Atlanta To Celebrate Prince

Wrecka Stow Productions will be putting on a show on June 22nd for Prince fans. It’s over 5 hours of Prince and Prince related music wall to wall as well as “surprises”. We’re told to expect the hits, lost tracks, forgotten tracks, outtakes, and tons of proteges including 3rd Eye Girl, Sheila E., The Time, NPG, Jesse Johnson, Mazarati, Liv Warfield, and the list goes on and on.

But the best part? It’s completely FREE admission. So if you’re addicted to all things Prince, you probably shouldn’t be anywhere else.

The event will take place at 10 High in Atlanta which has a capacity of 200, so you can expect the place to be packed with crazy Prince fans and of course, we’ll be there with bells on. Visit the website at http://www.wreckastowproductions.com for more details.

 

Jesse Johnson Wakes Up Dead

Ex-Morris Day and The Time guitarist Jesse Johnson apparently died yesterday morning when his Facebook account showed the following message:

Guitarist Jesse Johnson, was found deceased in his Hollywood, California residence earlier yesterday. The apparent cause was not clear and no official statement, regarding the musician’s cause of death, has not, nor will be made, until the Los Angeles County coroner’s office has conducted a full autopsy and toxicology test have been completed. – CNN-Natalia R. Phiffer 10/27/2013

This obviously sent fans into an absolute craze until many hours later when Jesse Johnson quickly set the record straight;

 

Luckily for all Morris Day and The Time aka The Original 7ven fans, he’s still alive and kicking. And although he’s not playing with them anymore, the good news is that Jesse will be on D’Angelo‘s new album, but the way the post was worded made it sound as if he’s recording a new album and also a new D’Angelo album. Could Jesse Johnson fans be getting a double dose coming soon? Oh man we hope so.

But the best news of all is that he not dead.

 

Exclusive Interview with The Time’s Tori Ruffin

Morris Day & The Time guitarist Tori Ruffin speaks candidly about The Original 7ven, Prince, Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown and his own project Freak Juice.

Mr. Christopher sits down with Tori Ruffin for a late night chat about the future of The Time and his new passion.

 

D'Angelo Announces First U.S. Show In Over a Decade

The news for D’Angelo just keeps on coming and it’s very exciting. On top of receiving news of D’Angelo working on a brand new album thanks to our good friend The Roots drummer Questlove (via tweet), D’Angelo decided to take some of the new songs and also past material on the road for some European dates.  Now D’Angelo has added his name to the lineup at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 6th which will be his first U.S. show in over a decade.

D’Angelo decided that the time was finally right to release the hounds stateside and adds his name to an amazing billing which already includes Trey Songz, Pointer Sisters, Keyshia Cole, Charlie Wilson, just on that Friday night when D’Angelo is performing. The festival runs July 6th through July 8th.

There was also some excitement some months back when he added Jesse Johnson to his European lineup (Morris Day and The Time‘s guitarist) after Jesse walked out on The Time due to their refusal to hit the road and support The Time reunion. So a question on everyone’s mind is whether Jesse Johnson will be a part of the mix at the U.S. appearance.

The other question would be whether or not this signals a U.S. tour for D’Angelo to support the upcoming new album and exactly when that album will see the light of day.

So the only thing left to do is enjoy some of D’Angelo‘s 2012 Eurpoean performance below. Because as far as getting answer to those questions, we’re pretty sure that people have learned by now that it will be on his own schedule. Who’s excited?! If you need tickets, this is where you go.

 

D’Angelo Announces First U.S. Show In Over a Decade

The news for D’Angelo just keeps on coming and it’s very exciting. On top of receiving news of D’Angelo working on a brand new album thanks to our good friend The Roots drummer Questlove (via tweet), D’Angelo decided to take some of the new songs and also past material on the road for some European dates.  Now D’Angelo has added his name to the lineup at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 6th which will be his first U.S. show in over a decade.

D’Angelo decided that the time was finally right to release the hounds stateside and adds his name to an amazing billing which already includes Trey Songz, Pointer Sisters, Keyshia Cole, Charlie Wilson, just on that Friday night when D’Angelo is performing. The festival runs July 6th through July 8th.

There was also some excitement some months back when he added Jesse Johnson to his European lineup (Morris Day and The Time‘s guitarist) after Jesse walked out on The Time due to their refusal to hit the road and support The Time reunion. So a question on everyone’s mind is whether Jesse Johnson will be a part of the mix at the U.S. appearance.

