PeteSilas said:

anangellooksdown said:

rogifan said:

I have only listened to the first 10 minutes of the podcast and this is quite entertaining! What strike strikes me is how passionate and enthused she still sounds about starting out working with Prince. After SO long people tend to sound like they were never excited about what they do.

anangellooksdown said:

This was a great interview. Some points that stood out to me: - She says she was shocked that he died and did not expect that whatsoever. And that it was sort of a running joke with him that he would say he'd be the last one standing, or something to that effect. Don't know when last said that, but she worked with him until a few weeks before his passing, so that makes me wonder if he didn't expect he'd die either. - She says he was extremely well-read about all religions and things of this nature and open to all paths spiritually. - She says he was a constant, incredible giver. He'd pull the limo over to hand a homeless person a stack of money. He said he could get more of it and they might not be able to. - There seems to have been a lot of joking around and playfulness between Prince and his staff/musical family, but they also knew he was boss. This tells me once again that he could walk that fine line of appreciating humor and people but also have excellent boundaries. - She says he took care of his family of origin financially. I knew in my heart right after he died that he had been doing this. Kim said he took care of everybody and knew he had not only a musical calling from God but a much bigger responsibility too. - It seems she almost walked his life with him from D&P on. She has had an unbelievable experience. She is grateful that he allowed her to be there for all the events of his life including his parents' and his son's deaths. She is VERY funny. She is writing a book called "Diamonds and Pearls" that will be out before Christmas and she says it won't be a tell-all or have any of that negativity in it; that it'll be an expression of love to her brother. [Edited 3/31/17 4:56am]

Prince also was a fan of Bill Maher too and Bill is an open atheist. I am not saying Prince was leading toward that way but Prince was pretty much open to learn all types of path rather they were religious or nonreligious. The dude even expressing Asian-based religion themes (like the third eye) toward his final years.

[Edited 3/31/17 14:02pm]

I am not a fan of the interviewer (you're an interviewer, stop saying "if you don't mind me asking" for everything!) so I couldn't get past the first few minutes where he was asking her what high school she attended (whut?).

Based on y'alls comments, though, I'll go back and listen since it sounds like it was a loving and respectful sharing of their time together.

RE: religion - there are many, many, many metaphysical references scattered throughout his music but much more so in his latter years. Nothing seemed to happen randomly in his world (especially with his artistic expression) so it feels pretty clear to me that his view expanded into the more spiritual side.

MysticalChick said:

I am not a fan of the interviewer (you're an interviewer, stop saying "if you don't mind me asking" for everything!) so I couldn't get past the first few minutes where he was asking her what high school she attended (whut?).

Based on y'alls comments, though, I'll go back and listen since it sounds like it was a loving and respectful sharing of their time together.

RE: religion - there are many, many, many metaphysical references scattered throughout his music but much more so in his latter years. Nothing seemed to happen randomly in his world (especially with his artistic expression) so it feels pretty clear to me that his view expanded into the more spiritual side.

he's alright, i've been listening to a bunch of his interviews. His interview of that rapper from the early nineties was pretty good. the guy was very bright and articulate, i didn't expect that much given the genre and given what rosie gaines said about him. and also, he interviewed a videographer who also broke down and wept saying how he never got to thank prince for his start in the field even though prince stopped paying him. during that interview, the interviewer also was pretty supportive during the moment the guy broke down.

[Edited 3/31/17 16:11pm]

NO ONE IS SAYING PRINCE STOPPED BEING CHRISTIAN>>> WE GET IT>

I, for one, was just saying that strict adherence to JW doctrine might have been dwindling. Even your snippets prove this idea. After all, the CHristians he was surrounding himself with were NOT JW"S.

rogifan said:

From an Ebony interview posted on their site in December 2015: https://www.facebook.com/...788385046/

EBONY: You’ve never had a producer. What made you choose Joshua Welton for Hit N Run: Phase One? Prince: His faith in God really struck a nerve. And you know how you can just feel that something’s gonna work and it feels right, it’s a good fit? I knew the band was going to work, I knew the relationship with him was gonna work. I check people out now to see how faith-based they are and how real they are about it. That goes a long way, I gotta tell you. Because I can trust them. I can give him the key and don’t have to worry.

