Life is just a game

Life is just a game we are all just the same - Controversy! Here is Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles with a cover of Prince's Controversy from the Big Bang Block Party in Atlanta from 2017. If you haven't seen or heard of Cory Henry, you need to check him out. My man is funky!

Janelle in NYC

We all know what a great mentor/supporter Prince was of Janelle Monae so of course I had to share this clip once I saw it.  I'm pretty sure P would be proud of Janelle's latest album and her current show (except for maybe the occasional curse word) and you can tell he had a huge influence on her. So enjoy the clip and stay funky!

Funky Funko?

Funko, the company that brings you vinyl figurines and bobbleheads based on the latest in pop culture, is apparently looking to bathe in the purple rain.  Sometime this fall, they are set to release their version of Prince-inspired figurines.  So far they have shown four designs with versions appearing to be based on the 1999 era(?), Purple Rain era, Raspberry Beret and the 3rd Eye Girl era. Now, I have a tendency to be biased when it comes to all things Prince and rush out and collect all I can, but I am still not sure I how I feel about these.Take a look.

I am not too sure that Funko got the funk right on these but to each his own I guess. What do you think? If you want to check out the website, you can you find the Pop Rocks - Prince here.

Until next time, Love4OneAnother, Love4EachOther, Lover4UsAll!  Peace!

4 U

Time is inching ever so closer to September and the time for me to attend the 4 U Symphonic Celebration here in the Music City.  Back at the end of last year, I had tickets to see the Music of Prince with the Nashville Symphony but then, just weeks before the show, we received an email from the symphony saying that the show as cancelled at the request of the Estate.  Needless to say, I was less than enthused.  The estate is not releasing any music. They are not releasing any video. They are not giving the fans what they want or need. All they are doing is in-fighting and now they are cheating me out of a moment to enjoy the wondrous music of Prince played by a symphony. What the hell? The email said that the Estate was planning their own musical tribute. Yeah, right! We shall see.  Well, I guess I was wrong to doubt the email, because here we are with 4U.  Here is how it is described on the official website which can be found here:

ABOUT THE TOUR

Live Nation Urban and TCG Entertainment are proud to present the first and only official Estate approved symphonic presentation of Prince’s music, titled 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince. 4U will present the music of Prince like never before, with a full orchestra. In addition, each show will feature a live band who will perform collectively with the orchestra. 4U will draw from Prince’s singular and extensive music catalog, highlighting many of his greatest hits alongside lesser known gems. Live Nation and TCG Entertainment are working in partnership with acclaimed drummer and creative Questlove to curate the set list and arrangements to be played by the symphony.

The 2018 tour will include shows in both the United States and Europe, starting in early September and running through November 2018. Additional dates will be announced for 2019 at a later date.

What is the show?
4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince highlights the music of Prince like never before, with a full symphony orchestra. The show will draw from Prince’s extensive music catalog and will feature many of the hits that captivated generations of fans, alongside lesser known gems — all interpreted and performed via a world class symphony orchestra.

Is there a band?
Yes, in addition to the symphony orchestra, the production will include a live band who will perform collectively with the symphony — together creating a truly unique opportunity to experience Prince’s iconic music. This show is not “impersonating” Prince, but is instead “celebrating” Prince and his boundless creative output. 

What is in the show?
Complementing the live musicians, 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince will feature state-of-the-art production elements, as well as photo and video content provided by The Prince Estate.

What does “official” mean?
4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince is officially endorsed by the Estate of Prince Rogers Nelson. This is the only approved Prince symphonic show in the world.

Needless to say, I am really excited to see this show. I am not sure what I expect, but just to share purple music with my fellow purple family is a therapeutic experience in and of itself.  I'll make sure that I come back and give a recap of my symphonic experience after the show. Until then, peace & B-wild!!!!!!!!

23 Albums in a One Nite Stand?

Well, it’s been a while I know but I guess I’m back. At least for now. So, what brought me back? Well it seems that the Prince Estate has finally managed to get around to releasing some more of the purple catalog. In a press release from Sony’s Legacy Recordings, they announced that 23 albums would be made available for streaming on the 17^th of August (yesterday) and that a new anthology would be available for streaming and download as well. This new compilation titled Anthology 1995-2010 features 37 tracks culled from Prince’s various albums during this time frame. Even though I have heard every track on the release, I have to hand it to who ever came up with the tracklist, it flows rather nicely and I rather like the compilation. It is definitely worth a listen!

Here is the press release from Legacy Recordings or you can view the original article here:

The first wave of Prince catalog titles to be released through an exclusive agreement struck in June between SME and The Prince Estate focuses on 1995-2010, a crucial epoch in Prince history. 23 highly-collectible Prince catalog titles (many of them hard-to-find or out-of-print) and Prince Anthology: 1995-2010 (a newly-curated anthology of 37 essential tracks from the era) are now available across all major streaming services and digital service providers.

