In 2004, Prince gave several interviews on the radio to promote the Musicology album and tour to Steve Harvey, Donnie Simpson and Frank Ski and he sounded enthusiastic and engaged with the radio hosts and callers. His responses were often thoughtful and humorous and was even able to poke fun at himself about Chappelle Show and his persona. In 1996 when he gave interviews to promote the Emancipation album, he was beleagured coming off his business dispute with Warner Bros. and starting off fresh with a new business relationship and the unfortunate circumstances in his personal life. I haven't heard these interviews since 2004, but does anybody else have memories of this period when Prince enjoyed his greatest level of popularity in the mainstream in print, tv, and radio media?

berlinas2k said:

I absolutely remember this period of his career. The Rainbow Children through Musicology era was a good time to be a fan. The music may not have been everyone's cup of tea but Prince was engaging, open and most importantly seemed happy and having fun being Prince.

He even seemed less antagonistic towards record company execs and the industry. I was shocked and pleased that he sounded at ease and welcoming to questions about his accomplishments and even though I loved the ONA Tour/Rainbow Children period, it was cool to see casual fans and tastemakers play his new music and talk about him in the present tense rather than the past tense in terms of relevance.