Violet Vignettes

90s Voyage (Part 1)

**Written the week of 2/7/2021. Unedited.

I'm wasting no time so I'm just get into it.

So, I sucked it up and really just said, "Fuck it. Let's see what 90's Prince is giving." I mostly meant on a live tip because obviously I play most of those albums. Short back story... I was actually into 90's P first! Baby, I discovered Diamonds & Pearls and I clutched with no intent of letting go... but then I simultaneously watched Under the Cherry Moon and learned the in depth details of M1. I think my UTCM feelings say enough alone so imagine adding my M1 thoughts. Really, I also dug O(+> too because The Continental?! Sexy MF?!

Oh, yes! Yes, ma'am!

Then life got real because I was becoming a woman more and more every day and within that process, I paid deeper attention to lyrics. Thus, birthing my hatred for that album. I was willing to look past the jailbait being shoved in my face, I was looking past Tony, but I drew the line at the whole being in love with a 16 year old plot. Nope! Fuck outta here with that shit. Not to mention, it led to a deeper conversation I needed to have with myself about Prince playing with statutory [redacted] and I wasn't ready to completely ruin my thoughts on my king. Personality wise, I had already accepted that he's a complete ass but the whole 16, 17 and 30+ thing was a lot... And still is but that's for another day.

Nonetheless, I learned to pick songs that had no legitimate attachment to the said third party because I was past the point of being able to blindly listen. So Damn U and And Created Woman became my go-to's because those are really just... other worldly. Damn U is Top 5 in his ballads and not number five, no debate. And God Created Woman has a bassline in the Top 5, in my opinion. It was easy to get off (Ha!) to those and ignore the rest. I worked very hard to erase 1992 and 1993 from my mind. Believe me.

That's the short story of how my hatred for Love Symbol was established. We'll dive into my best attempt at non-biased criticism in a second.

Alright, here we go...