It’s just a few sleeps ahead of More Funk ’16 – Old School ’80s and the Mplsound at First Avenue, the funk flo’ filla party I’m organizing along with DJ Cowboy, Dean Vaccaro, Roy Freedom and the ace First Ave crew. On deadline, I look online for some inspiring funk to drive home this Current…

Rare video of Prince playing basketball has surfaced in the form of a music video shot in 2000 by David Schwartz, who remembers “he was a trash talker.” (Billboard) Meanwhile, Judge Kevin Eide will decide by Thursday “whether music-industry specialists should be hired to help manage estate assets for potential heirs” of Prince, reports the Star Tribune. Carlin Q.…

“Isn’t the sky beautiful tonight?” That’s how Prince greeted The Current’s program director Jim McGuinn, who reported on his summer 2010 visit to Paisley Park in one of the first Prince stories ever published on The Current’s website. The Current was launched in 2005, and Prince became a supporter of the station. He showed that support…

Though he was a Jehovah's Witness and didn't celebrate holidays, it's hard not to think about Prince today, on what would have been his 58th birthday. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that Prince wrote for others?

Sure, there are plenty of obscenities. There’s alcohol. There’s a venue easily accessible by public transit in the heart of the city. And instead of the entertainer radiating confidence, confidence feels in-your-face. But there is the ambiance of a last-minute, spontaneously planned event. There’s a pre-show deejay set where hundreds of phoneless folks eagerly and…

On Sunday, Swedish pop icons ABBA celebrated the 50th anniversary of their band’s founding by performing together for the first time since the mid-1980s. All four members of the group were in attendance at a Stockholm gala celebrating the group, and when Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad started singing their song “Me and I,” Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson joined in…

Tomorrow, June 7, would be Prince’s 58th birthday. In honor of the occasion, Gov. Mark Dayton has declared it Prince Day in the state of Minnesota. In the proclamation (below), Gov. Dayton encourages Minnesotans to wear purple on Tuesday in Prince’s honor. Click here to read about more ways Minnesotans are celebrating the occasion —…

On Friday we lost iconic three-time world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear in honor of Muhammad Ali?

During the past few years, I’ve had some key friendship moments on a crowded dance floor. Music is great that way — it gives people something to revel in, tugging the same glint out of everyone’s eye. On the other hand, I’ve spent some of my most introspective moments on those same dance floors, and I’ve…

Chance the Rapper brings his optimistic lit-hop to his latest mix, 'Coloring Book.' He's not afraid to take on big issues, but Chance infuses his songs with a sense of hope, and the album only gets better with each listening.