Minneapolis
Minneapolis appears in 1 Songsheets issue: The Minneapolis Sound. 5 artists in the archive came from here, including Prince, The Time and Morris Day.
Minneapolis remains the birthplace and spiritual home of the Minneapolis Sound, centered around Sound 80 Studios on 25th Street South where Prince recorded his 1978 debut For You and Lipps Inc. created "Funkytown." First Avenue & 7th Street Entry, immortalized in Purple Rain, served as the crucial live venue where Prince, The Time, and Paisley Park artists developed their fusion of funk, rock, and new wave from 1977 through 1991. Paisley Park Studios and Records, established by Prince in nearby Chanhassen in 1987, cemented the city's role as a self-contained musical ecosystem where artists like The Revolution, Sheila E., and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis crafted a sound that synthesized Black and white musical traditions in America's Upper Midwest.
Scenes
Artists from Minneapolis
- Prince
Prince Rogers Nelson built the Minneapolis Sound almost by himself, then handed pieces of it to a dozen other acts and let them run.
- The Time
Prince built The Time in 1981 as a pressure valve for his straight funk material, and the outlet turned into one of the most electric live acts of the decade.
- Morris Day
Morris Day grew up in North Minneapolis alongside Prince, and the two spent their teenage years at The Way community center, soaking up R&B and funk from house musicians like Pierre Lewis and Sonny Thompson.
- André Cymone
André Cymone grew up down the block from the Nelson family and, for a stretch, under the same roof as Prince, the two of them absorbing R&B and funk together at The Way alongside older Northside musicians like Pierre Lewis and Sonny Thompson.
- Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis met as teenagers at a college readiness program and cut their teeth on the competitive circuit of Battles of the Bands at The Way, the North Minneapolis community center that shaped a generation of the city's musicians.
