Abstract
Over the course of Prince’s legendary career, there were some clear points of transition—points where his faith and musical genius intersected. Prince’s music often reflected his spiritual journey, and despite his conversion to the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the late 90s and early 2000s, he could never entirely shake the sexuality and sensuality he was known and loved for in the mainstream. In a way that worked, Prince found ways to merge his spiritual seeking with his sexual expressions in the music. This essay argues that while some in society, particularly legalists across many faiths, may attempt to categorize Prince’s wrestlings as a contradiction, in truth, this duality of his represents the way many artists—Black artists, in particular—reconcile the nuances of their creative work with any faith traditions or spiritual beliefs they may have. In the end, these beautiful complexities were a critical part of Prince’s spiritual and artistic evolution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Studio albums* recorded by Prince:
For You (1978)
Prince (1979)
Dirty Mind (1980)
Controversy (1981)
1999 (1982)
Purple Rain (1984)
Around the World in a Day (1985)
Parade [Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon] (1986)
Sign ‘O’ the Times (1987)
The Black Album (1987)
Lovesexy (1988)
Batman (1989)
Graffiti Bridge (1990)
Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
The Love Symbol Album (1992)
Come (1994)
Gold Experience (1995)
Girl 6 [Original Soundtrack] (1996)
Chaos and Disorder (1996)
Emancipation (1996)
Crystal Ball (1998)
New Power Soul (1998)
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999)
The Rainbow Children (2001)
One Nite Alone…Live! (2002)
N-E-W-S (2003)
Musicology (2004)
3121 (2006)
Planet Earth (2007)
21 Nights (2008)
MPLSound (2009)
LotusFlow3r (2009)
20Ten (2010)
PlectrumElectrum (2014)
Art Official Age (2014)
HITnRUN: Phase One (2015)
HITnRUN: Phase Two (2015)
*This list does not include any greatest hit albums or separate albums recorded by NPG, The Revolution, 94 East, or 3RDEYEGIRL.
Songs on the “For You” album:
“For You”
“In Love”
“Soft and Wet”
“Crazy You[8]”
“Just as Long as We’re Together”
“Baby”
“My Love Is Forever”
“So Blue”
“I’m Yours”
Songs on the “Prince’ album:
“I Wanna Be Your Lover”
“Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”
“Sexy Dancer”
“When We’re Dancing Close and Slow”
“With You”
“Bambi”
“Still Waiting”
“I Feel for You”
“It’s Gonna Be Lonely”
Songs on the “Dirty Mind” album:
“Dirty Mind”
“When You Were Mine”
“Do It All Night”
“Gotta Broken Heart Again”
“Uptown”
“Head”
“Sister”
“Partyup”
Songs on the “Musicology” album:
“Musicology”
“Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance”
“A Million Days”
“Life ‘o’ the Party”
“Call My Name”
“Cinnamon Girl”
“What Do U Want Me 2 Do?”
“The Marrying Kind”
“If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life”
“On the Couch”
“Dear Mr. Man”
“Reflection”
While not terribly scientific, the methodology I used to determine which songs could be considered erotic and/or sexual on Prince’s albums was based on whether or not a song had specific and overt lyrical references to sexual intercourse or sexual acts (Ex: “Head”). To draw some conclusions about the influence of mainstream, record label driven success, I simply took the number of songs with sexual content—again, referencing sexual intercourse or sexual acts—and divided it by the total number of songs on any given album. From 1980 to 1995, a period that coincides with Prince’s mainstream success, there is a noticeable increase in songs with sexual language. Conversely, the number of songs that have overtly sexual content drops considerably in the late 90s and early 2000s around the time of his conversion and his resolving of long-running battle with his record label over ownership.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lewis-Giggetts, T.M. When Faith and Music Intersect: the Spiritual Evolution of a Musical Genius. J Afr Am St 21, 533–539 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-017-9379-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-017-9379-z