For so many people, Prince came across as a god amongst men. He’s among the five best performers of all time, a master with the guitar, musical scale, and crowd control. Records like “Purple Rain” are like spiritual experiences and make him seem giant. Moreover, he oozed sex appeal in his music, with countless women fawning over him back in the day. It’s so powerful that people rarely pointed out that he’s extremely short.
At a small 5’2″, Prince proved that height isn’t everything. You can still be the star you want to be regardless of the stereotypically “masculine” height. It’s something that legendary comedian Katt Williams held close to him when he met the musician at a young age. Recently, he spoke to Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson on their IMO Podcast.
There, Williams recalls dating one of Prince’s younger cousins when he was twelve. That opened the door to meeting the iconic Minnesotan. Immediately, Prince instilled in the comedian that he didn’t have to cross his fingers and pray for a growth spurt to gain people’s respect. Ultimately, it was skill and intelligence that would set him over the top.
How Meeting Prince Gave Katt Williams The Confidence to Succeed
“I knew I didn’t have to make any changes. This was a guy who was shorter than me. He was already rich and famous. And he had a purpose in life,” Katt Williams explains. “You ever meet somebody and go, ‘Whoo, this person’s way smarter than me.’ So it was really my first time being in the vicinity of real brilliance.”
Then, Williams recalls talking to Prince in Dayton, Ohio, where he was slated to perform. They had a “super deep conversation” and became fast friends. In the aftermath of that discussion, he recalls how his perspective shifted. Katt Williams always believed he needed to miraculously grow bigger to be taken seriously.
“So he gave me the confidence to know because up until that point in my life, I thought that there were some things I was gonna need to do in order to be good enough,” Williams recalls. “Like, I gotta get taller. I don’t know. This might be the first mistake God has ever made. Like there, I can’t find evidence that anyone in the world missed a growth spurt.”
Additionally, Williams compares himself to how Prince gained the music industry’s respect by being a musical savant, an expert at his craft. The work ultimately spoke for itself whenever he didn’t check other boxes. “He already had just signed his music deal, he had just produced his album by himself. He played 26 instruments on it; he did all of the jobs. And it had worked,” Katt Williams says of Prince. “And so I knew that I didn’t have to make any changes. I just had to be in the right position and be right myself when it transpires.”
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