The other question would be whether or not this signals a U.S. tour for D’Angelo to support the upcoming new album and exactly when that album will see the light of day.

So the only thing left to do is enjoy some of D’Angelo‘s 2012 Eurpoean performance below. Because as far as getting answer to those questions, we’re pretty sure that people have learned by now that it will be on his own schedule. Who’s excited?! If you need tickets, this is where you go.

http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F1580857&show_artwork=true

 

Jesse Johnson Comes Clean About Split From The Time

After many months of people speculating about Jesse Johnson‘s departure from The Time (aka The Original 7ven), Jesse finally spoke out about the true reasoning of why he left.  It apparently had to do with a lack of touring to support their efforts and very simply, not getting paid. This was the statement that Jesse posted on his Facebook account yesterday;

“I was on a conference call with the O-7 and I asked the following questions in early December; ” Do we have any shows for December? answered “No” I continued to ask the the same question regarding January and Febuary, and I received the same answer, which was a resounding “NO” I then asked when was the the first royalty accounting coming up? And the answer was, ” I don’t know” and with Allah as my witness, I respectfully made the announcement that I could no longer AFFORD to participate in an organization that personally cost me thousands of dollars (Gear, Clothing, Travel, etc…) and further more shows no signs of taking premptive measures (Sponsers, Touring, etc…) in helping to see a return on our investment. So help me god, the people on whatever sites that state they were not informed of exit should feel very, very ashamed of them selves to seek sympathy from unknowing fans. Am I angry, I feel sad for people that have to lie to seek unwarranted sympathy. Sad! Do ever post or ask me at anytime or place about this subject.”

That being said, we are SO happy that Jesse clarified what the issue was.  He also announced that he had just arrived in Amsterdam to start the tour with D’Angelo as previously announced. Which also means that you should start seeing him pop up on the videos and audio mixtapes that D’Angelo likes to release occasionally.  We can’t wait to hear Jesse cut loose on Chicken Grease!

Much thanks to Jesse Johnson for clarifying the story for the fans. You are an amazing guitarist and we will always support your efforts no matter where you are! Keep on keeping on!  Speculate no more Morris Day and The Time fans!

 

Jesse Johnson Joins D'Angelo & Leaves The Time (For Good?)

It’s been no surprise that The Original 7ven aka Morris Day and The Time have dropped off the map and rightfully so.  It’s tough to call yourself The Original 7ven when one of the seven decides to walk away as Jesse Johnson up and left The Time yet again after there was much talk about an internal blowout.

Many people have speculated that Jesse Johnson insisted on the band relinquishing their ties with Prince because of his “heavy handed” management of the band back in the day which crested with his refusal to not let the band even use the name.  A thorn in Jesse’s paw as made evident in videos and interviews.

The band didn’t help the situation much by playing a handful of shows that all featured the classic hits from the 80’s (Jungle Love, The Bird, 777-9311, COOL, etc.) and only playing one song from the new album (#Trendin) during the entire concert performances.

Since that time, things fell apart even more as D’Angelo announced his band lineup for his European tour which included, you guessed it, Jesse Johnson on guitar.  That tour runs through mid-February, so if there are any “make up sessions” in the future, they won’t happen until at least late February or March of this year.

Jesse served as the primary source of information on his departure via his Twitter and Facebook page while The Time stayed dreadfully silent trying to do damage control. But they hinted at a resolution on their Facebook page on December 30th when they stated, “In 7ven Days around 7pm we’ll be back. Have a Safe & Happy New Year“.

Regardless of where you began counting from, that time has come and gone with no updates or announcements which only agitated the situation and led to more frustration. Not to mention the fast dwindling interest in the project now that silence is the norm and appearances have ceased altogether.

One positive thought is that the band may be restructuring their show to include many of the new hits in order to sway Jesse back into the fray. But until someone says something, it’s all hearsay and guesses. We hope that they work it out, but the silence is deafening. And that’s a big shame considering that many fans are jumping ship. Again.

 

Jesse Johnson Joins D’Angelo & Leaves The Time (For Good?)

It’s been no surprise that The Original 7ven aka Morris Day and The Time have dropped off the map and rightfully so.  It’s tough to call yourself The Original 7ven when one of the seven decides to walk away as Jesse Johnson up and left The Time yet again after there was much talk about an internal blowout.

Many people have speculated that Jesse Johnson insisted on the band relinquishing their ties with Prince because of his “heavy handed” management of the band back in the day which crested with his refusal to not let the band even use the name.  A thorn in Jesse’s paw as made evident in videos and interviews.

