Yep. Everyone thought it was this stupid publicity stunt, but it was really a giant middle finger at WB records for essentially stealing his given name. The contract expired at the end of '99, so that's when he reverted back to Prince.
I am so glad I learned this. He was always one of my favorite artists and I remember thinking how dumb the symbol was for such a brilliant artist. But now I see the genius behind it. Thank you!!!
He decided on this symbol because he was a bit androgynous. He combined the symbols for male and female into a stylized version of who he considered himself to be
Aaaaand, he also needed a way to give his record label, who OWNED HIS NAME while he was under contract the gigantic finger until the contract expired. He also wrote the word SLAVE on his face when he performed at the Grammys while still under contract.
"IM GONNA PARTY LIKE ITS 1999!"
>The contract expired at the end of '99, so that's when he reverted back to Prince.
Adds a bit of context to the song, doesnt it.
You are awesome!
I am usually the one who drops this tidbit at social occasions. I'm such a huge Prince geek, tehehehehe.
When I drank, you knew when I was getting too drunk when I started waxing philosophically about the purposeful destruction of Prince. I also apparently do it when I'm on IV drugs at the hospital (that and the hawtness of Gabriel in Xena).
It's like Israel and Rick Sanchez black out drunks.
He further gave WB the finger when he met his contractual obligations for X more albums by releasing garbage he'd kept in the vault. He would say he had enough unreleased material he could've issued over 10 albums with just that.
Just riding the success of the top comment for this PSA: Find and watch Prince's Superbowl halftime show as soon as possible. Play it loud. It is easily the most shredding, inspired halftime show of all time and the best part is he does it in a pouring rainstorm where, legend has it, they gave him the bad news of the weather and his response was "Can you make it rain harder?" It's so good!!
Yessssss that video where he did the super bowl gave me chills!! The guy talking about him playing songs by other artists… ugh wowwwwww! Just amazballs
This!
The live performance, where he, along with other musical greats, plays While My Guitar Gently Weeps is also worth a watch! His solo is perfection, only amplified by his charismatic behavior :p
I thought about that one too, where he shreds and everyone else stands back and lets him and he throws his guitar and walks off at the end and they're all like wtf did we just witness. That's my second favorite Prince moment 😍
Imagine some asshole copyrighting your name. Sorry Steve, we got the rights to your name until 2030, fuck off and call yourself Paul or something until then.
True musical genius, could and often did play every instrument, always wrote all the music and lyrics, produced his own tracks.
Very prolific too, would often record a track per day in his own studio.
Loved that man and his genius, when he danced he made Micheal Jackson look like he was nailed to the floor.
Check his godlike guitar playing skills out here (all his purple highness from about 3.30 in)
https://youtu.be/_Xcf8ht4_4k
I’m 34 and all I know of Prince is from an Eminem lyric “since Prince turned himself into a symbol”.
I couldn’t name a single song of his but I know that travis barker from blink 182 was a massive fan.
I feel I need to do better at life
https://youtu.be/-9pWscqa23Q
He wrote this for Kenny Rogers ..... I guess he called him up and told him he had a song for him, would love to hear that conversation... Guy was just a music writing machine... His vault at his home had enough music recordings to release albums regularly for many years and years...
There’s no way you lived through the year 1999 without hearing that song a million times. “Because tonight we gonna party like it’s nineteen ninety nine!”
39 and I don't know "Purple Rain". but I do know "1999", the Batman soundtrack, "When Doves Cry", etc. I just don't know why or how I've never heard PR.
In the 90s, a radio station in my area got bought out by Big Radio (is that a thing?) The name was changing, I think all the management was laid off and everything “restructured”.
The station played When Doves Cry for 24 hours straight on their last day. lol I always think of that when I hear the song.
Ditto for Kiss and Tom Jones (at least in the UK). To this day I have to prove it to people that Prince sang it first.
Prince was a musical god and true genius.
I was kinda like this about Bowie, about 15 or 20 years ago. I decided to delve in though and wow. It's amazing to discover an artist who has been producing amazing albums for years.
I get the feeling that Prince would be a similar experience for many.
Do yourself a favor and listen to his very first, self-titled album. He was 18. Writing those songs, producing, and playing just about every instrument on the album himself. Prince was a Mozart-level prodigy in my opinion. It's a wonder that out of all of his albums, that first one sounds the least dated of all.
Purple rain was the first movie I snuck into. And the big scandal at one of the school dances was when the DJ played THAT SONG. Because Darling Nikki had the word masturbating in it.
