If, like us here at Howl & Echoes, you’ve been wondering how exactly Prince replaced ?uestlove with Finding Nemo, you don’t have to wonder any longer. If not, you probably are now and the good news is, we finally have an explanation.
In a tweet posted in November last year, the Philadelphia musician/producer told the bizarre story of how His Purpleness once fired him from a DJ gig and played the entire Finding Nemo DVD in his place. Since then, there’s been a lot of speculation as to how things might have played out and now, we have the answers. In an animated video for Okayplayer, Questo recounts the story in full.
. @Prince3EG once fired me from a dj gig in a nightclub & instead blasted the #FindingNemo dvd on the screen. #EffThatFish #FindingDory
— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) November 10, 2015
It all began with a blind date which found ?uestlove in need of a spare ticket to a Prince gig. In exchange for the ticket, he was asked to throw the after-party for the iconic singer. After a lot of ringing around to accommodate every single demand (including both a pool table and Prince’s ability to control the door), the last minute feat was pulled off. All was well, Questlove was DJing and Prince playing pool, generally having a great time. That was until Quest put Fela Kuti on, evidently igniting something akin to anger in The Purple One. “I was flabbergasted, because to that point, nobody fronted on Fela.”
After changing to a second Fela Kuti track, Prince’s assistant simply handed him a DVD and told him to cut the music – and that’s only just the beginning. The story is actually a three year saga, which you can check out in full below in an awesome animated video. It’s even more mind blowing than knowing Prince’s assistant carries around a copy of Finding Nemo on DVD just in case the DJ isn’t up to scratch.