Here's what Josh said in 2015 interviews promoting HNR: http://nypost.com/2015/08...-old-muse/ http://www.gigwise.com/fe...lton-tidal

Obviously, Prince has been releasing music for decades and that changes the context of things. How would you say the digital age has impacted on the way that you and Prince write together? For nine months, I was here and I was just supporting Hannah. I wasn't making any music with them and then I didn't know what I could do. Him and I had very deep conversations about God and Jesus and got a chance to know each other as people. When we started to work on music, it really came out that way and got a chance to know his personality and what he listens for. When I got the chance to mix this record, I got a better understanding of the genius of Prince. I got to hear his voice by itself, then the harmony that he chose for the melody, then the breath that took and his timing in the pocket of a track. I've got to see a true recording artist and learn up close and personal. It's really a great experience because we genuinely love each other. Anything like love and passion will always translate well into culture.

And let's not forget the 3EG cover of Christian singer-songwriter Nichole Nordeman's "What If" which Prince supposedly first heard on a CCR radio station. [Edited 3/31/17 16:29pm]

MysticalChick said:

purplerabbithole said:

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

NO ONE IS SAYING PRINCE STOPPED BEING CHRISTIAN>>> WE GET IT>

I, for one, was just saying that strict adherence to JW doctrine might have been dwindling. Even your snippets prove this idea. After all, the CHristians he was surrounding himself with were NOT JW".

Only a tiny percent of the population are JW so I'm not surprised that most people he associated with were not JW. And of course he believed in God long before he ever became a JW. But in my opinion, and it's only my opinion when people throw out the word 'spiritual' or that he was expanding his views/opening himself up to other ideas I take that to mean more than just no longer strictly adhering to JW doctrine. And that's where I disagree. Let's just say I don't think Prince was planning on becoming a buddhist anytime soon.

or he could have been like a lot of us, alot of people feel no need to go into any kind of dogma but realize that it's not possible for all this shit to create itself.

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

NO ONE IS SAYING PRINCE STOPPED BEING CHRISTIAN>>> WE GET IT>

I, for one, was just saying that strict adherence to JW doctrine might have been dwindling. Even your snippets prove this idea. After all, the CHristians he was surrounding himself with were NOT JW".

Only a tiny percent of the population are JW so I'm not surprised that most people he associated with were not JW. And of course he believed in God long before he ever became a JW. But in my opinion, and it's only my opinion when people throw out the word 'spiritual' or that he was expanding his views/opening himself up to other ideas I take that to mean more than just no longer strictly adhering to JW doctrine. And that's where I disagree. Let's just say I don't think Prince was planning on becoming a buddhist anytime soon.

or he could have been like a lot of us, alot of people feel no need to go into any kind of dogma but realize that it's not possible for all this shit to create itself.

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

NO ONE IS SAYING PRINCE STOPPED BEING CHRISTIAN>>> WE GET IT>

I, for one, was just saying that strict adherence to JW doctrine might have been dwindling. Even your snippets prove this idea. After all, the CHristians he was surrounding himself with were NOT JW".

Only a tiny percent of the population are JW so I'm not surprised that most people he associated with were not JW. And of course he believed in God long before he ever became a JW. But in my opinion, and it's only my opinion when people throw out the word 'spiritual' or that he was expanding his views/opening himself up to other ideas I take that to mean more than just no longer strictly adhering to JW doctrine. And that's where I disagree. Let's just say I don't think Prince was planning on becoming a buddhist anytime soon.

iirc, she said he always came back to (christian ideals) one god or something like that. I took it that he's always been reading.

Geez not another religious debate

Even Kim, who actually knows him for over 25 years said the man was reading all types of religions, so he believed in higher power doesn't mean he was going back to be a Christian as there is no evidence to support this. He might have maintain being a JW but he also was exploring Asian-based religion too per images on his backdrop during his Piano and Mic tours. He was expanding his views so he was more spiritual but not religious. Prince was searching like most of us are. Christianity to me doesn't fulfill me as I like Asian religions better (even though I am an atheist) because it focus more on myself as a human but hey if someone else love them some Jesus go right for it. In other words,Prince mixed genres his music he also mixed religious beliefs to fit his own view. He was a zigzag dude. That cool about being a Prince fan its like come as you are.

Prince was a complicated and mysterious man.