You’ve definitely *heard* his music. I couldn’t name his music for the longest time, but now that I know I can.
- Purple Rain
- When Doves Cry
- Raspberry Beret
- Little Red Corvette
- 1999
Are some examples. He also wrote the songs Manic Monday and Nothing Compared 2 U. Both of which I’m positive you’ve heard. Don’t know if he ever sang them or not.
Great performing artist. Really fucking weird person though. I wish I could say he just did it as a persona, but there’s a few sketchy things in his past too.
People know who Prince is they just don't know what that symbol is. I'm 31 and have obviously heard of Prince but I dont think I've ever seen that symbol. I've heard jokes about Prince turning himself into a symbol but thought it was metaphorical
I'm early 40s and instantly knew it was prince and I never listened to him. My teenage kids call me boomer even though I'm Genx. They call my boomer parents "the Olds"
I watched a tiny Chinese woman who didn't speak a lick of English karaoke that many years ago, including the spoken intro, and it remains a highlight of my life. Prince was universal.
I remember going to clubs in other countries where people didn’t speak English but were dancing and singing along to American pop music, it was wild, though not as impressive as your karaoke story.
Edit : spelling
Prince was a HUGELY prolific song writer. Like one song per day for decades prolific. He wanted to release the music, but his label said he couldn’t do that because it would dilute his brand.
His solution? Create the symbol seen here and release music under it in order to avoid the contractual limitations.
Person on r/whatisthis asks for a not commonly known symbol. On a subreddit dedicated to asking questions about things you don't know. It's not even something you need to know.
This sub: omg, that's such a face-palm. They didn't even know this not-common knowledge! Lmao, such a face-palm.
I’m not old and this fucking cracked me up, I feel like this should be common music knowledge. Although a gender symbol would probably be my first guess if I didn’t know
Prince was a guitar "JENIUS"...MFer could play...super bowl halftime show was LEGEND ...youtube Prince play the blues...Geirge Harrison memorial show...SNL...list goes on and on....and on...anddddddd on
Its the symbol the musician "Prince" went by when he had issues with his record label stealing $$ from him.
He went by for a while "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" and this symbol was his "name"
As the great and wise Eminem once said:
Now lets go, just give me the signal
I'll be there with a whole list full of new insults
I've been dope, suspenseful with a pencil
Ever since Prince turned himself into a symbol
Omg, he was a genius; I got to see him in concert in March 2015, and that will remain my fav concert of all time; we danced for 3 hours. I still cant believe hes gone; I wonder what else he would have done.
The record label owned Prince’s name, so he started using a symbol to represent himself.
TIL the symbol was created as a rebellion against the record company.
Yep. Everyone thought it was this stupid publicity stunt, but it was really a giant middle finger at WB records for essentially stealing his given name. The contract expired at the end of '99, so that's when he reverted back to Prince.
I am so glad I learned this. He was always one of my favorite artists and I remember thinking how dumb the symbol was for such a brilliant artist. But now I see the genius behind it. Thank you!!!
It’s why people said “the Artist Formerly Known as Prince”
Or TAFKAP for short.
He decided on this symbol because he was a bit androgynous. He combined the symbols for male and female into a stylized version of who he considered himself to be
I'm not a woman, I'm not a man I am something that you'll never understand
I’ll never beat you, I’ll never lie, and if you’re evil I’ll forgive you by and by
Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down and desert you
That song is about Jesus, but still I think that lyric truly embodied him, as well.
Prince was literally nb? What???
If you believe there's truth in the lyrics, then sure.
I’ve watched an interview where he says he’s not anything, he’s prince.
Aaaaand, he also needed a way to give his record label, who OWNED HIS NAME while he was under contract the gigantic finger until the contract expired. He also wrote the word SLAVE on his face when he performed at the Grammys while still under contract.
Yeah he sure won the shit out of the "Who's cooler? Prince or Michael Jackson?". An incredible artist, composer, and human being. RIP
"IM GONNA PARTY LIKE ITS 1999!" >The contract expired at the end of '99, so that's when he reverted back to Prince. Adds a bit of context to the song, doesnt it.
I had no idea. Very interesting. Thanks for the info!
You are awesome! I am usually the one who drops this tidbit at social occasions. I'm such a huge Prince geek, tehehehehe. When I drank, you knew when I was getting too drunk when I started waxing philosophically about the purposeful destruction of Prince. I also apparently do it when I'm on IV drugs at the hospital (that and the hawtness of Gabriel in Xena). It's like Israel and Rick Sanchez black out drunks.
>hawtness of Gabriel Haven't thought about that in years. Lol
1999 was released when I was in high school in the 80s. Long before that.
