Carl Craig and Waajeed

On April 21, 2017, a special gathering took place at the 7th St Entry in honor of the patron saint of Minneapolis, exactly one year after he left the mortal plane. While the hits were pumped next door in the Mainroom, the Entry’s headliner – the Detroit legend Moodyman – stated plainly, “If you came expecting Purple Rain, I’m gonna be your worst DJ,” as he opened his set.

On April 21, 2018, the same people who brought you that party return to the Entry with another Prince tribute night for the real heads and true fans, this time with another legendary Detroit DJ: Carl Craig.

As Craig was coming of age in a post-Motown Detroit, an eccentric radio DJ by the name of The Electrifying Mojo had captured the ears of the Motor City with his nightly radio program. Mojo played all types of music on his show, but once the clock struck midnight, it was all about funk. As one of Prince’s earliest supporters, Mojo quickly made the Minneapolis icon into a staple of the Midnight Funk Association segment of the show, which helped Prince become a superstar in Detroit months before he attained that status in his own hometown.

Craig and some of his fellow Detroiters found inspiration in Prince and his posse of Minneapolis Sound musicians, which they would put on display when they were becoming techno music’s pioneers in the following years. The same could be said of their house music counterparts in Chicago. Of course Prince himself was heavily influenced by artists from around the Midwest, whether it be Earth, Wind & Fire and Curtis Mayfield out of Chicago, Stevie Wonder and George Clinton out of Detroit, or countless others.

That is the Midwest Funk Association. That’s what this event is about.

This night is not just for Prince, it’s also for the bond we share in the Midwest as Brothers and Sisters in funk. It’s for The Electrifying Mojo, and other forces that helped turn Minneapolis funk into Detroit techno. Prince’s music will be played, but so will music that inspired him as well as music he inspired. Carl will be playing a special tribute set and he is joined on the line up by fellow Detroiter and label-mate Waajeed as well as two of Minneapolis’ finest funk DJs, DJ Nola and Focus.