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When Prince announced he would no longer go by his birth name on June 7th, 1993, it took the public and his record label, Warner Brothers, by surprise. Henceforth he wanted to be known, he explained, as an unpronounceable \u2018Love Symbol\u2019; a bespoke mash-up of the Mars and Venus gender signs which wasn\u2019t even available in font libraries.\nThe dispute centred on the fact that \u2018The Artist\u2019 had 500 unreleased songs in his studio vault at Paisley Park, but Warner believed to put them out too quickly would saturate the market with Prince albums and devalue their star signing. Prince began performing with the word \u201cSLAVE\u201d on his cheek, regarding his own name as a part of his contractual entrapment.\xa0\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why, long before Warner\u2019s got involved, Prince\u2019s name had always been a Freudian nightmare; consider the purple one\u2019s claims to be a \u2018slave\u2019 in the context of other African-American figures; and reveal the none-too-subtle pseudonyms he deployed when out on the town\u2026\n\u01ac\u030a\u0335\u032c\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 The Artist, formerly known as Prince (Entertainment Weekly, 1999): https://ew.com/article/1999/06/04/artist-formerly-known-prince-2/\n\u2022 \u2018A Prince by Any Other Name\u2019 (Vanity Fair, 2011): https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2011/10/prince-bio-201110\n\u2022 \u2018Larry King Live: Prince\u2019 (CNN, 1999): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8mg7CxAYUM\n#Music #Black #US #90s\n\xa0\nLove the show? Join\xa0\U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS\xa0\U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via\xa0Apple Podcasts\xa0or\xa0Patreon\npodfollow.com/Retrospectors\n\xa0\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices