[captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: good evening, from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight part two of our conversation with icon, prince. he's out with a new cd set called lotusflow3r. it's available at lotusflow3r.com. and the new project, bria valente, and kicks off with a tremendous cd called elixer. we are glad that you are joining us now. >> there are so many things

walmart is looking forward, helping to build relationships. because with your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide proudly supports "tavis smiley." "tavis smiley" and nationwide. >> and by contributions from your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: welcome back, tonight two of our conversations with my man. prince. i am still holding these papers from last night. i didn't change clothes.

but then neither did prince but he looks good all the time. >> actually i changed. this is double all the same. tavis is the one who didn't change. tavis: ok, if it works for you, it works for me. i have two of these. when we left i had these in my hand, talking of the song lyrics of his new cd, lotusflow3r, three cd's, minneapolis sound, elixer and lotusflow3r. and this is available at losflow3r.com. we talked about drmer, i didn't get to the other three, can i ask about colonized mind? >> yeah, thathas to do with the state of the union right now. the state of the union for all of us, not just black or white,

but all of us. yesterday we spoke a little about how i was raised. and my father, he was a very strong individual who demanded a very high standard from me. in everything. you said something very interesting is that i could have turned out a mean person. i do have that side of me. but what i try to do is to the best of my ability funnel it back into the music. larry graham is a dear friend of mine, and want to say what's up to him and tina. i will be home shortly, but i am having a lot of fun out here though. i just wanted to say something, larry has a volatile side to him too. he told me a story once, larry, i just got to tell this. one time larry and freddie from

sly and the family stone, were on their way to a gig to open for jimi hendrix, right then i am shaking, can't wait to hear what is going down. on the way to the gig they pick up amplifiers and the car is loaded with them. it's hard to see and they are driving and late trying to get to the gig. they either hit this guy or the guy runs into them, but there is an accident, right in the middle the street of new york. larry jumps out of the car, whoops this dude's backside. freddie is with him, you know, they are both from oakland, so you know what time it is; right? i don't even want to see what the other dude looked like. tavis: yeah. >> it's like he got that side

to him. i was just taken by that part of the story. and then i asked him, so when you got to the gig, what happened? who won the battle between you and hendrix. and larry said, oh we spanked him. wait a minute, you spanked jimi hendrix. the same thing with him, if you listen to his music you can hear the bass and funk, the anger is in songs like "people" and "water" and "it ain't no fun to me." that's what i learned from. that's my teacher. tavis: colonized mind, two more, we referenced on this last night, "feel better, feel good." i love the title.

>> it's about for folks to stop hating. there is referencing in the song to a record distributor, and we have had a lot of conversations, and you try to do me like my big brother steve. what we believe in the music industry is this, you can put out a record and soundscan refuses to count as many as they sell. but you get paid on what soundscan says you sold. if it's a loan number you get paid on that number. meanwhile you with go overseas and check bar codes and titles over there, they have already ripped you off several different times and ways.

and the influx of the internet, those sales, then you really gotten your bank account emptied out. so we never really knew what "purple rain" sold, i don't know to this day. i know what they told me. we are conducting an audit, but who knows. tavis: a whole bunch. >> we expect. that's an ode to how i grew up. and there are a current references in other words to bailouts given to banks and things like that. whereas there is a lot of us in the hood, still, going through the same stuff. now it's interesting, i don't live there anymore. but i have to take care of a lot of people that live back there. and it just be best, i hear a

lot of talk about redistribution of the wealth, it would be best for us trying to run things on our own for a minute. give us our master tapes back. let us sell like you sell. if you go to the internet you will see artists with 51 million mitts. -- hits. and they say there are 52 million people on myspace, and that's a nation. i shudder to see what that is. tavis: speaking of one's perspective, you are either a genius, doing stuff like this, doing yourself or distributing yourself. you are either a genius or a hater of the industry, a hater of the way things ought to be done. tell me the strategy behind what you are doing these days.

