Spring kicked off in high gear with PopCon ’24 Legacy! Legacy! at USC in early March, and it was a TIME! Two full days packed with the best in music scholarship fed my soul. There were so many highlights, including the opening night keynote with Dr. Funkenstein, George Clinton, in conversation with the brilliant music journalist, editor, and writer Danyel Smith (I highly recommend her book Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop). Two of my musical heroes, Wendy & Lisa, chatted with Timothy Anne Burnside of the Smithsonian for the day 2 keynote, and legendary filmmaker and cultural critic dream hampton sat down with USC’s Jason King.

Unfortunately, I forgot to film my presentation but just know, it was awesome!

I made my way to New York in April for De Angela Duff‘s #EroticCity40 symposium at NYU, celebrating Prince‘s Purple Rain (the film and the album), The Time‘s Ice Cream Castle, Sheila E.‘s The Glamorous Life, and Apollonia 6‘s eponymous debut. For three days, we reveled in the joy and exhilaration of 1984. I was honored to be part of the all-women Apollonia 6 panel moderated by India Mallard, co-creator of The Purple Townhouse, along with Chinisha Scott and Tammy Sharpe. You can watch our fabulous conversation below.

We were treated to an extra-special keynote from Vaughn Terry, half of the duo Louis & Vaughn who were the designers behind some of Prince’s most iconic looks from the 1999 tour through the early ’90s. That was a fun night! As always, De Angela brought out the most amazing folks to share their scholarship and insights about one of the most important artists–and his work from this incredible era.

UP NEXT:

I’m stoked to present for the very first time at the International Centre 4 Prince Studies conference! This year’s event, Prince on Screen: Images and Ideology, focuses on Prince’s iconic films and music videos and takes place in Minneapolis June 17-18.

More to come. Stay tuned!