[Edited 3/31/17 18:15pm]

ladygirl99 said:

Geez not another religious debate

Even Kim, who actually knows him for over 25 years said the man was reading all types of religions, so he believed in higher power doesn't mean he was going back to be a Christian as there is no evidence to support this. He might have maintain being a JW but he also was exploring Asian-based religion too per images on his backdrop during his Piano and Mic tours. He was expanding his views so he was more spiritual but not religious. Prince was searching like most of us are. Christianity to me doesn't fulfill me as I like Asian religions better because it focus more on myself as a human but hey if someone else love them some Jesus go right for it. That cool about being a Prince fan its like come as you are.

Prince was a complicated and mysterious man.

For me it's not, just repeating what I thought I heard her say.


There are a lot of Christian- (insert here), so I'm not even going to try to hedge what he was doing.

Prince can still choose CHristianity (or JW) as his path while believing that all paths lead to the same place. I imagine he was the type of guy who believed in the power of belief to create one's reality. A JW belief in eternal life for all probably suited the grieving man who lost an infant son. But considering Prince was also a fan of the film "What Dreams May COme" (a film in which you create your own afterlife--its not pre-determined or the same for ever sinner vs. non-sinner) and considering that he also believed in the power of the mind to transport people, its not unreasonable to surmise that he eventually opened his mind to tolerating and accepting other paths and even alternating his own to accomodate his conscience or his compassion for those around him.

rogifan said:

purplerabbithole said:

The Bilial story was more awkward than a full argument. What I remember was that Prince looked at him like "WTF" are you talking about? And then someone pulled Bilial aside and told him to tread lightly on the subject. Considering what Prince had said about Islamic countries in 2011 and the song "Same Page Different Book", P and Bilial might have been more on the same page than Bilial assumed (or P listened more than he realized and adapted his own philosophy.) Sometimes, people walked on eggshells around Prince after Prince became hard to read..NO surprise there.

I found the story... http://www.okayplayer.com...rince.html

Common had asked Prince to come in and sing for his album. It was this song they were doing, “Star *69” or something like that. And they had gotten Prince to come to his studio and, I was just so, I don’t know, like some young stupid shit in my mind that just made me an idiot that day. But, Prince came in the studio and I was just asking him all of the dumbest questions in the world like, “Hey, dude. I didn’t know you wore heels. Nice shoes,” And everything else I’m saying was a cuss word. Ahmir was behind him the whole time, “No cuss words. Shut up.” I don’t know what happened, but me and Prince kind of got into a religious debate between The Bible and the Qu’ran. And I tell you, I thought Ahmir was going to do a back flip and kick me in the head. He calls me to the side and said, “There’s two things you don’t talk about around Prince: you don’t curse and you don’t talk religion.” And I was really in there, trying to get Prince to see how similar Islam was to Christianity. I don’t know why. Ahmir stepped in and was like, “Look, shut up. You’re not allowed to say anything else tonight.”

rogifan said:

anangellooksdown said:

This was a great interview. Some points that stood out to me: - She says he was extremely well-read about all religions and things of this nature and open to all paths spiritually.

Maybe this is just me nitpicking but I don't remember her saying he was open to all paths, though she said something to the effect he understood it was about him and his relationship with God. I get the feeling she's not much of a JW fan so when she said she thought he was becoming less religious and more spiritual I took it to mean that perhaps he was becoming less dogmatic re: JW. Someone who visited PP last year said one of the books on a table in his office was The New Oxford Annotated Bible. I'm not sure how that compares to the JW Bible. I don't think Prince's belief in the Christian God ever wavered. The artist Bilal shared a story about how he once got into an argument with Prince as he was trying to explain how he felt Christianity and Islam were similar. Someone pulled him to the side and said there's one thing you never discuss with Prince and that's religion.

SHe disticctly said ~ he studied Buddhism and Hinduism~prefacing it with he was a genius...its in the last 10 minutes..listen again.

Nice interview. She sounds very genuine and fun. I cried when she started.

Back to hair ...did she say Prince was clouring his hair in the last few years?

