Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince Alex Hahn | Billboard Books | $24.95 by Jason Webber Alex Hahn thinks the Artist Once Again Known as Prince is a spoiled, misogynistic, egotistical megalomaniac. But he admires his talent. Really. Hahn’s dishy new biography on the Purple One, Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince, is Hahn’s attempt to chart Prince from the days when his music was introducing thousands of suburbanite teens to topics ranging from mutual masturbation ("Jack U Off") and blowjobs ("Head") to the current days, where Prince is preaching to the fans he has left about his newfound Jehovah’s Witness faith. Hahn, a journalist and lawyer operating out of Boston, grew up listening to Prince, and held a strong appreciation for his work. But this was back in the 1980s when it was fashionable to admit you were a Prince fan and could boast to your friends that you figured out what Prince was saying in that mysterious backwards-masked message at the end of "Darling Nikki." Then Hahn, like many other fans, got pissed off at the Purple One during the 1990s, when he started following rap and predictable Boyz II Men-style R&B. Changing his name to that male/female symbol didn’t help much either. And why the hell was he writing SLAVE on his cheek that one year? But when Prince went lawsuit crazy — for the umpteenth time — back in 1999, he tried to shut down several websites and fanzines that he said were violating his trademarked symbol name and were trading illegal bootlegged music. Hahn was hired on a pro bono basis (that is, for free) to defend Uptown, the most prominent Prince fanzine in the world. Hahn succeeded in reaching a settlement between the magazine and Prince, and the magazine continued to publish — albeit with a huge disclaimer sticker on its covers, stating that this was not an official Prince product. Duh. So now Hahn’s really pissed, and he has channeled that anger and disillusionment into Possessed, bringing his journalistic credentials and the testimonies of several past Prince associates with him. Yet, even though the book is filled with juicer-than-a-ripe-mango gossip, Possessed is quite dispossessing. Sure, there are some interesting moments. There’s the allegation that Prince entered rehab for cocaine abuse back in the 1990s. There’s the retelling of the legend that Prince’s decision to shelf the infamous Black Album back in 1988 was brought on by a bad Ecstasy trip. And the book’s prelude details Prince being rushed to the hospital back in 1996 due to an overdose of aspirin and alcohol. And yes, dear reader, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Prince’s Sex Life (But Were Too Lazy to Research) is in here. Apparently, your father was wrong when he saw Prince flouncing around in makeup, heels and lace and said he was gay, because this guy got more chicks than anyone since Mick Jagger. This is definitely the National Enquirer-type filler that is needed to sell biographies nowadays and certainly Prince fans will find the material morbidly fascinating. Yet, Hahn comes across not as an objective biographer with a background in journalism, but as an angry, disillusioned ex-fan who rues the day he ever lost sleep anticipating the latest Prince release. Hahn even gets the facts wrong. For example, he says that the 1993 greatest-hits compilation The Hits/The B-Sides doesn’t contain the song "Kiss," but it does. He even misspells actress Kirstie Alley’s name. When Hahn tries to play music critic, he stumbles as well. While most of Prince’s hardcore following — and believe me, they’re out there — would agree with Hahn that Prince’s music in the 1980s was more experimental, groundbreaking and rebellious than it was in subsequent decades, you’d be hard-pressed to find many fans who entirely dismiss albums like Come or The Symbol Album, which Hahn does. Hahn is correct in one thing: Prince can be a jerk. Scores of former band members, ex-girlfriends, business associates and managers have testified to this fact. He is also most likely correct when he blames Prince’s downward spiraling career to his obsessive need for control and a tendency to treat everyone like crap. With Possessed, Hahn appears to be a man who admits that Prince is/was a genius, but who is now selling his CD collection on Half.Com. Give me a ring, Alex. I’ll buy ‘em. Mr. Webber's Possessed review was also published May 2003 in Detroit's Metro Times. DatelineDetroit | Dance On | Glam Slam | Mission Statement Play In The Sunshine | 777 Update | Contact | Links | Webmaster Last Update: 17 March 2007 TheDetroitCrawl.Org is an independent unofficial fan/enthusiast club. TheDetroitCrawl.Org is not affiliated with, endorsed by, authorized by, sponsored by, or connected with Prince, NPG Records, Paisley Park Enterprises, Warner Brothers Records, or anewpowerdetroit/PrinceMusicGroupDet fan club.