Listen to/buy Prince Anthology: 1995-2010 here: https://Prince.lnk.to/anthology

Many of these albums, long sought-after by fans and collectors, are available for the first time for streaming and download, adding more than 300 essential Prince songs to the artist's online in-print catalog.

For Prince, 1995-2010 was an unprecedented period of sustained and prolific creativity. Releasing fresh recordings at a rapid-fire pace through a variety of distribution strategies including his own online NPG Music Club, Prince was making some of the most provocative, experimental and soulful music of his career. Freed from major label demands and expectations, Prince was able to write, record and release his own music on his own terms.

Assembled and curated under the auspices of The Prince Estate, Prince Anthology: 1995-2010brings together 37 key recordings from the era. Opening with the title track from Emancipation ("This is my most important record," said Prince when the album was released in 1996) and closing with the anthemic "We March" (from 1995's The Gold Experience), this new compilation provides a coherent musical chronicle of Prince's artistic and spiritual evolution through the late 20th and early 21st centuries in songs that continue to resonant in the culture.

Prince Anthology: 1995- 2010 draws spotlight tracks from The Gold Experience, Emancipation, Chaos and Disorder, Crystal Ball, The Truth, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, The Rainbow Children, One Nite Alone..., C-Note, N.E.W.S., Xpectation, Musicology (includes 2005 Best Male R&B Performance Grammy winner "Call My Name"), The Slaughterhouse, The Chocolate Invasion, 3121 (the first Prince album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200), Planet Earth, LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND and 20Ten.

Prince catalog titles newly available digitally via SME/Legacy are:

1. The Gold Experience (1995) ("The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" greyed out, partial album streaming only; album unavailable for download)

2. Chaos and Disorder (1996)

3. Emancipation (1996)

4. Crystal Ball (1998)

5. The Truth (1998)

6. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (1999)

7. Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (2001)

8. The Rainbow Children (2001)

9. One Nite Alone… (2002)

10. One Nite Alone…Live! (2002)

11. One Nite Alone...Live - The Aftershow: It Ain't Over (Up Late with Prince & The NPG) (2002)

12. Xpectation (2003)

13. N.E.W.S. (2003)

14. C-Note (2004)

15. Musicology (2004)

16. The Chocolate Invasion (Trax from the NPG Music Club: Volume 1) (2004)

17. The Slaughterhouse (Trax from the NPG Music Club: Volume 2) (2004)

18. 3121 (2006)

19. Planet Earth (2007)

20. Indigo Nights (2008)

21. LOtUSFLOW3R (2009)

22. MPLSoUND (2009)

23. 20Ten (2010)

24. Prince Anthology: 1995-2010

Prince Anthology: 1995-2010

01. Emancipation (from Emancipation, 1996)

02. Black Sweat (from 3121, 2006)

03. P. Control (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

04. Crucial (from Crystal Ball, 1998)

05. The Love We Make (from Emancipation, 1996)

06. Eye Hate U (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

07. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, 1999)

08. Eye Love U, But Eye Don't Trust U (from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, 1999)

09. Gold (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

10. Guitar (from Planet Earth, 2007)

11. Dream Factory (from Crystal Ball, 1998)

12. The Work Part 1 (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)

13. Call My Name (from Musicology, 2004)

14. Strays of The World (from Crystal Ball, 1998)

15. Shhh (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

16. Dreamer (from LOtUSFLOW3R, 2009)

17. Chaos and Disorder (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)

18. Endorphinmachine (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

19. Musicology (from Musicology, 2004)

20. Northside (from The Slaughterhouse, 2004)

21. When Eye Lay My Hands on U (from The Chocolate Invasion, 2004)

22. Beautiful Strange (from Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, 2001)

23. Future Soul Song (from 20Ten, 2010)

24. Empty Room (from C-Note, 2004)

25. 3rd Eye (from The Truth, 1998)

26. U're Gonna C Me (from One Nite Alone..., 2002)

27. Dinner With Delores (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)

28. Ol' Skool Company (from MPLSoUND, 2009)

29. 4ever (from LOtUSFLOW3R, 2009)

30. West (from N.E.W.S., 2003)

31. Xpedition (from Xpectation, 2003)

32. Muse 2 The Pharaoh (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)

33. Somewhere Here On Earth (from Planet Earth, 2007)

34. U Make My Sun Shine (from The Chocolate Invasion, 2004)

35. 1+1+1 Is 3 (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)

36. Chelsea Rodgers (from Planet Earth, 2007)

37. We March (from The Gold Experience, 1995)

About Legacy Recordings

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, is home to the world's foremost library of historically significant commercial recordings, a peerless collection of works by the most significant musical artists of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Across a variety of platforms, the label has revolutionized the catalog market, offering contemporary music fans access to thousands of meticulously restored and remastered archival titles representing virtually every musical genre including popular, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, folk, country, gospel, Broadway musicals, movie soundtracks, rap/hip-hop, world music, classical, comedy and more.