Lovejunky said:

rogifan said:

anangellooksdown said: Maybe this is just me nitpicking but I don't remember her saying he was open to all paths, though she said something to the effect he understood it was about him and his relationship with God. I get the feeling she's not much of a JW fan so when she said she thought he was becoming less religious and more spiritual I took it to mean that perhaps he was becoming less dogmatic re: JW. Someone who visited PP last year said one of the books on a table in his office was The New Oxford Annotated Bible. I'm not sure how that compares to the JW Bible. I don't think Prince's belief in the Christian God ever wavered. The artist Bilal shared a story about how he once got into an argument with Prince as he was trying to explain how he felt Christianity and Islam were similar. Someone pulled him to the side and said there's one thing you never discuss with Prince and that's religion.

She distinctly said ~ he studied Buddhism and Hinduism~prefacing it with he was a genius...

44:10

Q:Did you guys ever sit down and have conversations about these matters (god and Spirituality )

A: Absolutely..I mean that was one of the main things. He was extremely spiritual. So I know he Loved GOD ..umm the religion he Towards the end he kinda came out of Religion so to speak..you know Quote Unquote..he knew that it was about his relationship ..you know..with the creator..and so umm…that was a beautiful thing..when Larry Graham came around he got more into the Jehovahs Witness aspect of things..ummm he umm got really deep into that..he had said that at some point he had studied so hard that ..becasue the Man was a genius..he studied every religion..he studied literally hypnotists..he studied Mind Travel..he studied umm Hinduism..and Buddhism and you know ever religion he studied but like as they said…….all roads lead back to GOD..He knew that there was one creator ummm..we had conversations about it all…we talked about ……….literally..he said Kim you know if you imagine yourself to be in Hawaii..You could be in Hawaii,,like we talked about mind travel you know so we had our moments when it got really deep and we would go back and forth about what he knew about the bible what I knew about the bible..

so he was like Kim..you come and talk to my elders…

and I was like No you need to come talk to MY Elders ( laughter banter)

you know the Man loved GOD he knew who he was he knew that he was a vessel that was created to bring Music and Love to the world and man 46:31

In regard to your Comment about the Christian God Rogifan...

There is only ONE god and he has NO Religion...

He speaks in many languages....Once you GET this...you o p e n yourself to How Merciful is God that he makes himself available and visible to those whose search for him is sincere.

Beyond Dogma and claims of Ownership...

The more one studies other religions the more one can see he is there too.

If you love GOD and I LOVE GOD...we can talk forever....

But if you tell me you are a Muslim and cant agree with me because Im a Christian...then

..we have a PROBLEM....

On that Note just take a Look at whats happening in the world today because the all the Organised religions of the world want to claim exclusive ownership over GOD...

My GOD is YOUR god is OUR GOD....

the One and only..

We are all in this together....

Inferior to GODS superior...

Thats where Prince was at...

Continuously trying to bring us all together...

edited for shcoking spelling...sorry

[Edited 3/31/17 23:53pm]

said it many times since he's passed, the jw's are strict and intolerant of any other belief system and they are against anything like Prince was talking about in his last few years, "mind travel" talking to his dead relatives, even talking about life after death. don't take my word for it, ask a JW. Prince was definitely not a rigid follower in the last years of his life. I think he was in the early 2000's, he certainly seemed that way, even though he still wore the makeup, which any other JW would be kicked out for. MJ in fact kicked the JW's to the curb before his release of Bad because he didn't want them bitching about the things he was going to do, like they did with Thriller.

It was a great interview.
In fact, these are the people that show us how Prince really was. This was an employee of his for 30 years, which means a lot. It means he trusted and loved her for her work and most likely her spirit. Like she said, she saw many of his faces: sad Prince, mad, Prince, arrogant Prince, kind Prince, humanitarian Prince, funny Prince. She knows him more than all of us combined. It was wonderful to listen to the love she feels for him and realize how he looked after everyone.
It was very interesting to hear Prince studied mind travel, hinduism, budhism, etc. I believe that's exactly where he was at in the last couple of days, hence the mandalas, tunics, necklaces, natural look.

PeteSilas said:

80tomato said:

Back to hair ...did she say Prince was clouring his hair in the last few years?

Yes she did. Kim mentioned that once he started asking for streaks in his hair(around 97 I think) she was sure to keep him "cut and colored" at all times. She also mentioned how important it was to to his fro trimmed and conditioned.

Lovejunky said:

ladygirl99 said: