Eversince Chaka splited from that NPG label, she stopped talking publishly about the brotha(I heard that she's still cool with him). Anybody with knowledge about this could be very helpful with answering my ?uestion.

This whole thang seems like a dirty secret 2 me, I remember back in 98 when everybody was raving about Prince's label being the home of Larry Graham & Chaka Khan. Hell, I still remember radio personality Wendy Williams making fun of the situation saying "Chaka is known 4 her diffecult attitude and the strong personality, but thats all changed right now since she gave TAFKAP the chance 2 manipulate with her talent like he did with Mavis Stables". On the other hand, Donnie Simpson(who's a DJ in some station in DC) was very excited about this being a "union" with 2 of his FAVE artists(Prince & Chaka) even Prince himself was very excited about her presence in his label.


But when she departed from the NPG label, words on the streets said that Chaka was disappointed at Prince's move when he signed with a major label after all the brotha tried 2 convience the media about being independent, he kinda left those who supported him stranded. It left a bad taste in everyones mouth(including Chaka's) but I don't really think this is the deal, its just a rumor I kept hearing back then. Its just i neva read any articles or interviews regarding this matter(even Chaka's latest TV bio-Family Portriat)

But right now, I wanna hear the real story. What was the reason behind Chaka's depart from NPG? Anyone?
[This message was edited Sat Aug 2 13:08:10 PDT 2003 by Harlepolis]

I don't know the story, but I just think that other than on a simple level of being able to throw down a good groove together, Chaka and NPG just weren't a good fit.

I think Chaka's always had her own kind of image - she's a diva, she has a lot of history, she has a huge gay following, etc., etc. - and it was probably impossible for her to fit all of her legendary reputation into Prince's template, especially considering he was throwing himself into the JW thing pretty hardcore at the time (Chaka isn't JW, is she?).

I think Chaka's a prestige artist who has a lot of flexibility and mileage left in her career, and when you align yourself with Prince, you're automatically seen as a "Prince product", a la Vanity 6, The Family, etc...a move that has put a jinx on many a really good project...Jill Jones' album was AMAZING, but overlooked because the casual listener just saw it as another album by a Prince floozie. Look at what happened with Mavis' Paisley releases...with George Clinton's Paisley-released stuff...they went nowhere, despite the fact that these were big R&B legends.

It's sad but true - P might be able to pen or produce hits for other artists, but when he signs them, it brings their value down. Maybe Chaka realized this and decided to move on after enjoying a bit of collaboration w/ Prince and Larry.

Chaka mad? Chaka REAL mad!

Off topic, but here's a GREAT interview by her from 98 that I wanna share:

