Prince's Minneapolis

When nineteen-year-old Prince took the stage to perform I Wanna Be Your Lover on American Bandstand, those who watched couldnt reconcile how Princes funky disco-pop sounds had hailed from a place like Minneapolis. But the Minneapolis Sound, Princes signature pop-musical fusion of funk, R&B, rock, punk, and new wave, did not emerge from a vacuum. The place and space of Minneapolis shaped the musical ecosystem that made Prince famous. And in turn, a complex array of social forces shaped the citys soundscape.An expert on place, race, and culture, geographer Rashad Shabazz reveals the hidden history of the Minneapolis Sound, Prince, and Princes beloved city. More than a biography of Prince, this is a biography of the city and the world of sound from which Prince emerged. Shabazz traces the history of the Minneapolis Sound alongside the citys history, from colonial contact through periods of Indigenous removal, white settlement, mass migration, industrialization, music education, suburbanization, and systemic racism. This complex history, combined with the exceptional talent cultivated in Minneapoliss small Black communities, gave rise to a groundbreaking genre, the otherworldly legend that was Prince, and music that captivated the world.