- what all the sexually provocative song titles over the years have meant. You know, where -- does it mean that you were just really into sex? We have this image of you behind the purple doors just kind of having sex.


0{+> : Oh, my goodness.


OPRAH: The wildest -- swinging from the -- there are doves in the ceiling and it's just the -- that's the image.


0{+> : Well, hey...


OPRAH: "Horny Toad." "Jerk Out," "Private Joy," "Sex Shooter," "Do It All Night," "Do Me, Baby" -- you know all those.


0{+> : Yeah, but you know, I've written some -- thousand some-odd songs.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


I went to a Prince concert probably -- oh, m -- must have been 10 years ago. I felt parts -- that it touched parts of myself that I didn't know I had.


0{+> : Mm-hmm


OPRAH: And I ended up going out doing things I didn't normally do. (Footage from "Prince & The Revolution Live")


OPRAH: Do you ever regret anything?


0{+> : No, because I think it's all part of the experience of life and growing. And it's gotten me to this place. You take one thing out of that and the structure falls, you know?


OPRAH: Mm-hmm


0{+> : So, I'm -- I'm quite content.


OPRAH: The creative environment is like a wild wonderland that some may find a little unusual.


OPRAH: I'm thinking I must be very attractive in this light.


0{+> : How do I look?


OPRAH: Yeah, you're looking good. Yi, yi, yi, yi. What is this?


0{+> : Studio B.


OPRAH: Studio B.


0{+> : For black light.


OPRAH: I must say, you have a very interesting place. It's just like your mind -- very interesting.


0{+> : I'll take that as a compliment.


OPRAH: Just in case you were wondering, there really are doves at Paisley Park.


OPRAH: Have you ever perceived yourself as being -- I know you must perceive yourself as being different. Have you ever perceived yourself as being weird in any way?


0{+> : Mm, yeah.


OPRAH: Yeah?


0{+> : Yeah. But, understand, everything is relative. Not weird to me...


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : ...but probably weird as compared to...


OPRAH: And you're living in Minneapolis of all places.


0{+> : Minneapolis, yeah.


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : I will always live in Minneapolis.


OPRAH: Right. Do you -- do you -- you will always live here?


0{+> : Mm-hmm.


OPRAH: Why?


0{+> : It's so cold, it keeps the bad people out.


OPRAH: I believe that. When you go -- do you like go to the mall?


0{+> : The last time I went to the mall I took about 400 people out with me, so I don't do that much anymore.


OPRAH: You don't do that?


0{+> : No


OPRAH: Really? Do you do like when we would perceive to be normal, everyday stuff? I mean, are you always this pretty? On a -- like on a normal day, I mean, I -- you would -- you would look this good.


0{+> : On a normal day, I'm clean.


OPRAH: You're clean?


0{+> : I'm clean on a normal day. I'm -- it...


OPRAH: All the time. What do you most want people to k now about you? What do you -- first of all, what do you think the perception is?


0{+> : Well, I'm sure after the past two years or so, it's become quite strange.


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : I hear -- I hear they're calling Diana the artist formerly known as princess now. I mean, it it's gotten to that point, then...


OPRAH: OK. So people think you're weird.


0{+> : Yeah


OPRAH: They think you're strange. What do you want them to know?


0{+> : The -- the music.




OPRAH: Well, The Artist is known for his imaginative outfits, you all know. Next, we're going to go inside his special wardrobe room where all of his clothes are made. That's why he's always so pretty.




(Footage of performing "Purple Rain")


OPRAH: But during our conversation. The Artist shared a very personal discovery he's recently made about himself. This is very interesting.


0{+> : Recent analysis has proved that there's probably two people inside of me. There's a Gemini. And we haven't determined what sex that other person is yet.


OPRAH: did you say, 'I'm not even sure what sex it is -- or he or she or -- is'? Did you say that?


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: I thought I heard that. What I'm getting from you is that you are very much in touch with both sides of yourself, your masculine and feminine side.


0{+> : Mm-hmm.


OPRAH: Uh-huh. And so people grew up thinking that you're weird or that you're gay because of it. And that never bothered you?


0{+> : Hey, whatever floats the boat, you know.


OPRAH: Whatever peanut butter's your jelly.


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : There you go.


OPRAH: It's literally like another personality you're talking about?


0{+> : Well, what they seem to find was that it was some -- someone I had created when I was five years old.


OPRAH: Really?