About The Prince Estate:

The Prince Estate passionately presents Prince's life and work, and cultivates opportunities to further his legacy. As the singular, authoritative source on all things Prince, The Prince Estate inspires and educates fans, celebrates Prince in his totality, and stewards Prince's legacy into the future. www.princeestate.com

SOURCE Legacy Recordings

Related Links

http://www.legacyrecordings.com

So, there you have it world, okay? Ain’t nothing like funky music so turn it up and rock hard in a funky place! Until next time, peace & B-wild!!!!!!!!!

Discovery Season 2

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a super-cyber-uber-geek.  So, of course, when the new trailer for Star Trek Discovery came out, I was as excited as a Vulcan during pon farr.  You know, all giddy and boiling on the inside while maintaining my steely, icy composure on the outside.  While some people panned and slammed season one of Disco, I personally enjoyed it. I am really looking forward to season two and can't wait to see Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike.  Well, that's enough of my inate rambling for now, so without further adieu, here is the trailer for Star Trek Discovery Season Two:

Red Dead Redemption 2

Have I mentioned that I am a bit of a geek? An uber-geek? A super-cyber-uber-geek? No? Yes? Maybe? Well, I am and when it comes to gaming, I am a huge fanboy! And the game that I have been dying for is Red Dead Redemption 2.  Ever since the first one came out years ago, I have been waiting for this release and as the days inch by and we draw closer to the October release date, I get more and more excited. Especially after seeing the latest gameplay trailer that Rockstar released.  Check it out below and tell me this game doesn't look awesome!

Fantastic Negrito

If you've never heard of Fantastic Negrito, hold on to your wigs, y'all, because you are in for one hell of a treat.  I first discovered him with his album The Last Days of Oakland and thought, "Damn, this is kind of funky!!" So here's a little peek of that Oaktown funk from his NPR Tiny Desk concert:

BB Is Watching U

Just as Miniluv and Minipax had their roles in 1984, I guess the alphabet agencies have their roles in 2018. I'm not for sure what it is but all I know is that Big Brother is watching. I would like to think that things would change. After the moral outcry in 2014 and the passing of the 2015 US Freedom Act, you thought that maybe some things would change at least a little. But no, things haven't changed at all. I just read an article that makes me think things are moving closer to a combination of 1984 and SkyNet. It seems that in 2017, the NSA, in accordance with the Freedom Act, received court orders to target 40 individuals with surveillance and obtain the metadata for their phones. Now from those 40 orders, they managed to sweep in 534 million call records from across the nation. 534,000,000 call records from just 40 court orders. Now how in the hell does that actually work out? I know I am just a lowly proletariat who is expected to sit idly by and occasionally participate in the 2-minute hate, but what the actual frack? This is some stuff straight out of , The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism if you ask me and if you haven't heard of that book, look it up. Now, I don't want to be guilty of thoughtcrime and then become an unperson because that would be doubleplusungood but you have to ask yourself what's going on? Ask yourself how can they do this? Knowledge is power and right now, they have all the knowledge. Educate yourself with what they are doing! Free yourself by freeing your mind and freeing your thinking! Wake up children before its too late and Room 101 is your fate!

Parliament - I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me

Ohhhh, sookie sookie now! We going ol' school in the Playground today! You smell that? Huh? You smell that stank in the air? That's the smell of some old nasty funk about to be put on ya! Yeah, I'm talking about some founding-fathers type stank that'll make you shake what yo momma gave ya'! That's right, Dr. Funkenstein, Brother George Clinton, is back and he's bringing the P-Funk with Parliament and the Mothership just like back in the day. This funk is so viral it is sho nuff sho to make you sick! So check out Parliament's I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me!!!!! 

Irish Prince

So I thought I would swing by for a minute to share this really awesome little video that I saw on Twitter. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a huge Prince fan so you knew that I wasn't going to pass up the chance to post this. So I hope you enjoy the Irish Prince as much as I did!

Childish Gambino - This is America

So Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, has come out with new music and a new video that is taking the world by storm. I heard someone the other day say that Gambino is this generation's Prince due to his multifaceted talent. Well, first of all, get the hell out of here with that noise! Now, don't get me wrong, I love Gambino and think that the man is an absolute genius. But there was and is only one Prince and that is the Purple Yoda from Minnesota, all others are just wanna-bes, you know? Oh, ummmm.... sorry I sort of went off on a rant there. Anyway, check out Childish Gambino's awesome new joint This is America. The hidden and not so hidden meaning will kill ya!

Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles - Controversy

I saw this and I knew immediately that I had to share it. After all, it is real music by real musicians. Here is Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles jamming at Kaufleuten in Zürich, Switzerland on 4/24/18 with an awesome, energetic cover of Prince’s Controversy. The band seem to be having so much fun with it and even add the “party” chants from 1999 at the end. I believe Prince would’ve approved of this performance. Watch and see what you think then let me know in the comments.

Elise Trouw - Burn

It’s hard to believe she’s only 20 years old! This was recorded when she was 19.  Hmmmm? A 19 year old who plays all the instruments and does all the vocals on their album? Sounds very familiar!

Tasha Cobbs Leonard - You Know My Name

I thought this was too amazing not to share. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Love 4 One Another @ the store

Okay, this actually happened a couple of months ago but I’m just now getting around to writing about it because… well, you know me, life got in the way. So, you see, Ms. Spooky and I were in the grocery store shopping and had just finished and headed to the checkout line.  We got behind this little old lady who only had maybe 20-25 items in her cart and was half way through checking out so we guessed it would be quick.  Well, we were wrong.  The cashier rang up the ladies purchase and told her the total. Now apparently the lady was on a fixed income and was also using some type of government assistance card.  Anyway, the little lady swiped her card and it was denied.  So she fumbled through her pocketbook and came up with some cash.  The cashier helped her count it out and the whole time the lady was apologizing for holding us up and making us wait.  We just told her it was quite okay and to take her time.  In the end, she was around $30 short of being able to pay for everything so she started trying to decide what to put back.  She had tears in her eyes and was really embarrassed.  I told the cashier to not put anything back but to ring it all up on my bill and let the lady take it with her.  But to my amazement, the lady refused.  She said she couldn’t do that and that it wasn’t right and started crying harder.  She paid for what groceries she could and then left the store. 

We talked to the cashier about that whole last part. She said she thought that the lady was really embarrassed that she couldn’t support herself and that it embarrassed her even more that I tried to help her.  Is that where we are today? When we reach out a helping hand to someone who needs it and they are too embarrassed, too proud to take it? This lady was probably in her 70s easily.  I am quite sure in her 70 plus years on this mortal coil, she has reached out and offered a helping hand to someone in need. But now, when she needed it she couldn’t accept it because of her pride? I hope that I get a chance to help her again one day.  That I get a chance to show her what Love 4 One Another is really about and that she will accept it this time.  After all, we only get a few chances to make a difference in this world and we have to take advantage of them when we can.  If you can make a difference in just one person’s life for just one moment, then it is truly a good day!

Until next time, Love 4 One Another, Love 4 Each Other, Love 4 Us All! Peace & B-Wild!!!

Love 4 One Another @ the store

Okay, this actually happened a couple of months ago but I’m just now getting around to writing about it because… well, you know me, life got in the way. So, you see, Ms. Spooky and I were in the grocery store shopping and had just finished and headed to the checkout line.  We got behind this little old lady who only had maybe 20-25 items in her cart and was half way through checking out so we guessed it would be quick.  Well, we were wrong.  The cashier rang up the ladies purchase and told her the total. Now apparently the lady was on a fixed income and was also using some type of government assistance card.  Anyway, the little lady swiped her card and it was denied.  So she fumbled through her pocketbook and came up with some cash.  The cashier helped her count it out and the whole time the lady was apologizing for holding us up and making us wait.  We just told her it was quite okay and to take her time.  In the end, she was around $30 short of being able to pay for everything so she started trying to decide what to put back.  She had tears in her eyes and was really embarrassed.  I told the cashier to not put anything back but to ring it all up on my bill and let the lady take it with her.  But to my amazement, the lady refused.  She said she couldn’t do that and that it wasn’t right and started crying harder.  She paid for what groceries she could and then left the store. 

We talked to the cashier about that whole last part. She said she thought that the lady was really embarrassed that she couldn’t support herself and that it embarrassed her even more that I tried to help her.  Is that where we are today? When we reach out a helping hand to someone who needs it and they are too embarrassed, too proud to take it? This lady was probably in her 70s easily.  I am quite sure in her 70 plus years on this mortal coil, she has reached out and offered a helping hand to someone in need. But now, when she needed it she couldn’t accept it because of her pride? I hope that I get a chance to help her again one day.  That I get a chance to show her what Love 4 One Another is really about and that she will accept it this time.  After all, we only get a few chances to make a difference in this world and we have to take advantage of them when we can.  If you can make a difference in just one person’s life for just one moment, then it is truly a good day!

Until next time, Love 4 One Another, Love 4 Each Other, Love 4 Us All! Peace & B-Wild!!!