The band didn’t help the situation much by playing a handful of shows that all featured the classic hits from the 80’s (Jungle Love, The Bird, 777-9311, COOL, etc.) and only playing one song from the new album (#Trendin) during the entire concert performances.

Since that time, things fell apart even more as D’Angelo announced his band lineup for his European tour which included, you guessed it, Jesse Johnson on guitar.  That tour runs through mid-February, so if there are any “make up sessions” in the future, they won’t happen until at least late February or March of this year.

Jesse served as the primary source of information on his departure via his Twitter and Facebook page while The Time stayed dreadfully silent trying to do damage control. But they hinted at a resolution on their Facebook page on December 30th when they stated, “In 7ven Days around 7pm we’ll be back. Have a Safe & Happy New Year“.

Regardless of where you began counting from, that time has come and gone with no updates or announcements which only agitated the situation and led to more frustration. Not to mention the fast dwindling interest in the project now that silence is the norm and appearances have ceased altogether.

One positive thought is that the band may be restructuring their show to include many of the new hits in order to sway Jesse back into the fray. But until someone says something, it’s all hearsay and guesses. We hope that they work it out, but the silence is deafening. And that’s a big shame considering that many fans are jumping ship. Again.

 

Jesse Johnson Calls It Quits With The Original 7ven

It was the dream reunion for Prince fans as all of the members of the Morris Day and The Time clan got back together and planned a tour of the United States as The Original 7ven. We covered it very intensely here at Funkatopia and were very excited to get a chance to see the band play together as a team once more.  Then yesterday Jesse Johnson, guitarist for The Time posted a disturbing message on his Facebook account.

The post simply stated that he wasn’t going to be playing the The Original 7ven anymore because they don’t see eye to eye anymore.  No word on exactly what caused the post, but we’ll be reaching out to other connections to help you find out. Needless to say, many Time fans are very upset (including us). Suspiciously enough, The Original 7ven site, Facebook page and Twitter have remained eerily quiet not discussing it at all.

More Facebook posts then followed including;

Hello Babies,
I don’t really think I’ll be performing with the Original 7 (or The Time if your nasty) any more! We simple don’t see eye to eye on anything. Love the guys, but I feel in my heart it’s “Time” to walk away while we’re all still friends. May Peace be you. 
PeaceLove, Jesse Johnson Bey ♥

and then,

Some of us are born alone, live alone, and when the time comes die alone! I’ve always and always will be a fucking loner. Not ALONE, but a loner, a lover of solitude. I really isn’t that serious and we have Way More Important Pressing matters in the World to be concerned about.
LovePeace, Jesse Johnson

and then

It is really me Jesse Johnson formerly of a few fucking bands. But I understand, there are so many pretenders, but it’s really me. I feel really bad for thevpeople who were looking forward to seeing me with The Time or whoever, but you will see and hear me especially hear me forever! Music never dies, people do. Please excuse my spelling here and there I’m typing with one finger on my iPad.
LoovePeace, Jesse Johnson Bey ♥ (Birth name, I rarely use it in the entertainment world)

and then lastly this morning with

No old just new! Always reach for the stars! Always reach! Always venture into the unknown, creatively that is! Never become complacent or live on your past achievements. And never, I do mean never, worry about what people think of your music, clothing, etc…ESPECIALLY if you dig/love what your doing.
LovePeace, Jesse Johnson Bey ♥

Long story short, it does indeed look like it’s over. Dagnabbit!

 

Proposal At Canada Prince Concert & Prince Radio Interview

Prince has always been known to be the romantic and many a man has made it beyond 2nd base thanks to the almighty purple one. And even though Prince is far less sexual nowadays due to his religious pinnings, he still gets people going.  During the latest Toronto concert this past Friday at the Air Canada Centre, a man proposed to his girlfriend on the stage while Prince was performing The Bird.  Not the most romantic of songs, but she said yes and the couple danced the remainder of the set away which continued with Jungle Love, Play That Funky Music (with Ohio Players mixed in), and ending with “Vegas in E”

Additionally, before the show, Prince did an interview with a Canadian radio show Chum 104.5 and spoke a little about the re-release of Extra Loveable, the after parties planned for some of the Canadian shows, his love for Minneapolis and his battle with epilepsy and vertigo. We thought that was worth mentioning. So here’s the proposal along with an amazing performance and below that is the radio interview. Enjoy.