0{+> : Mm-hmm. For whatever reason, I'm not sure yet. But I hope to find out.


OPRAH: 'They,' like psychologists, therapists?


0{+> : Well, actually, I found out...


OPRAH: Uh-huh.


0{+> : ...because I took some -- I took some -- went through therapy.


OPRAH: Uh-huh.


0{+> : So...


OPRAH: And you found out that...


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: ...there is another person...


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: ...living inside you?


0{+> : This is turning into a Sybil interview.


OPRAH: Yeah, really. Does that person have a name that we could call?


0{+> : That -- that -- that's what is so interesting to me, is that I -- that I think that that's why I changed my name. I think that's who I am now.


OPRAH: Really?


0{+> : I -- I -- yeah. I very much feel divorced from Prince.


OPRAH: You really do?


0{+> : Yes.


OPRAH: Being sm -- being of smaller stature, did it ever make you question yourself, question your -- I don't know -- ability to -- to get dates, get women in the beginning?


0{+> : No. N -- No. It questioned my ability to play basketball, because I like to hoop, but...


OPRAH: Did you ever feel ridiculed as a child because of your size?


0{+> : Mm-hmm.


OPRAH: You did?


0{+> : Oh, yeah. All the time.


OPRAH: And how did you handle that?


0{+> : That's probably when that person got created...


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : ...you know, somebody to care about you and love you and be your friend and not ridicule you.


OPRAH: Uh-huh. OK, what would they call you?


0{+> : Just everything they could think of -- anything small.


OPRAH voiceover: In 1984 Prince starred in the movie "Purple Rain" about a singer from an abusive household, a story much like his own.


OPRAH: Your father was an abusive man, right? That's what I've read, but I nev -- never know what's true and what's not.


0{+> : He -- he had his moments.


OPRAH: What is the most autobiographical scene in "Purple Rain" for you?


0{+> : I -- I'll say that it was probably the scene with -- with me looking at my mother, crying. (Excerpt from "Purple Rain," courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)


0{+> : There was a time when we didn't live together.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : When I met him again he was the -- a jewel. He was the most beautiful person I knew. And we are again en -- estranged. But hopefully we can hook up again. If not, you know, this is his experience, you know? And he is living his experience and what he wants. I'm living mine the way I want. You know, it would be cool if they hooked up, but, hey, you can only hope.




OPRAH: Well, have you ever wondered where The Artist gets all his clothes? Well, on a tour of Paisley Park, I found out .




0{+> : Let me show you these.


OPRAH: Let me get this straight. There's just a department that just makes your clothes?


0{+> : Just me. This spells, 'Welcome.'


OPRAH: This does? Yeah.


0{+> : "Raspberry Beret." (Excerpt from "Raspberry Beret" video)


OPRAH: What size is your waist?


0{+> : Twenty-seven.


OPRAH: Twenty-seven. Isn't that delightful?


0{+> : Yeah, I like that. That I'd wear again. (Excerpt "Sexy MF" video)


0{+> : We don't wear this no more.


OPRAH: We don't wear this no more, no.


Well, when you want something new, do you just come up and say, 'You know what I'm feeling like? I'm going to do OPRAH. I need something in cream.' Did you tell her...


0{+> : They are constantly making clothes, every week.


OPRAH: That's nice. (Photographs of in different outfits)




OPRAH: Somebody is on staff making the clothes every day. Next, one of my favorite experiences with the artist formerly known as Prince. This would be a dream come true for any of his fans. It certainly was for me.




(Excerpt from "Diamonds and Pearls" video)


OPRAH: Well, one of my favorite experiences at Paisley Park was going to the place where The Artist creates his music.




0{+> : Let me show you my piano.


OPRAH: What are you going to play for me?


0{+> : What do you want to hear?


OPRAH: Can I hear a little bit of "Purple Rain"? We have a purple piano. ( plays "Purple Rain" on the piano)


OPRAH: Thank you for doing that.


0{+> : You're welcome.


OPRAH: Was music an escape for -- for you in childhood?


0{+> : Yes...


OPRAH: It was?


0{+> : ...very much so.


OPRAH: And it was a way you took yourself away?


0{+> : Hours and hours and hours away.


OPRAH: You taught yourself to play at seven years old.


0{+> : Yes.


OPRAH: Do you remember your first song?


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: You do? ( plays the theme from "Batman")


OPRAH: The music comes to your head and then you come here, or sometimes you're here and then the music just comes out.


