Jidenna Reveals How Prince Helped Him Find His ‘Inner Magic’ 

When dapper and poised Wondaland artist Jidenna stormed the scene in 2015 with the hit, “Classic Man,” it was automatically noted that he would be different than the artists that were around him. Dressed up and clean cut, the fashionable rapper-singer further proved that he rides in his own lane while attending the 2016 ESSENCE Festival. 

Shortly after delivering an energetic set of tunes in the “Hot Right Now” Superlounge, Jidenna shared how Prince had influence on him. “I would not be here if it weren’t for Prince,” he began.

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“No one looks like this in hip-hop. I started singing because it was a natural evolution in hip-hop to me. Without Prince, I wouldn’t have embraced that. I wouldn’t have been able to embrace me. When I used to walk around, people used to call me the Willy Wonka of the hood,” he continued. “I would not be able to embrace my strange, my weirdo – my inner magic if it weren’t for him.” 

Through artists like Jidenna – and the head lady of Wondaland Recrods, Janelle Monae –Prince’s legacy will continue to live on to impact artists to be themselves, embrace their uniqueness, and discover their inner magic.

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