The artist formerly known as popular returns

Prince’s fondness for his part-time residence in Toronto may have been overestimated, given how there’s no specific local promotion connected to the release of the album 3121 – or perhaps it’s simply more prudent to arrange midnight personal appearances at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard than try drawing a crowd on these frigid streets. The release of 3121 on 3/21 follows the numerological pattern that found Prince announcing his comeback effort back on 12/13, when news of a record deal with Universal Music, and a syrupy music video directed by Salma Hayek, forecast renewed mainstream ambitions in a year where Barry Manilow and Johnny Cash have been selling the most CDs. But despite getting a stage for his guitar chops on Saturday Night Live, new Prince music hasn’t been emanating from many airwaves, so it’s unclear how 3121 will be heard as widely as its predecessor, Musicology – which was given away free with concert tickets to Prince’s previous tour. The Smoking Gun backhandedly revealed that the artist hasn’t spent much time of late at the Bridle Path estate purchased in the name of his Toronto-born spouse – instead, he was wreaking havoc at the Hollywood mansion of Carlos Boozer, the Utah Jazz player who sued his $70,000-a-month tenant for installing purple carpet, beauty salon chairs, and covering the exterior with 3121 graffiti. The action was evidently dismissed, and album buyers can now win a chance to attend a private concert there. Prince’s wife, Manuela Testolini Nelson, has established her own web presence in her role as founder and president of Gamillah, Inc. which “exists for only two reasons … first, we aim to build a family of globally-recognized, lifestyle brands to create evocative experiences for our consumers that engage the senses and uplift the soul … but, most importantly, we aim to fulfill our social responsibility to actively seek opportunities to positively impact, support and protect the beauty of the communities we serve”. At least she’s making an effort to be more gregarious than her 47-year-old husband, whose idea of fulfilling an exclusive interview request amounts to smugly subliterate e-mail responses like this wisdom: “People tend 2 project on2 U whatever they want 2 c.”