'Sex Tape in Purple' is Here, a Musical Conversation with Prince

In honor of Prince, I humbly offer you 'Sex Tape in Purple', an overhaul of ‪'SEXTAPE'‬, rerecorded over Prince music and interviews. Available now for FREE. GIve it a listen and please feel free to share/re-post, etc., those tweets, likes, and shares go further than you think. As always, your support is appreciated!




The story behind the album: When Prince passed, I knew immediately that I’d need to create something to honor him. Not a cover, or a series of remixes, but something built off of his work somehow. In the days following his death, the rain came down as we all mourned, danced, and went digging into our memories and record collections. Along with the sun that followed, that rain brought purple flowers almost everywhere I went, even in the most random and unkempt places. On one occasion, as I pondered the poetry of the coincidence, driving away from a place where I had just seen such a patch of flowers, a friend and I needed to find a restroom. Where did we end up by pure chance and convenience? Prince Street. I had never even given the name of that street any attention, much less a second thought. Sure, these were innocent instances free of meaning other than what I was creating in my mourning.

The next day, on a beautiful sunny day that we all swore was the true beginning of spring, I went to pick up some records from storage. I haphazardly grabbed a stack of 45’s to bring back to the studio and I casually looked them over, having no idea what was in this particular stack, accumulated years ago. Among other things, I found the single for ‘When Doves Cry’, the first single released to promote the coming of ‘Purple Rain’ in 1984. Moved, I turned to my sister to show her what I had found with a frowny face. She asked me what the B-side was and I responded, “17 Days”, a song I was never familiar with (in fact, I had never even listened to this record, it was just one of the many cool records I found that patiently waited to find it’s time again)…that’s when she said, “Prince has been gone seventeen days”. I brought the record home, admittedly a little in my feelings, and dropped the needle on it, first thing. The chorus? “Let the rain come down, let the rain come down, let the rain come down, now”…the beginning of the second verse? “You’ve been gone seventeen days and seventeen long nights”, *as the gorgeous spring day* outside was transformed into a torrential downpour outside my window. That’s when I knew I had to create this album; a tribute to Prince, a collaboration with The Artist, a collection of remixes exploring themes of sexuality, media, art, and message; all set to the sounds of this great musician.

I should note just how vital sampling is to Hip Hop history, music, and culture. Not just as a means to create without access to more traditional instruments, but as a way to remake our selves, to add-to and retell our stories, and to build upon and pay homage to the work of those that came before us. In this way, art and artist are reborn again and again. This offering skews the context of its inspiration, allowing us to see it in a new light.

So here you have it, ‘Sex Tape in Purple’, in honor-of, admiration-for, and tribute-to our beloved, fallen artist. Listen for the conversation between the ideas, sounds and feelings of his work and my last album. Imagine a young boy dancing to those songs, and using them as a sort of trampoline to leap from and land at his album, ‘Sex Tape’, so many years later. In producing, recording, and writing (in the case of the bonus track), this really felt like collaboration. While I knew right away that I wanted to sample his work (and interviews), there were a few moments when I wasn't sure if this project was the right thing. I didn’t want to come off as opportunistic…and how could I possibly pay tribute to an artist of such a unique and singular caliber? As I embarked on the creation of this project, there were signs along the way that made me feel like this was actually...well, I’ll just say it all fell into place. I hope you enjoy it.

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