# Prince Prince Rogers Nelson, the Minneapolis pop musician behind Purple Rain and 1999, became one of the internet's most memed celebrities during his lifetime and after his April 21, 2016 death at Paisley Park. His music, purple wardrobe, and a still from Purple Rain fueled the 'This Could Be Us But You Playin' image macro, while his passing triggered nearly 5 million tweets in a single afternoon and a wave of brand tributes that defined online mourning that year. ## Origin The 'This Could Be Us But You Playin' macro predates any single documented post and circulated on Tumblr and Twitter before mainstream coverage. Prince himself confirmed the meme's existence in a June 23, 2014 Minneapolis Star Tribune interview about his 37th album Art Official Age, telling the paper that the track 'This Could Be Us' was directly inspired by the image macro parodying the Purple Rain motorcycle still[3]. That an artist as guarded with his image as Prince would name a song after a fan meme is what fixed the format in meme history. Prince's second act as an internet subject began October 22, 2015, when he launched his official Instagram account under his stage name[3]. Nicknamed 'Princestagram,' the feed mixed decades of concert photos with image macros of himself and pulled in more than 100,000 followers in its first five days, reaching roughly 270,000 by the time of his death[3]. - **Platform:** Tumblr / Twitter (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2014 ## Overview Prince the meme really means two overlapping things online. The first is the 'This Could Be Us But You Playin' image macro, built on a still of Prince and Apollonia Kotero riding a purple motorcycle in the 1984 film Purple Rain[3]. Users pair the caption with anything they wish a flaky crush, friend, or coworker would just commit to, from Netflix binges to fast food orders. The joke works because Prince in full 1984 regalia looks impossibly cool and impossibly serious, so any mundane pairing lands as absurd. The second layer is the sprawl of Prince tributes, edits, and fan art that flooded feeds after his death on April 21, 2016[1]. Fans recast him as the Little Prince, brands scrambled to post purple graphics, and celebrities like Mike Tyson photoshopped their faces onto his body as what Tyson called a 'Super Tribute'[3]. Prince's own Twitter avatar switched from his 'third eye' sunglasses illustration to an image of him with two eyes closed and the third open[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Prince? Prince refers both to musician Prince Rogers Nelson and to the meme wave built around him, most notably the 'This Could Be Us But You Playin' image macro using a still from Purple Rain[3]. ### Where did Prince come from? Prince was born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis and began recording in 1978; the image macro tied to him surfaced on Tumblr and Twitter and was mainstream enough by June 2014 that he named an album track after it[3]. ### What does Prince mean? As a meme, Prince captions usually mean 'I wish this thing was actually happening with you,' pairing the Purple Rain motorcycle still with anything a user wants from a flaky romantic interest or friend[3]. ### How do you use Prince? The common convention is to post the Prince and Apollonia motorcycle still with 'This could be us but you playin' plus a scenario the poster wants, from dates to shared takeout orders[3]. ### Is Prince still popular? Prince the artist stayed a cultural fixture through his April 21, 2016 death, when nearly 5 million tweets mentioned him in a single afternoon and radio stations like 89.3 The Current played only his catalog[3][2]. ## References 1. [https://www.cnet.com/news/prince-lashes-out-at-youtube-ebay-and-the-pirate-bay/]() 2. [https://slate.com/culture/2016/04/minneapolis-radio-station-is-playing-only-prince-listen-here.html]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/prince]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/prince Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library