Meshell's Tribute

The music of iconic musician Prince will make its way to the City of Falls Church Thursday, but the artist behind several hits from the 80s and 90s won’t be belting out the tunes.

Ten-time Grammy nominee Meshell Ndegeocello will perform the music of Prince at The State Theatre in a show billed as “Gett off: Meshell Ndegeocello covers Prince.”

“It was just something that came up between some friends of mine and I thought it would be really cool to construct some Prince tunes,” she said. “In my mind, I thought, ‘why not do the music that inspired me as a child’ and Prince is the reason I play music, so I thought it would be cool to pay tribute to someone who has been so influential in my life.”

But don’t expect her sound to be that of a Prince cover band. Backed by Chris Bruce on guitar, Deantoni Parks on drums, and Keefus Ciancia on, Ndegeocello puts her own spin on the “Purple One’s” classics.

“I stay away from the idea of covers,” she said. “It’s my tribute to a living icon but at the same time, I am an artist and musician and I put more of my vibe on the songs and make them modern.”

Unlike Prince, who spends a great deal of his time playing his greatest hits on stage, Ndegeocello believes the secret to having more than 20-years in the music business is that she never had that one hit.

“I don’t need to play those five songs like some artists; that was never what I wanted,” she said. “I try to stay creative and I have great fans and people who come to hear my music, and it’s not an idea of me. I’m just a musician who tries to keep growing and hopefully there will be people who like to hear great live music who come out.”

Born in Germany, but raised in Washington, D.C., Ndegeocello is looking forward to coming back to the area where she once was a big name on the go-go circuit in the late 1980s with the bands Prophecy, Little Bennie and the Masters and Rare Essence.

“More than being my home, I just love the nation’s capital. Being in the area, there’s just kind of a certain feel that’s always inspiring to me,” she said. “Hopefully my parents will come through the sound check, but it is very rapid fire when you are on tour, and you don’t have that much time to do things other than the music itself.”

It was back in 1991 when Ndegeocello made her way to New York armed with a demo recorded in her bedroom. She joined the Black Rock Coalition, and was soon signed to Madonna’s label.

Over the years, her songs have contained lyrical ruminations on race, love, sex, betrayal, God, and power, and she has simultaneously embraced and challenged listeners with her refusal to be pigeon-holed musically or personally.

“I try to be true to myself and that’s really all I can do,” she said. “I’m a musician, that’s all I can offer. Each record is just meant to say: here’s where that’s led me today. I learned that if you put it out there, people are going to find it.”

In October, Ndegeocello will be releasing her next album “Dirty World” on the European label, Naïve. The album will feature all original material, and includes a collaboration with New West artist Benji Hughes. A European tour will also coincide with the release.

“The American music scene has never been that inviting to me so when I am over there, I’m able to experiment and do other things,” she said. “Life inspires me. There may be certain days when I wish that I could fly somewhere exotic and have a million dollar vacation, but then I look at the state of the world and I am really content with the success that I do have.”