Shake 'em up Chaka. (singer Chaka Khan)(Interview)
Author/s: Karen R. Good
Issue: Nov, 1998
She might prefer being called a primal wailer but the truth, as her obsessed fans well know, is that Chaka Khan is divalicious
On her twenty-first album, Come 2 My House (NPG), Chaka Khan - single mother, grandmother, former Black Panther - reunites and reignites with longtime collaborator The Artist for a conceptual, heavy funk journey through love and all its shadows. Khan, who has influenced musicians from Mary J. Bilge to Erykah Badu, left Warner Bros. recently to join The Artist's upstart label, New Power Generation. They met in the early '80s, just after she split from her band Rufus, known for such anthems as "Tell Me Something Good" and "Ain't Nobody." Khan was one of the first to meld hip-hop and R&B in her 1984 remake of The Artist's "I Feel for You," with the help of Stevie Wonder on harmonica and hip-hop pioneer Melle Mel. Then came along a belt-it-out arsenal of hits, including "Through the Fire" and "Never Miss the Water." Whether she comes in Prada or whether she comes barefoot, Khan keeps on coming with incantatory wails pumped with scat jazz and funk. It's her stripped-down goddamness that dwells deep in House, her best work in years.
KAREN R. GOOD: Your relationship with The Artist has really come full circle since "I Feel for You." He coproduced and cowrote Come 2 My House, and it works.
CHAKA KHAN: This album is not going to die like them other heffas' albums died when he got with them. They sound like chicks singing Prince songs.
KRG: Actually, the album sounds very Rufusized.
CK: That's because I pretty much wrote all the songs, and I was doing a lot of the writing in Rufus as well. Claire Fisher, the string arranger, also came back. The Artist is just like the guys in Rufus; he's a brother. He's amazing. I feel now like I felt when I used to be working those little clubs when I was sixteen and seventeen years old, right before I got a record deal. We went back to simplicity, with my voice being used as an instrument. Lead trumpet - no, lead sax.
KRG: Is that why jazz is so close to your heart?
CK: Well, I just love a sax. And Charlie Parker's sax. God, he really did transcend the musical range. He did some screaming there, too. Between him and Miles . . .
KRG: I know you love Miles's Sketches of Spain.
CK: Yes, darlin'. One of my all-time favorites.
KRG: You, Aretha, Sandra St. Victor, Rachelle Ferrell, are like sirens. I wonder if . . .
CK: I'm so glad you said sirens and not divas! That really, really, really means a lot to me. We are sirens of a sort. And primal wailers. Because people like us, we have to sing. If I weren't singing, I can't imagine what I'd be doing. I'd probably be hurting somebody, or myself.
KRG: Is it the cliche or generality of diva that turns you off?
CK: Diva sort of brings to mind images of . . . a prima ballerina. And she's not nice. Not humble at all. I don't think I'm that kind of person, I really don't. People who are Websterly challenged say that. [giggles] Or who don't have any imagination. There're so many other things you could callContinued from page 1
KRG: You've collaborated with a lot of rappers, most recently Queen Latifah on this new record. Does the sort of revolutionary defiance that hip-hop can he remind you In any way of your days as a Black Panther?
CK: Oh, year. When I was in Chicago and I was a Panther, we had the Last Poets. And they were talking revolution in a beautiful and articulate way. I've always considered rap a real medium of importance; it's probably one of the only things that our kids today have. Now, I don't like to hear songs when they're talking about women in a derogatory way and some of the other things that scare me, but the medium is keeping their behinds in some sort of check. I'd rather them talk about it than be out there trying to do it. And they're respecting themselves, you know. And what the hell is wrong with that?
KRG: I don't even know how to unpack the line: "A weak girl's laugh can be a strong girl's cry," from "Hair."
CK: That's Larry Grahams's lyric, baby! "Hair" was one of his biggest hits and he did it fonky. If you were a bass player at that time and you could play that bassline, that was like your baptism of fire. That song was such a natural for me because people are always asking me: Is that your hair? It's such a serious issue for a lot of us. Too bad. Because there's so much other, more important stuff that we need to concentrate on.
KRG: I really appreciate your new song "Don't Talk 2 Strangers." I'm adopted, and recently my birth mother found me; that song provided a kind of emotional release. It's ironic because the mother is leaving, and she's advising her child but sending her Into the arms of those who would comparatively be strangers.
CK: Oh, girl. [pause] I got goose bumps. And I feel . . . bleary-eyed. Sweet Jesus of mercy. You know something: This is gonna affect many, many people, this song. Look at ali the women in jail. Mothers dying of AIDS. Or when the grandma dies. I mean, it doesn't necessarily have to be about death - I felt compelled to do this song because I remember my babies climbing into my suitcase when I had to pack to go on tour. That used to break my heart.
KRG: On "Come 2 My House," you sing, "A look In your eyes / And U remind / Me of my daddy" What's your father like?
CK: Antsy. He's a photographer, very progressive. He's an intellectual; a lot of his favorite authors are Russian. He's lived abroad. He wasn't a great father because he was doing life in his fantastic way. But we did benefit. I believe I became a singer because I knew I would get to travel and see the world. So, I'm not looking to be domineered, because I didn't get that from him. I'm looking to be appreciated. On equal - no, superior - terms. And I'm also looking for contrasts. I need a conversation. I need a teacher. And I'd like a listener.
KRG: So, what made you move back to the East Coast? I hear you're living in Jersey now.
CK: Mm-hmm. Alpine. First off, I wanted to be closer to Europe. I'd rather take a six- or seven-hour flight as opposed to an eleven-hour one. Second, I hate L.A. It sucks. As soon as my son turned eighteen, I sent him back to New York, where there's competition. If you look at L.A. from a spiritual point of view, it's a cultivated desert, not meant for habitation. Have you read any Carlos Castenada?
a person. I'm just a chick tryin' to sing.
Continued from page 2
KRG: The Don Juan adventures.
CK: Right. He pretty much explains it from an Indian point of view. And I believe that there are geographical spots and areas that are not conducive to progressive . . . anything. L.A. is one of them. How can you be motivated when the bloody sun is out every damn day? That's crazy. You need a changing of the seasons for your internal psyche, the cycle of life and death and rebirth.
KRG: You visited South Africa not too long ago and met up with Winnie Mandela. What did you think about her trial?
CK: I think they set her up. Look, the woman is amazing. She did good things. She kept the movement alive while her husband was in jail, OK? And them white people did not want to see them two get back together. Get him somebody else. Don't put two revolutionary heads together.
KRG: Did you meet Nelson Mandela's new wife?
CK: He ended up marrying the widow of another African president. She's really nice. She's educated; very sweet. But she's not gonna get involved. I hate to say that but . . . it's the truth. I hope he doesn't read this. I do love the work Nelson's doing with the tribes. There's the Winnie faction and then there's the Nelson faction. I love them both. Equally.
KRG: I hear you've been working on an autobiography?
CK: We're still writing this sucker, OK? We can't stop; shit keeps happening. Not only that, we're still trying to work out how we're going to publish it. I think I just want to sell it on the Internet, because I don't want it to be sensational at all. I'm not really interested in autobiography.
KRG: Billie Holiday once said she never even read Lady Sings the Blues [her 1956 autobiography with William Duffy].
CK: Why would one want to hash over all that? She had a deep life. I'd probably be hard pressed to read her book, too. I think it would hurt me somewhere.
KRG: Are you trying to avoid sensationalism because you've had a deep life, too?
CK: Everybody's done the same things I have done. If I was the teller who worked at the bank, nobody would be interested in all the drugs I've taken, OK? The only reason it's interesting is because I am Chaka Khan. [laughs] I would like to make a simple statement in the book to address that whole scene by saying something like "And yes, I did the same drugs you did."
COPYRIGHT 1998 Brant Publications, Inc.

