A Primer on Prince for the Uninitiated, Like Myself

In the event of most major celebrity deaths, I often find myself on the periphery of the cultural moment. These days, I have a healthy interest in pop culture. As in, I follow all the Kardashians on Snapchat. I know who Grimes is. I can mumble along to most Beyoncé songs. But growing up, in a strict Arab-American home, I lived in a silo of sorts. We didn’t get cable until I was in high school; the only radio in our home was in my parents’ room. Most of what I gleaned from pop culture of the time came from schoolyard discussion or pilfered copies of Teen Beat magazine. When I got unfettered access to the internet, I caught up on all the essentials: Roswell, Dawson’s Creek, the entire Beatles catalog. This is what I thought people cared about! So other things slipped through the cracks, like who Bruce Springsteen is, most Judy Bloom books and 80’s music.

But here’s the thing: I know who Prince is. Such illiteracy, in 2016, is unforgivable. I understand his cultural significance. But I’ve never listened to his music. This is, in some ways, a matter of pure laziness. If I have to search too hard for something, I usually just give up on it. As a music consumer who came of age in the Limewire era, the idea of paying for music seemed absurd to me for a long time. (The only CDs I ever owned as a teen were Hilary Duff’s Metamorphosis, which I won in a Radio Disney contest, and Green Day’s All-American Idiot, which someone burned for me illegally). These days, I pay for the privilege of a Spotify account, but I can’t access Prince’s music there, either. He’s never been accessible to me. I’m not blaming Prince, of course, for my ignorance. If anything, as a content creator, I can see why someone would want to exercise such control over his work. But I can also understand why, in 2016, young people maybe recognize him—even maybe love him—without having an intimate knowledge of his music.

As a torrent of public emotions were sublimated into tweets, Facebook status updates and Medium essays when Prince died yesterday, I could only watch from a distance. This is also how I felt when David Bowie died and when Garry Shandling died and when Phife Dawg died. My cultural experiences are admittedly narrow. But I find myself moved, every time, by the way fans mourn and celebrate these kinds of heroes. Culture, for all of us, is extremely personal. Our icons are often vessels for our own aspirations and ideas about the world. And, even though I never got to enjoy Prince while he was alive, these past two days have allowed me to catch up, just a little bit. I’ve put together a short list of pieces I’ve read and listened to that have helped me understand who Prince was—as a musician, a performer and a cultural force.

Hilton Als’ 2012 profile of Prince in Harper’s: I Am Your Conscious, I Am Your Love

“Dearly Beloved”: a special MTV podcast on Prince and legacy, featuring Jamil Smith, Doreen St. Felix, Jane Coaston, and others.

Writer Carvell Wallace: Prince Can’t Die

The Legend of Prince’s Special, Custom-Font Symbol Floppy Disks

Writer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Details Prince’s History of Elevating and Mentoring Women Women

Writer Dodai Stewart: On Prince, Blackness and Sexuality