>> first of all, there is no hate involved. i welcome the industry to stay and remain the way it is. it's good when i am sitting talking to someone like anita baker, we can point to the industry as the way we don't want to do it anymore. we don't believe in free goods. we don't believe in, you know, 90% of the contract the way it's written now. we don't believe in 360 deals, anyone that signs one of those, is absolutely crazy. but it's a free country and you can do what you want. the thinking is to introduce a new artist to the world, someone who is dear to me, her music soothes me. i am not a big fan of male vocalists. i usually when i do ballads, i

use my higher register. because i love the female voice doing slow music. i spoke too soon in mistakening comparing bria's music to shaday's music. i didn't mean that she sounded like her, but there is romance in the music, like "love is stronger than pride." and there was a romance missing in today's music. the best thing i could tell bria is try to do something that is not happening today. trying to get in the niche, because you have a beautiful voice. but you got to do something with it that you don't hear. and that's what she's done. it's one of those sleeper records that if people play and listen to all the way through, she got you.

tavis: why i am not hearing a lot of this on radio? >> i think it's because i am not signed with a major label. target is not a record company, they are a distributor and retail store. and a good one at that, 30 million people go through the stores every week. they have a chance to pick up the lotusflow3r record. they are treating us like any other record company, they buy the same amount and pay the same price. we have done quite well already, bria is taken care of and i am. and i hope to do more deals with anita baker, we are trying to work on jazz things. but time will tell. tavis: it was amazing to me, without radio airplay, as a sole distributor, you end up

missing no. 1 when this thing dropped. like maxwell smart, missed it by that much. >> again, that's when the fighter in me comes out. and i think of jack johnson knocking someone down three or four times and lost the fight. soundscan said it was no. 2. other charts say it was no. 1. it doesn't make a difference to me one way or another. what makes a difference to me is that history is told truthfully. and that's not always the case. i love golf and boxing, because it's emano de mano.

we wish it were the on radio and there is some resistance to it. you will have to ask your friends at radio, the friends i ask haven't given me a straight answer. tavis: if you had a string of stations that you were the owner and program director of, what would it sound like? >> i want it to be good music and littered with artists that own their master rights. because without that they don't own any wealth. they can't put back into the community. there are few that own their master's. when you see that in the future, you will see more radio waves being purchased and those changing rapidly. tavis: you told the jimi hendrix earlier, but you are the best guitarist of all times.

>> man, i love this show. tavis: i am being a truth teller. what do you make of this guitar hero? >> well, i am mad at them, i heard they made $200 billion and offered us a small portion of that. i think it's more important that kids learn how to actually play the guitar. it's a tough instrument, it's not easy. it took me a long time. it was frustrating at first. and you just have to stick with it. and it's cool for people who don't have time to learn the cords. but to play music is one of the greatest things. to create something from nothing is one of the greatest feelings. and i would, i don't know, i wish it upon everybody. it's heaven. tavis: and she's one of three,

elixer, bria valente, from the package, lotusflow3r.com. tell me how you found her? >> she said she met me first. and that's what she tells me. i say that i met her first. i will say this, that morris hayes is very instrumental, my keyboard player, it instrumental in us coming together. and once we got together, we clicked. it was pretty easy. and the most interesting thing about her is how rapidly she picked up understanding of scripture. because i pretty much talk about that with everyone i know. because it informs my life so much now. the other thing is that she's really funny. and she likes to laugh.

and you know, tavis, i love to laugh. tavis: [laughter]. >> no, i am kidding. tavis: yeah, he's funny. yeah. >> i am kidding. i told her i was going to say that to you one time. that was for her. tavis: you got it out, and on that note you can get out. his name is prince. his new project is called lotusflow3r, it has not one, not two but three cd's, bria valente, let elixer. prince, i love you and nothing you can do about it. up next, bria valente, elixer, stay with us. tavis: bria valente is a talented singer featured on a

new cd disk and kicks off prince's new cd set, from lotusflow3r. here is from video. ♪ tavis: so bria leans over to me during the clip, we are just trying to make stellar elevator music. it's a whole lot better than that. brian, make sure that prince is gone. good, he's gone.

