The rise of rhythm and blues and funk in Minneapolis grew out of the apartheid system put in place in the first half of the twentieth century. The network of Black clubs, bars, and music venues created during this period left remnants of the new sounds that emerged in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. By the mid-1950s, Minneapolis, with a population of half a million, had a Black and white jazz landscape with different venues housing music in the city’s racially segregated geography.
The new musical environment taking shape overlapped and evolved as Prince came of age. In addition to being the most gifted performer to come out of the city, Prince is the through line that connects the decline of jazz, the rise of new music, and its growth in the city’s Black communities. In this chapter, we’ll see how R&B, soul, and funk grew and thrived in Minneapolis alongside a kid genius from the city’s North Side.
Prince Rogers Nelson, son of Mattie and John, grew up in a musical household. When Prince was just a few years old, Mattie noticed her little boy could bang out rhythms on pots and pans, and he curiously eyed the large object—John’s piano—perched in the living room. Prince knew at an early age that he liked its sound, but stern John made clear that it was off limits. When Prince was born in 1958, mid-twentieth-century America’s expectations that women set aside their ambitions and personal wants to raise children bore down hard on Mattie, who became responsible for rearing Prince and Tyka. Being the primary caretaker ended her musical career…