Although one of the most controversial artists, Prince was also one of the most honest people in the business. His music might have contributed to the long fallacy about the power of music to influence the impression minds of the youth, but if something didn’t sit right with him, most of the time, he would voice these opinions and stand up for what he believed to be right.
In the years leading up to Musicology, Prince lived up to this reputation in earnest. Following a long battle with his label and years of media scrutiny, he prioritised the protest and released music only he felt right, often at the expense of his commercial success. He was embittered by the disillusionment of the capitalist business and shunned the spotlight in favour of a more honest existence.
However, the release of Musicology saw the star forming an unwarranted return to the mainstream, not just in terms of making more public appearances and accepting more interviews but in his music, too. Suddenly, his music became more accessible than it had been in years, and he forever felt entangled by both sides of his career, with a consistent battle between heart and mind.
Still, Musicology maintained a lot of his more recent societally and politically critical mindset, particularly with songs like ‘Cinnamon Girl’, which stemmed from the tragedy and aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City. Following the events, a rise in Islamophobia and Xenophobia occurred largely as a result of media reporting and the subsequent demonisation of people from a certain race and background.
‘Cinnamon Girl’ addressed the newfound culture of intolerance by placing a Middle Eastern woman at the centre of the song’s narrative and her experience with ostracisation from society due to her heritage. Once loved by all those around her, Prince details the ways the 9/11 attacks caused everybody to turn on her “when she got accused of this crime” amid “mass illusion” caused by “the god of confusion”.
He took this a step further in the music video by showcasing the various ways the girl’s friends turn on her in the aftermath of the attacks, and as a result, she becomes so distraught by the sudden treatment that she becomes psychologically corrupt herself. Writing the song, Prince was more focused on media misconstruction and used deeply embedded cultural fear as a starting point to explore a broader narrative.
As he explained to the Daily Telegraph: “We live in a real xenophobic place. They talk about all these terrorists. But I didn’t feel no terror until the media told me to feel it. Who am I supposed to be feeling terrified of?” The song itself appears immensely direct, and the music video could be viewed as insensitive and even offensive, considering the way he implies the girl processes her criminalisation, but, at the time, his need to establish a direct address far surpassed the need for obvious pleasantries.
The 2001 attacks changed a lot about music and film and the way media coverage contributed to racism and racial intolerance, with ‘Cinnamon Girl’ providing a complex take on the insidiousness of discrimination in the 21st century. The topic would have been difficult and daring for any artist from any background to tackle, and Prince wasn’t anywhere near perfect in his own approach. However, if for nothing else, ‘Cinnamon Girl’ sparks an interesting debate on those vilified by the media and the responsibility of those with a platform to speak out against injustices.
