Who The F•x• Is Tora Tora?

While the world was still coming to terms with Prince’s name change in 1993, he once again took on a new moniker in 1995 for the New Power Generation album ‘Exodus’. And along with the name Tora Tora, came a full-fledged persona. One could argue that he needed yet another new alter ego to keep creating amidst the war with record label Warner. And without a doubt there is truth in that. But the character we meet on the ‘Exodus’ album also fits the narrative that started on the ‘Love Symbol’ album. One can even argue that ‘Tora Tora’ – along with the many other alter ego’s Prince adopted throughout the years – might have emerged as part of an undiagnosed dissociative identity disorder.

Edgar Kruize is a freelance author, journalist and content creator based in the Netherlands. He is co-owner of communications agency buro33. He is specialized in music in general and specifically the entertainment industry. Kruize has been working for various (trade) magazines, concert and tour promoters, festival organizers and record companies for almost three decades. He has written nine books on various musical subjects.

All it took was a cough in the Raspberry Beret video to have the young Edgar notice the artist he’d later found out to be Prince. Ever since Prince’s impressive body of work has been an inspiration in life and work. Kruize is the author of the books Prince: The Dutch Experience (2017) and Prince: The Ultimate Dutch Experience (planned for 2026). Also, he co-hosts the Dutch Prince-blog PurplePicks.net, wrote the liner notes for the 2019 Sign “O” The Times deluxe DVD/Blu-ray set (along with appearing in the accompanying documentary), and (co)hosted multiple Prince-themed lectures and live interviews. This weekend he’ll be doing a sold out lecture on Prince at Tobacco Theater in Amsterdam.