UB Black Music Month Spotlight: Patti LaBelle’s ‘Yo Mister’ Video Shoot

On this Juneteenth 2023, UB wanted to take this day for our Black Music Month Spotlight, to feature a video filmed in our very own Rondo area of St. Paul, MN. Aries our founder was on-set, as a kid watching it be filmed merely a few blocks from his home.

The song “Yo Mister” was written and produced by the late great Minnesotan Prince, for legendary Patti LaBelle‘s 1989 album, “Be Yourself.”

A song about a wayward daughter and her father’s reaction to her decline. The single was a hit and reached #6 on the R&B chart, with various remixes.

“Her papa caught her for the first time
And put her out on the street
Cara told me to remind him
That she was only seventeen

Yo, mister how’s your daughter?
You really ought to know
Every thing you taught her
It don’t matter when she’s all alone”

The video was shot in July of 1989, in St. Paul, MN near and at the neighborhood store off Dale and Selby. What makes that location so remarkable, is it’s in the Rondo area of St. Paul.

In the 1960s Construction of I-94 displaced over 24,000 people in Minneapolis and over 6,000 in St. Paul. The highway was routed through neighborhoods containing over 90% of the region’s total Black population, most famously Rondo in St Paul, home to our largest Black community.

In January 2021, the city issued a resolution apologizing, in part, for systemic discrimination perpetrated through redlining and racial covenants, access to housing, environmental injustice and the removal of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood.

As of this year, the St. Paul City Council is moving forward with an effort to repair harm caused by historical systemic discrimination against Black residents with “Reconnect Rondo.”

The City Council unanimously voted to address the removal of the neighborhood and the systemic discrimination committed against Black residents by creating the Community Reparations Commission.

Craig Rice directed the video, who also directed Prince’s “Scandalous” and “Thieves in the Temple” videos. Other acts from Minnesota as well, from Sounds of Blackness to Paris Bennett.

Craig was also the Music Supervisor to the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries “Laurel Avenue,” also filmed in St. Paul’s Rondo area. The “Laurel Avenue” soundtrack featured Miki Howard, James Brown, NPG, Mint Condition, and the St. Paul Central High School Band.

Patti Labelle and Prince only performed the single once to our knowledge and it was in Minneapolis at the Orpheum Theatre on November 15th 1989. A show that had Oprah Winfrey in the building. The show was Patti LaBelle‘s first ever solo show in Minneapolis and Sheila E. also joined her on-stage for the performance of “Yo Mister.”

Craig Rice‘s industry accomplishments run deep, so here’s is just a bit of what he has brought to the industry.

Craig was the production assistant on the set of Purple Rain and later Prince’s Road Manager.

Craig was behind the development of Alexander O’Neal, during his “Hearsay” era. At that time a young manager with a long list of credentials. The first video released from the album for “Fake,” was directed by Craig.

Craig Rice is also a mentor to UBG Founder Aries, who graduated from McNally & Smith College of Music; where Craig was the head of the music business department.

Craig started the school’s music business curriculum. In 2004, the school opened a European campus in Lübeck, Germany, Craig taught there as well.

Craig has went on to become the executive Director of the Minnesota Film and Television Board.

Craig’s work has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, an NAACP Image Award, and the Tree of Life Award, to name a few.

Celebrate Juneteenth in Rondo Today, from Noon-5:00 pm at the Rondo Commemorative Plaza!

UB Black Music Month Spotlight: Alexander O’Neal’s Classic ‘Hearsay’

Preview Juneteenth ‘CBS News Programming’ | ‘America in Black’ + ’40 Acres and a Mule’