I heard recently from someone who CLAIMS to know someone who was cool with one of Prince's bodyguards a few years back. According 2 him, Chaka went in2 a club high off her ass on coke, 2 confront Prince about credit/monies "owed" 2 her 4 the "Come 2 My House" album. Prince was chillin and not in the mood 4 the bullshit, but she kept bugging him about it. He blew her off, and she got pissed and charged at him with a plastic knife. Prince's bodyguard jumped in the way, but not b4 Chaka could slice a part of his cheek with it. Prince then bitch slapped her and had her removed from his presence...
Once again, I don't know how true the story is, or if it even happened at all. But this dude swears by it. U be the judge...

Mindbells9 said:

Sooo untrue & funny too

Mindbells9 said:

Sounds like a damn Pam Grier movie...was Huggy Bear in attendance?

Anxiety said:

all that's needed is the scene where chaka brings mayte princey's severed woo in a pickle jar.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I love the way Pam says "BITCH!" in that scene. It's the girliest pronounciation of that word I've ever heard.

Mindbells9 said:

I told you, Chaka Mad!

Let me get this straight. She tried to shank him with a plastic knife?

Did Prince pull out a spork?

Oh-My-Gawd! This thread is tooo funny!!

Anxiety said:

true but tell me a release that either GC or Chaka have released in over a decade that has gone somewhere?

the releases, just like prince's were not 'big' commercial successes due to the lack of airplay /marketing - that comes from the big record companies and from being the latest face / sound - that the media want to feed our stereos with

That was a good interview thanks for posting, Harlepolis.

Dunno if I can believe that story you posted Mindbells, but I would have loved to have seen it!

I don't think Chaka had planned to work with Prince long-term.The 'Come 2 My House' album was meant to be a one-time project.Chaka already has her own independent label (Earth Song Records),Prince was just helping her get started.He wanted to show her that she,like him,could release a new CD independently and make more money without a record company involved.There was never any real contract or anything.Unfortunately,the album suffered from a lack of promotion.

DavidEye said:

That sounds familar - practically every record on Paisley Park/NPG Records suffered from "a lack of promotion".

It's not just a lack of promotion, it's a lack of infrastructure to support the release of a record properly.

Any act/artist would well be advised to stay clear of Prince's Mickey-Mouse operations if they want to be successful outside a handful of Prince die-hards who buy everything he's connected with.

Marrk said:

lol

Prince has always been bigoted against large sista's.

Mindbells9 said:

A plastic knife,huh? That would really do alot of damage

DavidEye said:

exactly. Chaka's rep as a tough sista ( a few people i know
have met her) is such that i can see her getting mad but
the plastic knife doesn't compute. she's the type of sistas
that would have jumped prince's butt and whipped it without
even breathing too hard! him bitch slapping her is too FUnny! (her bitch slappinh him would be more like it!)

ahhh i guess we gotta read her book to find out what their
relationship was or is...huh?

charles(i think she'd whip larry's ass,too!)

youngca said:

That's what I'm saying

That story has more holes in it than a golf course...lol...Chaka attacking Prince with a plastic knife? Too funny! And Prince bitch-slapping Chaka?? LOL

DavidEye said:

not in this life,man! the little guy's used to dominating
his lady friends...dominating the fiery MS. kahn? no way,
jose! that story is an insult to chaka!(ha ha)

Chaka is too powerful of a personality and a voice to simply be delegated a "prince protege".

Come 2 My House sounded like a typical Prince Protege album, not a Chaka album.

squirrelgrease said:

and threw a moist towelette at her?

Harlepolis said:

I think this bad taste was probably leftover MD 20/20.

Marrk said:

where is that from?

shame man, Prince & larry work pretty ok together but Prince & chaka, now theres a partnership I wanna hear more of

slm4m said:

Land Of The Lost. Kroft Supershow, baby...

prince once said that chaka mad , chaka real mad because whitney houston did a remake of im every woman

Tom said:

I think the 'Come 2 My House' CD is a masterpiece.I like it even more than the album that Prince released that year ('New Power Soul').Songs like "The Drama","Spoon" and the title track are some of the strongest tracks that Chaka ever recorded as a solo act (of course,these songs can't compete with the Rufus stuff).Under normal circumstances,an album like this would have been a huge comeback for Chaka.