Every artist is creating their body of work from within a little private universe. The truly great artists distinguish themselves by creating a universe that resonates on a much wider scale. The artist’s body of work becomes a portal through which the audience can enter those universes. This goes for filmmakers, writers, painters, basically all creatives and especially musicians. Through the lens of Bruce Springsteen New Jersey is filled with hard working people, struggling to make ends meet and dreaming of a better future. The otherwise desolate 1950s Liverpool becomes a magical and vibrant place when The Beatles sing about Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields. We all immediately have a certain picture in our minds when we hear Spike Lee has made a new movie. People like Berry Gordy made sure that Motown felt like an actual town with a clear narrative to distinguish its inhabitants, while George Clinton created an entire interstellar galaxy to inhabit his ever expanding group of funky misfits and outcasts. Prince is in many ways one of the truly great artists and at first glance one could argue that his universe starts with the concept of Paisley Park and extends from there. This presentation argues that it is actually the Dirty Mind era that serves as the big bang and can be seen as a roadmap to guide Prince through the 1980s.

Edgar Kruize is a freelance author, journalist and content creator based in the Netherlands. He is co-owner of communications agency buro33. He is specialized in music in general and specifically the entertainment industry. Kruize has been working for various (trade) magazines, concert and tour promoters, festival organizers and record companies for over two decades. He has written nine books on various musical subjects and is co-owner and publisher at Permafrost Publishers.

All it took was a cough in the Raspberry Beret video to have the young Edgar notice the artist he’d later found out to be Prince. Prince’s impressive body of work has been an inspiration in life and work. Kruize is the author of the book Prince: The Dutch Experience (2017), in which all of Prince’s steps in the Netherlands are retraced. Also he co-hosts the Dutch Prince-blog PurplePicks.net, wrote the liner-notes for the 2019 Sign “O” The Times deluxe dvd/blu-ray set (along with appearing in the documentary about the making of that movie) and (co)hosted multiple Prince themed lectures and live interviews.