The Music Industry is Slavery
In 2015, Prince made the brash decision to pull all of his music off online streaming sites. That year, the artist also decided to partner with Jay Z’s company Tidal to release his latest album of that year, HitNRun.
“Once we have our own resources, we can provide what we need for ourselves,” Prince said of his decision to collaborate with Tidal. “Jay Z spent $100 million of his own money to build his own service. We have to show support for artists who are trying to own things for themselves.”
The entertainer gave aspiring artists some advice while chatting with some reporters from the National Association of Black Journalists in August of 2015:
“Record contracts are just like — I’m gonna say the word – slavery.”
Activism
“Like books and Black lives, albums still matter,” he said at the Grammys last year. The artist was a strong supporter of Black people. Last year, Prince hosted the Rally 4 Peace concert after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Gray was killed after having one of the BPD’s “rough rides” at the hands of officers. He specifically created the song “Baltimore” to heal the community and discuss the killings of unarmed Black people. Thousands attended the concert. And The Baltimore Sun reports that $35,000 was raised from proceeds, which went to local youth charities.
