By: James Michael Brodie
Charles F. Spicer Jr.’s Enduring Connection to Pop Icon Prince
We kept it human. We kept it to us. I never fawned over him being this iconic talent. And I never worked with him. Prince once said that he knew who his friends were because they were not on his payroll.
– Charles F. Spicer Jr., ’86
Co-owner, Prince Legacy, LLC
The Morgan Experience
“Morgan Brothers for Live”: Charles F. Spicer Jr. and David E. Talbert
Spicer learned about Morgan in the early 1970s when he attended the Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Football Classic between the Bears and the Grambling State University Tigers at Yankee Stadium with his family. He also got his first taste of the Battle of the Bands.
“I grew up in an integrated community, so being at Morgan was my first experience of Black excellence, of being part of a larger Black family,” he says. “I wanted to be inspired by people who wanted to be great who looked like me.”
As a student at Morgan in the mid-1980s, Spicer rarely mentioned his connection to Prince with classmates.
“No one was going to believe me anyway,” he says with a laugh.
Spicer, and his classmate David E. Talbert, did spend much of that time continuing the development of Morgan’s radio station, WEAA, a major force in Baltimore.
“Spice,” as he was called on campus, attended Morgan from 1982 to 1986, building his skills for radio and television as a telecommunications major. He was also the audio engineer for Talbert’s radio talk show, We Hold These Truths; hosted an overnight program, The Other Side of Midnight; and was a popular DJ in McKeldin Student Center, playing at campus parties.
“My whole reason for going to college was being on the radio. And at Morgan, David and I would just commandeer the station at night, because no one else was there to do it,” Spicer says.
Spicer and Talbert also became part of Morgan’s Delta Gentlemen of Quality, a male support group for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Talbert was the president.
“We became Morgan brothers for life,” Spicer says. “Every time I saw David on the road touring with his stage plays, it was like we never missed each other. In college, we were struggling kids, but look at us now.”
Talbert went on to success as a world-renowned playwright, filmmaker and author. Spicer’s journey took him in a different direction. He launched an independent recording label, producing rap and R&B artists, but the responsibilities of life and family made the venture short-lived.
“It really didn’t kick off the way I thought it would, but it gave me enough to know the business,” Spicer remembers.
His focus would shift to directing commercials for television. As a result, he garnered several Telly Awards, which honor excellence in video and television.
Preserving the Legacy
Prince died in 2016 without leaving a will, which led to a lengthy legal battle in Minnesota probate court over the division of his assets. In 2018, Spicer was named as a court-appointed advisor after Sharon once again asked for his help.
When probate concluded in August 2022, the estate’s assets were split between two companies, Prince Legacy and Primary Wave. Spicer was eventually named co-owner of Prince Legacy, LLC.
Spicer went on to curate and produce a Grammy-nominated compilation, “Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Box Set,” which was the No. 1 box set released in 2023, according to Classic Pop Magazine. The set included more than 75 audio tracks, 33 of them unreleased studio recordings from Prince’s vault. It also included a 120-page hardcover book, more than two hours of video content and a never-before-shown, full-length 1992 concert. The work earned a Grammy nomination for Best Historical Album in 2025.
“It was a calling. It was a job I was destined to do. I have never worked harder for someone who meant so much to my life,” Spicer says. “I (did) these things so that they would be on the level (he would have wanted them). He was profilic. He was always determined to do things his way. He had that kind of energy, that kind of spirit.”
Morgan Forever
Today, Spicer is back at home in New Jersey. Even there, the connection to Morgan is strong. Recently, he ran into a fellow alum wearing Morgan gear at a local gym. The two struck up a conversation that led to Spicer’s meeting more Morgan alumni at the same gym. He is forever a Morgan man.
“I try to go back to every Homecoming at Morgan because of what it gave me,” Spicer says. “It was one of the most fulfilling times in my life. If I had to do it all again, I would. Morgan is my family.”
“A Tropical Smoothie opened in the area we reside in, which is Bowie, Maryland, and we stumbled across it one day. And we just couldn’t get enough of it,” David recalls. “…It was just a healthier food option for us.”
In 2018, they decided to try to gain income by spreading that wealth, purchasing a Tropical Smoothie franchise in Temple Hills, Maryland. The Northwood Commons location is their fourth.
“Our (short-term) goal is to serve as many people as possible, (bringing) healthier food options into the communities that are underserved,” David says. “…Long term, we are thinking generationally…. I would love to affect two or three generations behind us: young adults that are coming up now through college and high school. We want to be something they can look at and say, ‘You know what? I know I can do this, because I’ve seen them do it.’”
“We’re in the people business,” says Alesha. “And we do create opportunities for young individuals who didn’t have any type of plan. They end up sticking with us, and as we grow, they grow.”
“We’re also (here) to give back to the place that made us,” she adds, Morgan State University.