0{+> : Mm-hmm. ( sings a song ["Forever In My Life"])


0{+> : It's -- JFK...


OPRAH: Played this at his wedding.


0{+> : Right.


OPRAH: That was his first dance.


0{+> : Phew. Yeah.


OPRAH: Thank you, Prince. Oh, thank you -- why don't -- you should slap me. You should just slap me.


0{+> : No, I won't do that.


OPRAH: OK. You should just -- I -- thank you, friend.


0{+> : Friend.


OPRAH: Thank you, friend.




OPRAH: What a gentle, sweet man. Wonderful soul, he is. In 1992 Prince -- he was Prince then -- signed a $100-million contract with Warner Bros. Records, the biggest deal in the industry. But their deal turned into a public feud over who would have the control. In protest of that contract, The Artist scrawled the word 'Slave' on his face. You all remember this phase. (Footage of Performing)




OPRAH: All those years before -- all those years -- times you were walking around with 'Slave' on the side of your face, what was that all about?


0{+> : To clarify that so many people don't get the wrong impression, I -- I never meant to be compared to any slave in the past...


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : ...or any slave in the future. The slavery that I had undergone was in my mind and -- as well as the business that I was in. We inked a $100-million deal with Warner Bros....


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : ...or any slave in the future. The slavery that I had undergone was in my mind and -- as well as the business that I was in. We inked a $100-million deal with Warner Bros....


OPRAH: Mm-hmm.


0{+> : ...and that turned out to be a little less than desirable.


OPRAH: A hundred million dollars did?


0{+> : The deal.


OPRAH: The whole deal...


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: ...what all that meant?


0{+> : Yeah. It's like I was saying before, you -- you can go in to record, you can go in to do some form of art, and if you -- you have any sort of chains on you, it's not going to come out as cool as it could be.


OPRAH: So you felt, as an artist , enslaved?


0{+> : Yes.


OPRAH: Mm-hmm. It sounds like you've grown.


0{+> : No, I'm pretty much the same size.


OPRAH: You know.


0{+> : Yeah.


OPRAH: Yeah.


0{+> : I -- I -- I really do feel I have, inside.


OPRAH: Do you think that it would have happened to you had you not been enslaved?


0{+> : Oh, no. Absolutely not. And I -- you know, I -- some days I want to just call up the folks at Warner Bros. And just. 'I love you, man.'


OPRAH: Really?


0{+> : Yeah, just...


OPRAH: Because?


0{+> : Of the journey, and they're are part of the experience. I -- I'm thankful to them for giving me the opportunity to be here talking to you, you know? This record is really important for me because it's the first time that I've recorded an album, a complete album, in a state of complete freedom.


OPRAH: Will we feel the emancipation?


0{+> : Yeah, I think so. What -- what you have to understand is I play most of the instruments myself. So when I go in to do the guitar track, this is a happy, free man recording.


OPRAH: We're going to hear what freedom sounds like, America. (Footage and OPRAH in the recording studio)


OPRAH: That's fabulous.


0{+> : Freedom is a beautiful thing.


OPRAH: Freedom is a beautiful thing. (Footage of and OPRAH in the recording studio)


OPRAH: That's fabulous, isn't it? That is fabulous. 'Emancipation, break the chain, break the chain.'




OPRAH: Next, The Artist performs a new dance song he wrote about the way a man should treat a woman. It's on the album -- CD set "Emancipation." We'll be right back.




(Excerpt from "1999" video)


OPRAH: Well, The Artist wrote many songs on the latest three-CD set "Emancipation" that are very personal and reflect where he is in his life today. And we know he's in love. Well, this one is called "Sleep Around" and tells how to keep a woman happy. "Sleep Around" from the CD -- three-CD set "Emancipation." The Artist.





performs ["Sleep Around"]






OPRAH: The Artist! What fun. Next, highlights from our visit with my new friend. Back in a...




OPRAH: I just have one question. I want to ask one question. How many -- ho -- I wanted to ask him one question before we left. How many more songs do you think you have inside yourself?


0{+> : Oh, one a day at...


OPRAH: One a day?


0{+> : ...I hope, until I die.


OPRAH: One a day. The CD is called "Emancipation." You're going to love it. You can work out to it. It's a spiritual kind of thing. You can do the -- whatever you want to do to it. It's a fabulous new CD set. Thank you, friend, and New Power Generation.