An overly-eager artist being welcomed into the industry is taken on a bumpy ride as she learns life does not have as many sunny days as she thought. Within the process, she comes to learn that her tour guide is a lot more important to her than she e...
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November 17, 1984 Los Angeles, California
"Promise me something..." I spoke, out of breath, into the microphone.
Finally in the realm of my demographic, I'd finished my tour with one of my biggest shows yet. I looked around at all the different walks of life who gathered there just to see little ole' me. After showing up to that Purple Rain premiere Girls Just Wanna Have Fun went shot back up the charts and Stay Awake was gold. My album hadn't even touched gold yet I didn't think that'd be changing anytime soon. Not to mention, everyone was still talking about my outfit at the premiere. Atlantic finally acknowledged that I had my first gold single nearly a month ago. It was bittersweet. They brought me the plaque not too long ago at a business meeting. It's in my apartment next to Aaliyah's trophy for our high school's talent show.
"Promise me, no matter what... You'll never let anybody take what's rightfully yours." The audience cheered as my statement soaked in.
It is moments like this that explain exactly why I never shook the America's Sweetheart label as if I wasn't already drinking when my first single was released.
"There are going to be people in this world that are going to want to take your shine. They're going to want to take credit for how hard you've worked... Maybe even your originality..." I tried to refrain from cursing at my concerts, I kew being a role model had its backlash. "You just got to say Goodbye. Goodbye to them and hello to your future!" With music starting, I had to perform my last song of this whole tour. We changed the setlist. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was moved to the end due to its popularity. It was officially a closer.
To know I'd done my first tour and released my first album was a beautiful feeling. Sadly, I was not happy where I was at. Atlantic was bullshitting me! I had billboards all over the place yet the team provided never allowed me to do much press. I was being featured in magazines with press photos and candids from the premiere all of the time... Nobody thought to try and get me a cover shoot? I also didn't like how they wouldn't let me book any shows on my own. The deal was shitty. I was consistently wondering if my newly absent father and uncle thoroughly thought their plan out. If they hadn't, I wasted an entire year of my career.
I was finally getting recognized when I'd go places. You know why? Because I went to that Purple Rain premiere. It was something about my being around Prince that the world loved. Another bittersweet piece of life's pie. My video was getting more play on MTV as magazines threw pictures of me and Morris everywhere. I didn't know how to feel. I was happy that, with my record deal being an exception, my fame levels were boosting my career but that wasn't enough for me.
I refused to be known as nothing more than the girl hanging with Prince and I sometimes thought that was solely why things were looking up. However, the lesson learned was that I needed to be in the public eye and Atlantic had me in a basement. I finally went out to be seen and it was at the hottest party in town. It made sense. I needed to be in California a lot more often. Los Angeles was my last show anyway. Uncle Dorian and my father, who I still had yet to have seen, set up two meetings for the following day to get my career where it should be.
