My Prince Tribute, Part 1

At the BET Awards, there was a tribute to Prince. Janelle Monet, Alicia Keys, Trey Songz, and Patti Labelle sung Prince's songs. I do not think that they did him justice. I really wanted them to pick artists that sing really well, which none of the above performers are great singers/performers, except Patti Labelle. I wanted them to imbue the songs with feeling, while hitting some sweet notes.

I grew up listening to Prince, my mother was a fan. She even went to see him in concert, back when he was still stripping down to his underwear. She used to play his records all the time. And when she was away we (me and my siblings) would listen to Prince. We tried to figure out what he was talking about in his songs. One song that I spent a lot of time trying to figure out was "Darling Nikki." I wanted to understand why she was so dangerous. I was like 5 or 6 years old. I sung that song and hummed it in my head millions of times. At the time I didn't understand what was wrong with a woman being a sex fiend. I didn't understand what sex was, all I knew was that grown-ups thought it was something that children shouldn't talk about it. Of course the taboo made me curious about it. I didn't know what masturbating was either, but I knew that I wanted to do it because it made a woman dangerous.

She was masturbating to a magazine, in a hotel lobby! How bold of her. What made the song different from most pop-tunes is that Nikki left Prince after the encounter. At the end of the song, Prince is desperate to see her again. He screams, "Come back, Nikki, comeback!" But Nikki has moved on.

Now, I know what sex is, and I know how to pleasure myself. Thanks Prince! I attribute sex-positivity to those revolutionary songs that made women's desire a thing to be desired, and women's pleasure attainable.

The following is my idea of a fitting tribute to Prince.

Mariah Carey, would sing "Diamonds and Pearls" because this song fits her voice, it is a ballad, and it fits her style.

Prince - Diamonds And Pearls


Usher would sing "Raspberry Beret" because he has enough sex appeal to pull it off. And he sings a sexy alto.

Prince - Raspberry Beret

Missy Elliot, "Darling Nikki" because it would allow the song to remain queer. Plus, Missy can sing. Madonna would be my second choice.

Patti LaBelle, "Nothing Compare 2 U" this would have been better than her doing "Purple Rain." My other choice is, of course, Sinead O'Connor who has already had a hit with her version of this song.

Sinead O'Connor