tell me the truth, how did you meet, he said you met first, how do it happen? >> well, i was 17. and i am from minneapolis, minnesota. i was working with morris hayes at the time. he had brought me to paisley park. and i met with morris and prince came down and just sat next to me. didn't look at me and said hello. and i said hi. and said what is your name. and i said i am bri -- bria. and he said nice to meet you. and then he was gone. so that was the first time we met. tavis: and then fast forward a few years later and have a project. >> yes, i moved to l. a., and we had a chance meeting and ended up back together. and morris hayes was again --

tavis: the conduit. >> yes, the conduit. tavis: what is it like to be introduced and exposed by prince? >> it's a privilege and a blessing. and the situation in the working environment i was in was like a family. and we all grew up loving music. i grew up with music and my father loved music. and when we got together we combined our talents and made this record we were all very proud of. and i never thought i would be working with prince, to tell you the truth. you moved away minneapolis and came back home. it's interesting how it works. tavis: tell me about bria's music. >> i wanted a record from front

to back that you can play through and talks about the best qualies of love. and that's what this talks about. and we did that, a few songs are jam sessions that we turned into songs after the fact. and it turned out beautiful, i am so proud of it. tavis: when ever prince introduces us to somebody, there is always at least one song that we all latch on to. because it has that quinsequential song, and we believe that that song for you is "tonight." >> yes, tonight. tavis: she agrees, tell us why that has that quinsequential sound. ?

>> he's funky and he has that quality and some have compared to "nasty girl." yeah, that's how it all comes together. tavis: to your word choice of comparing, and prince just a few minutes ago made the point, and i am quoting almost, he said perhaps i spoke too son when i compared bria to shadnay. and what do you make of the comparisons others make of your music and whatever? >> actually this record has a sound of its own. it's hard to compare to anything else. everybody is going to take something from it based on their personal experience. so nothing really bothers me as far as comparisons are concerned.

but most who hear it, my voice has a different tone than other people. i have been compared as i have heard to shanta moore and other artists like that. but it really takes on its own energy and has its own feeling. tavis: tell me about the challenge that prince gave you to create your own sound, to create your own lane, to do something that is not done now. he mentioned that's the challenge he gave you if he was going to work with you. how did you respond to that challenge? >> that takes a lot of interspection and you have to sit with yourself and think of what you want to hear that you are not hearing. there are certain things that touch me in music and it's when i hear heart and caring and things like that.

that's something that really gets me. and music is such a powerful thing that it can capture a moment in your life and bring you back to that spot. it connects with you on an emotional level and spiritual level. and i thought what would i enjoy listening to. and i tried to write about things i love to hear about, and i love the positive message of love and the organic pure music. and i wanted to capture that, something very real that people could listen to and it would touch them. tavis: when did you know, because you modeled and that's part of your back story, when did you know that music is what you wanted to do and not just something you enjoyed? >> i think it was in school, when i was doing talent shows, this is when i knew it made me

happy. and it really makes you happy when you do something from nothing, and that's the most rewarding feeling. i enjoyed doing that. doing the talent shows and writing music and learning things from my father. he played 27 instrumevis: he's . but does he do lead vocals and back vocals? >> yeah. tavis: if you launch a project, she is put out as a part of a three cd set. bria valente is the name, know that and the cd is called elixer. bria, nice to have you on. hope it's not the last. that's our program and you can

access our radio podcast at pbs.org. and tonight thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith. ♪ >> for more information on hi, look at two new guests. see you then. >> there are so many things

that walmart is looking forward to doing, to build strong relationships because the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports "tavis smiley." "tavis smiley" and nationwide to support the economy. >> and by contributions from your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioned by the national captioning institute, inc. ---www.ncicap.org--- >> we are pbs.