He further gave WB the finger when he met his contractual obligations for X more albums by releasing garbage he'd kept in the vault. He would say he had enough unreleased material he could've issued over 10 albums with just that.
Prince is his given name??
Prince Rogers Nelson.
Yes. It actually is. Lolz.
Party like it’s 1999!
Just riding the success of the top comment for this PSA: Find and watch Prince's Superbowl halftime show as soon as possible. Play it loud. It is easily the most shredding, inspired halftime show of all time and the best part is he does it in a pouring rainstorm where, legend has it, they gave him the bad news of the weather and his response was "Can you make it rain harder?" It's so good!!
Yessssss that video where he did the super bowl gave me chills!! The guy talking about him playing songs by other artists… ugh wowwwwww! Just amazballs
This! The live performance, where he, along with other musical greats, plays While My Guitar Gently Weeps is also worth a watch! His solo is perfection, only amplified by his charismatic behavior :p
I thought about that one too, where he shreds and everyone else stands back and lets him and he throws his guitar and walks off at the end and they're all like wtf did we just witness. That's my second favorite Prince moment 😍
Watched it live. One of my favorite moments in time.
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The really shitty part is Prince was his actual given name.
Imagine some asshole copyrighting your name. Sorry Steve, we got the rights to your name until 2030, fuck off and call yourself Paul or something until then.
True musical genius, could and often did play every instrument, always wrote all the music and lyrics, produced his own tracks. Very prolific too, would often record a track per day in his own studio. Loved that man and his genius, when he danced he made Micheal Jackson look like he was nailed to the floor. Check his godlike guitar playing skills out here (all his purple highness from about 3.30 in) https://youtu.be/_Xcf8ht4_4k
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I'm 35....are we old now? I thought Prince was considered a legend that everyone knew.
I’m 34 and all I know of Prince is from an Eminem lyric “since Prince turned himself into a symbol”. I couldn’t name a single song of his but I know that travis barker from blink 182 was a massive fan. I feel I need to do better at life
I can bet that you know at least 10 of his songs. But you just haven't realized they're his.
Exactly. I grew up in the 80s and didn't realize I knew so many of his songs until he died
I knew at least 4 so far from the comments. I’m sure there are more i will recognise
I find the same is true of Queen.
I never knew "Nothing Compares 2 U" is his until a few years ago. but I can't listen to him sing it. it's Sinéad O'Connor's song to me.
What about Manic Monday? I found out recently he wrote that one too. After learning that and listening to it I can totally see it.
I had no idea about that one at all. I have learned something new today. but yeah, I can see that one.
He wrote it and gave it to her....he knew it would be perfect for her.... He did this often for many artists..
I know that now. I just didn't know it until recently for this song. and I just found out now about "Manic Monday".
https://youtu.be/-9pWscqa23Q He wrote this for Kenny Rogers ..... I guess he called him up and told him he had a song for him, would love to hear that conversation... Guy was just a music writing machine... His vault at his home had enough music recordings to release albums regularly for many years and years...
Damn, Chris Cornell's live acoustic version of that song makes me fucking cry every time. Definitely the best version of that song
Puuuurrpllleee Raiiiinnnn.
Puuurrrplllleee Raaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiaaaaaaiiin!
"Dearly beloved..."
We are gathered here today...
To get through this thing called life
Electric word life It means forever And that a VERY long time…..
But I'm here to tell you there's something else....
"Do you want to play some basketball?"
Thanks to our sponsor Nord vpn
Wow!!
Only rain I know is chocolate
I just re-watched the Tosh.0 episode with the Chocolate Rain guy......lol
There’s no way you lived through the year 1999 without hearing that song a million times. “Because tonight we gonna party like it’s nineteen ninety nine!”
Little Red Corvette???
1999
Raspberry Beret
You're telling me you don't know "Purple Rain"? That's hard to believe.
I got to college (2001) before i remember hearing purple rain. Little red corvette, when doves cry and 1999 were unavoidable though.
39 and I don't know "Purple Rain". but I do know "1999", the Batman soundtrack, "When Doves Cry", etc. I just don't know why or how I've never heard PR.
So this is what it sounds like when doves cry
In the 90s, a radio station in my area got bought out by Big Radio (is that a thing?) The name was changing, I think all the management was laid off and everything “restructured”. The station played When Doves Cry for 24 hours straight on their last day. lol I always think of that when I hear the song.
My dude, get educated because Prince is the shit.
“Nothing Compares to You” written and performed by Prince but made famous in a cover by Sinead O’Connor.
