Prince’s Sister’s Old Music Video Resurfaces…Have You Heard Her Sing?

Posted On : March 24, 2021
Tyka Nelson; her brother, Prince

A video was sent to us of Prince’s baby sister, Tyka Nelson, performing one of her past music singles. She is the only full-blooded sister of Prince and for decades she’d been trying to step outside of his shadow. Tyka refused to just sit back and allow her dreams of having a successful singing career be drowned out simply because she is the sibling of the late mega-superstar. Check out Tyka’s music video below and let us your thoughts on this one.

(Video) Tyka Nelson Gettin’ Her Sing-On

Tyka Nelson’s music video for her 2011 single, “Boom,” has now resurfaced:

What do you think family? Does Tyka Nelson have what it takes to carve out her own lane in the music game?

Little Known Facts About Prince’s Sister And Her Hardships

Here’s a little background info about Tyka. As we previously reported, she revealed her past battles with drug and alcohol addiction. She confessed to having self-esteem issues that date back to when she was a young girl. She was very close to Prince when they were younger (he even paid for her rehab treatment at Hazelden in 2003) and like we said, she grew tired of living in her big brother’s shadow.

“For a long time I didn’t want to live.  I’m very quiet,” Tyka says.

“In the beginning, my brother would play the piano and I would sing, because that’s what my mom and dad did. And then along the way somebody teased me for even thinking that I could get up there. That stayed with me, and I became very shy.”

Other kids in the highly influential status stayed away from drinking and drugs, but Tyka took to smoking weed when she was 13.

“My world was different from theirs,” she says. “I was the overweight kid who didn’t have a boyfriend. I listened to other people say, ‘You’re ugly, you’re fat, you’re stupid,’ and I believed it. My brother, he just thought I was crazy.”

Tyka Nelson, sister of music icon, Prince

Around the time Prince signed his first record deal, his younger sister ran away from home. She arrived in Los Angeles with a knapsack full of lyrics, but didn’t find success as a singing star. She wound up making a home of sorts with the 2,000-person-strong Bethany Apostolic Pentecostal Church, off Sunset Boulevard, and its powerhouse choir. [Source: Citypages]

Tyka eventually made her way back to Minneapolis (her hometown) and released her gospel/funk debut EP, Royal Blue, in 1988. She released another album in 1992 before disappearing from the spotlight for a while, after failing to emerge from the shadow of her brother. She’s since self-released two more records, the most recent being 2011’s Hustler. Many say they can hear Prince’s influence in Tyka’s vocal arrangements, but she said she doesn’t hear it.

In a past interview, Tyka also said she doesn’t know if Prince had ever heard all of her albums, but pretty sure he was proud of his lil’ sis’ for kicking her addiction and pushing forward with living her life.

About I Love Old School Music

We salute the incredible people and beautiful memories of that "old school". We’re not saying that every artist and every facet of the soul era was perfect, but the artists’ contributions to soul music and the old school memories of that particular time are PRICELESS.