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Daphne Brooks on Prince's legacy as an African-American artist

Music critic and professor Daphne Brooks on how Prince used his art as a sign of individuality and power, reshaping the role of the black artist in pop culture.
'His sound, look and vision were about freedom.' Daphne Brooks on Prince as a figure of civil rights. (Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images)

Music critic and Yale University professor Daphne Brooks explains how Prince used his art as a sign of individuality and power, reshaping the role of the black artist in pop culture.

"What Prince represents is the fight for cultural equality for everyday, quotidian, social equality for African-Americans and people across the colour line to be able to express difference and really kind of powerful daring eccentricities," she tells Shad.

For Brooks, Prince's battle with the record industry is an important message of freedom. 

"That's an artist who reminds us of the long history of racism in the culture industry in the 20th century," she says.

To hear the other tributes to Prince, follow the link.