At the #PopLife40 virtual symposium on April 11-13, 2025 (Fri-Sun), we celebrated 40 years of Prince’s Around The World In A Day (ATWIAD), The Family, and Sheila E.’s Romance 1600, all of which Prince produced, arranged, composed, and performed with the assistance of some amazing musical collaborators!

ATWIAD marked the bold and unexpected left turn Prince took while still riding the wave of Purple Rain’s massive commercial success. This symposium explored why he chose not to capitalize on that momentum with a “Purple Rain 2,” why the tour was cut short and never made it to Europe, and broader themes of race, gender, politics, and sexuality, as well as his impact on music, film, and fashion.

Over three days, the symposium featured 42 speakers across 10 sessions, including 13 presentations on five panels, three lively roundtable discussions, an integrated segment of the weekly What Did Prince Do This Week? webcast, and two very special keynotes. The first keynote brought together members of The Family—St. Paul Peterson, Susannah Melvoin, Jellybean Johnson, and Eric “Blow Your Horn” Leeds—on one virtual stage. The second keynote spotlighted Eddie M., whose iconic saxophone work could be heard throughout Romance 1600 and on two unforgettable tracks from Around the World in a Day.

MASSIVE THANKS to our wonderful sponsor, NYU!

#PopLife40 was the 9th polished solid Prince symposium and the 14th Prince event, curated by De Angela L. Duff!

This event was FREE, but please consider donating to DIVAS (Digital Interactive Visual Arts Sciences) for Social Justice, a 501(c) nonprofit that empowers and inspires youth living in underserved communities in NYC and very soon MPLS to use tech and visual arts to promote social justice and become change makers in their communities. On Juneteenth 2024, DIVAS opened its first satellite office in South Minneapolis. The organization launched a social justice makerspace designed by the community. To learn more about DIVAS, watch this trailer and visit https://divasforsocialjustice.org.

In 2017, De Angela L. Duff was introduced to Mable Ivory by Deanna Martin in front of Webster Hall in NYC, after a performance by The Revolution. Spontaneously, they decided to grab some dinner. De Angela casually mentioned that she very much wanted to watch the Sign O’ The Times film together with some Prince friends in a small screening room at NYU. Mable responded, “Why do you want to do that, when it can be much bigger?” And that is how it all began.

De Angela owes immense gratitude to Mable for encouraging her to think on a grander scale and to Deanna for introducing her to Mable. She is grateful for the journey and indebted to Mable Ivory for getting her to dream bigger. With Ron Worthy also on board, the Peach + Black panel and screening was born within weeks.

In response to the reception of the event, De Angela realized that this work was important to the Prince community and for exposing new people to Prince’s full body of work.

The original peach + black panel of Zaheer Ali, Anil Dash, Miles Marshall Lewis, and Elliott Powell, moderated by De Angela herself, has convened in every Prince symposium that De Angela has created since. She is eternally grateful for their continued participation and Prince passion.

#PopLife40 marks De Angela’s 14th Prince event. Her mission is to keep Prince’s name on the lips of the children and in constant and critical dialogue.