Prince took over The Arsenio Hall Show last night as promised. He performed three songs: the live debut of "FUNKNROLL," which is set to appear on the studio album, "She's Always In My Hair," backed by 3rdEyeGirl, as The Family's "Mutiny," which was backed by a 30-piece band including members of 3rdEyeGirl and The New Power Generation. Before his performance, however, he answered a few questions from Hall and the audience. Here's what we learned:
— Prince doesn't own a cellphone but gets by because: "Everybody I know has one."
— He is getting into social media and has an Instagram account, or as he calls it, "Princetagram."
— His favorite Prince song is "The Breakdown."
— He takes his time putting albums together. "One of the things we try to do is wait until we have other songs that go together with our favorites. That's why it takes a long time to come out with albums these days. Not being under contract, there's no rush to do anything. ..We live in a singles-driven market, but I come from the old school of making albums, and that's what I love."
— He never seriously considered a career outside of music. "When I was 16, I was completely broke and needed to get a job. So I got the yellow pages out, and I couldn't find one thing that I wanted to do. So I decided I was going to push as hard as I as I could to be a musician and win at it."
— However, he did say that someday he would like to teach. "I think I want to teach in some capacity. There are a lot of fine musicians in the group right now, and I'm learning from them. So as much as I'd like to teach, I like to learn."
— Prince doesn't like to watch singing competition shows such as American Idol or The Voice. "I was watching a show with Esperanza Spalding, who is a friend of mine, and we were both sitting there quietly and watching. We looked at each other and she says, 'Are you rearranging the music right now in your head?' [He nods his head]. Then she said, 'So am I.' So it's really hard to watch other musicians because it's like a painting you want to make straight or whatever."
— He confirms that he has a vault full of so much unreleased material that he's lost count of how many songs.
— He has mixed feelings about the Internet. "It's a double edged sword. A lot of artists aren't getting paid full scale for their art. And the Internet because of downloading and things like that is like a black hole. And it's hard to audit. It's hard to get accounting. It's not just about the money it's about justice and fairness. When people say they love you, respect you, but at the same time take 80% of your earnings, then expect you to fix your own communities, that's the sharp part of the sword. And we're at the wrong end of it right now. Eventually with courageous people going out there and actually saying something and standing up for it, we'll get some balance."
— His biggest pet peeve is when strangers touch his hair.
— He can cook, but despite being known for his love of pancakes, he can only cook one thing: omelets. "All my friends have high cholesterol."
Watch the full interview and footage of his performances here, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!
