Prince was the kind of artist who could shift the energy in any room. He was one of the greatest performers of all time, a wizard with the guitar and dazzling with his dancing. Raphael Saadiq got to experience the gravity of Prince firsthand. So much so, it even took away from one of his own performances.
In an interview with Stereogum, Saadiq recalled playing in Sheila E.’s band on Prince’s Parade tour in 1986. Rehearsals would span 14-15 hours a day, and they’d have to wear just the right clothes to make sure everything was perfect. “To get the gig with Sheila E. and to play with Prince, and to watch both of them at the height of their careers, was the best thing for a kid at that age to see,” Raphael Saadiq told the publication.
Over the years, Saadiq eventually built a rapport with the Purple One, where they’d cross paths frequently. Moreover, he’d always show love to a song he loved. When the “Ask of You” crooner performed at a festival in Copenhagen, Prince told Raphael Saadiq how much he loved his song “Stone Rollin’”.
“He came to me and said, ‘Ray Ray, you snuck one on me, man. I was watching the Jay Leno show, and this record came on, and I was like, ‘Ooh, Ray Ray done snuck one on me,’” he recalled. “He called me Ray Ray. It was a really bluesy song, and the first lyric is like, ‘Fat lady shakin’, backbone breakin’, come on.’ He would like a lyric like that.”
Raphael Saadiq Shares How Prince Accidentally Stole His Thunder During a Festival Performance
When Saadiq eventually performed the song at the festival, Prince started dancing on stage, which caused the crowd to erupt. Unfortunately, Saadiq had no idea what was happening, so he figured the crowd was just really into his performance.
“I didn’t know he was on the stage. People were screaming; it got extremely loud when I was singing. I thought that the crowd just went crazy for me all out the blue, but then I looked around, he was just up there dancing. And it’s a rainy festival, it’s a little wet out there, everybody’s partyin’, and Prince is out there just dancin’. I turn around, I’m like, “Oh damn, that wasn’t for me, that’s for him,’” Raphael Saadiq laughed.
Ultimately, the iconic singer-songwriter argued that their shared Southern lineage helped them speak each other’s language. “As Minneapolis as he was, his dad was from Louisiana, and he used to tour in the chitlin circuit when he was a kid, so he had that real Southern background that people don’t really speak about,” Raphael Saadiq explained.
“My family’s all from Shreveport and Texas. So when you got that gutbucket soul, that Southern soul, y’know, you like swamp soul, you like all kinds of music. And when you add ’em all up, you have this incredible amount of respect for people who have those similar things.”
The post How Prince Once Stole the Spotlight From This R&B Icon Onstage: ‘Oh Damn, That Wasn’t for Me’ appeared first on VICE.