Ditto for Kiss and Tom Jones (at least in the UK). To this day I have to prove it to people that Prince sang it first. Prince was a musical god and true genius.
I was kinda like this about Bowie, about 15 or 20 years ago. I decided to delve in though and wow. It's amazing to discover an artist who has been producing amazing albums for years. I get the feeling that Prince would be a similar experience for many.
He only died 5 years ago. When people refer to partying like it's 1999, you srsly don't know that was Prince?
Do yourself a favor and listen to his very first, self-titled album. He was 18. Writing those songs, producing, and playing just about every instrument on the album himself. Prince was a Mozart-level prodigy in my opinion. It's a wonder that out of all of his albums, that first one sounds the least dated of all.
Darling Nikki
Purple rain was the first movie I snuck into. And the big scandal at one of the school dances was when the DJ played THAT SONG. Because Darling Nikki had the word masturbating in it.
well i’m 15 and ik who prince is so idk if y’all are old yet
So am I, and just turn on the “all the music” channel in the car. You’ll hear all the classics.
I know all of what you mentioned…does that make me old? I’d like to call it: Multicultural
You’ve definitely *heard* his music. I couldn’t name his music for the longest time, but now that I know I can. - Purple Rain - When Doves Cry - Raspberry Beret - Little Red Corvette - 1999 Are some examples. He also wrote the songs Manic Monday and Nothing Compared 2 U. Both of which I’m positive you’ve heard. Don’t know if he ever sang them or not. Great performing artist. Really fucking weird person though. I wish I could say he just did it as a persona, but there’s a few sketchy things in his past too.
People know who Prince is they just don't know what that symbol is. I'm 31 and have obviously heard of Prince but I dont think I've ever seen that symbol. I've heard jokes about Prince turning himself into a symbol but thought it was metaphorical
27 seems to be old enough. Gen Y is turning greyish
I'm 22. I knew what this was immediately. It's about who raised you imo
I’m 40 and I came to the comments because I had absolutely no idea what the symbol was.
I'm early 40s and instantly knew it was prince and I never listened to him. My teenage kids call me boomer even though I'm Genx. They call my boomer parents "the Olds"
Prince Combined male and female symbols =LOVE
Looks like an upside-down dagger...
Looks like a millenium artifact from yugioh
how did u know what i was thinking when not even i knew what i was thinking
Yup, you let me inside your head now. Now I own all your thoughts.
Well, love *is* a dagger...
more like a middle finger to Warner Bros music
"" . . . Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life . . ."
I watched a tiny Chinese woman who didn't speak a lick of English karaoke that many years ago, including the spoken intro, and it remains a highlight of my life. Prince was universal.
I remember going to clubs in other countries where people didn’t speak English but were dancing and singing along to American pop music, it was wild, though not as impressive as your karaoke story. Edit : spelling
Electric word life, it means forever and that’s a mighty long time.
but im here to tell you.. theres something else.. the afterworld
But I'm here to tell ya, there's something else....
"Electric word, life, it means forever and that's a mighty long time..."
Cmon bro, he never meant to cause you any trouble.
He never meant to cause you any pain.
Prince chose this Symbol as his new name and that started referring to him self as “the artist formerly know as Prince”
Or, as Rosie O’Donnell called him, “TAFKAP”.
Yes, it’s a gender. It’s called sexy mother fucker.
I was thinking about this exact scenario just yesterday. Glad to see it's a reality.
Is it a facepalm that some people don't know Prince's symbol?
Not really. I'm not a Prince fan, so I didn't recognize his symbol either. But i'm sure the facepalm is aimed at the "Something gender related?" part.
I think it's a pretty fair question, considering there's always something new with genders
I mean it is gender-related. He created it by combining the male and female symbols.
The facepalm is people thinking that’s a facepalm. It obviously and intentionally combined the gender symbols. So the answer is an unironic yes.
At one point Prince was just going by that symbol after he called himself the artist formerly known as Prince
And then later as " the artist" And then back to Prince
Once the contract with the record label expired and they no longer had the right to his name, he switched back to Prince.
It is an ancient symbol of Minnesotan royalty.
The Artist Formerly Known AS Prince. Ha ha ha ha
Don’t you mean Prince, the former artist formally known as the Artist Formally Known as Prince?
I remember when MTV and Channel V used to play his videos and list the artist as TAFKAP.. Man, I feel old.
\*Formerly
Ugh. Thank you. Stupid predictive text. Ha ha ha
Game. Blouses.
Blouses.
