Yo, Little Sister

Okay, so they haven’t got the same cheekbones, but Tyka Nelson is Prince’s only sibling (he’s got several stepbrothers and stepsisters). And now she’s following in his high-heeled footsteps, recording her first album in Minneapolis. But little big brother Prince won’t be producing, writing or even singing on it. Although she’s shy and soft-spoken, twenty-two-year-old Tyka doesn’t want to be just another Princess she’s written most of her own songs, and Jerome Brailey, George Clinton’s drummer, is handling production. The record has that certain Minneapolis je ne sais quoi, and at times Tyka’s voice sounds remarkably like her bro’s falsetto. She’s recorded about five tracks, including one called “Paris,” about how Prince took his Minneapolis crowd on location in France for his movie Under the Cherry Moon but didn’t take the kid sis. She hasn’t exactly avoided Prince, though. She’s played him the demos, and he’s given her his feedback. Perhaps this album will have Tyka scaling new heights. But for now she’s only about Prince’s size.