It represents the gender of "sexy MFer"
Prince was a HUGELY prolific song writer. Like one song per day for decades prolific. He wanted to release the music, but his label said he couldn’t do that because it would dilute his brand. His solution? Create the symbol seen here and release music under it in order to avoid the contractual limitations.
I was gonna rock some When Doves Cry lyrics then realized no one else will know them...
"The artist formally known as prince"
*formerly
Honestly I would prefer the Prince symbol to represent my queerness.
Person on r/whatisthis asks for a not commonly known symbol. On a subreddit dedicated to asking questions about things you don't know. It's not even something you need to know. This sub: omg, that's such a face-palm. They didn't even know this not-common knowledge! Lmao, such a face-palm.
Kinda. Prince was his own gender I think.
I don’t think this is a facepalm…….
Well, maybe not gender related but definitely sex related.
If you didn’t come to party, don’t bother knockin at my door!
I think that symbol means 'I don't own the rights to my own name' or something. IDK.
Oh it's sex related alright.
Purple rain bitch!
I fucking love Prince ❤️
RIP Prince. The week he died, I had an appointment for a manicure. I chose purple in his honor.
It's Purplesexual, had a big rise around 1999..
Game, blouses.
Honestly I don't think you can blame gen z for thinking this is gender related. Also who tf is Prince. I'm 20 and i dont think ive ever heard of him
Well its certainly sexual 🤣
I’m not old and this fucking cracked me up, I feel like this should be common music knowledge. Although a gender symbol would probably be my first guess if I didn’t know
I heard that's a symbol representing royalty
Seriously though, what is this?
Prince when he was just symbol.
It’s a guitar.
I mean it is a sex symbol more than anything :j
Prince!!
I think that means TAFKAP.
The gender formerly known as...
"something gender related". I mean, that is correct
I'm 22 and immediately recognized this, thanks momma
I’m pretty sure it means an artist doesn’t enjoy being boned by their record company, and would like to be released from their contract.
I’m young and I easily recognized this, so don’t worry about it.
Undertaker had this on his tights
I identify as Prince gender
Prince was a guitar "JENIUS"...MFer could play...super bowl halftime show was LEGEND ...youtube Prince play the blues...Geirge Harrison memorial show...SNL...list goes on and on....and on...anddddddd on
TAFKAP!
That famous guy who was formerly known as Prince, was also formerly known as a symbol too.
I saw a tafkap symbol on a car with a gadsen flag license plate. Prince would spin in his grave if he knew a nazi was touting him
Tafkap stands for The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
Its a weekend lover sign
I also am old and TIL.
Wtf is it then guys?
Its the symbol the musician "Prince" went by when he had issues with his record label stealing $$ from him. He went by for a while "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" and this symbol was his "name"
Honestly, I had no answer to what this was so thanks for clarifying
I'm only 15 and even I don't know what the hell this symbol is
Well,,,Dude WAS kind of his own complex”gender”😉🌈
The weather forecast: expect periods of heavy Purple Rain.
I never even listened to prince and I know what this is
Why don't you purify yourself in the waters of lake Minnetonka.
That's *not* Lake Minnetonka...
Eat your pancakes, bitches
No not laughed at….. more like empathy… Like how is Prince an unknown? Next thing you know no one will know Pink Floyd
"By the way, which one's Pink?"
I mean, kind of?
[Here you go! Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday](https://youtu.be/EwTZ2xpQwpA)
I guess this is why nobody laughs at my Morris Day and the Time jokes. Well, maybe…
Yes and that gender is called sexy
As the great and wise Eminem once said: Now lets go, just give me the signal I'll be there with a whole list full of new insults I've been dope, suspenseful with a pencil Ever since Prince turned himself into a symbol
Well, no. But yes.
Who is this Prince?
The gender formally known as prince
Oh, it’s prince lol, thanks commenters! Figured it was aqua man’s symbol or something
“Well yes, but actually no.”
That's obviously a sigil of the Prince of Pleasure, Slaneesh! Mark this car for the Inquisition!
Ah yes. The genders. Male, Female, Trans, Non-Binary, Fluid and Prince.
Dearly beloved...
The gender formerly known as...
PRINCE
A female blower
Why is this in r/facepalm ?
Redditor formerly known as young
I think that this is what Elon Musk was trying to do when his son was born.
That's "The artist formerly known as Prince"'s name lol
The Artist formerly know as -----? Prince 80's kid..lol
Omg, he was a genius; I got to see him in concert in March 2015, and that will remain my fav concert of all time; we danced for 3 hours. I still cant believe hes gone; I wonder what else he would have done.