This web page is not affiliated with Prince

This web page is not affiliated with Prince, Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records, NPG Music Club or Prodigy.

Tracklisting

1. 3121
2. Lolita
3. Te Amo Corazon
4. Black Sweat
5. Incense and Candles
6. Love
7. Satisfied
8. Fury
9. The Word
10. Beautiful, Loved and Blessed
11. The Dance
12. Get On The Boat

Prince's "3121": Some Funky Little Numbers

By J. Freedom du Lac
Wednesday, March 22, 2006; Page C01
The Washington Post

You remember Prince, right?

Not the Artist Formerly Known as Brilliant, that defiant glyph who stumbled into an abyss of self-absorbed musical mediocrity in the 1990s and became more interesting for his eccentricities than for his unfocused and largely forgettable albums ("Come," "Emancipation," "The Rainbow Children"). But the undisputed pop genius and funk-rock master -- the virtuosic innovator behind "Dirty Mind," "1999" and "Sign 'O' the Times." His Royal Badness.

That Prince is basically back: Let the house-quaking commence.

After not embarrassing himself for the first time in a long time with 2004's "Musicology," which coincided with a wildly successful greatest-hits tour, Prince has emerged from the studio with the cryptically titled "3121," the purple rainmaker's best new release since "The Love Symbol Album" in 1992.

It's hardly perfect: "3121" is ill-sequenced, for one thing, wedging a dud of a bossa nova ballad, "Te Amo Corazon," between the superlative funk of "Lolita" and "Black Sweat," almost as if Prince tripped over a cord in the studio and accidentally unplugged the groove machine. And there are other songs that don't quite rise to the high standards set by "Lolita" et al., including "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed," which sounds like a Soul II Soul leftover.

Still, "3121" is largely irresistible, harking back to Prince's heyday without sounding stale. If there's supposed to be stasis on the funk continuum, then nobody seems to have told Prince: Several of "3121's" dozen songs suggest that the notoriously insular artist has been absorbing contemporary music again -- in particular, tracks by producers on whom he's had a profound impact.

"Black Sweat" is a delicious slice of stripped-down electro-funk that sounds like Prince doing his best Pharrell doing his best "Black Album"- or "Kiss"-era Prince, which is so meta it hurts. The song is all stuttering drum machines, hand claps and buzzing, burbling synths, with grunting vocals and falsetto shrieks: "I'm hot and I don't care who knows it, I got a job to do," Prince yelps. The layered "Love" also features a Pharrell/Neptunes-style drum pattern, along with some zhigga-zhigga turntable scratches, space-gun sound effects and an industrial-strength melody.

On the steamy, slinky slow jam "Incense and Candles," Prince borrows a page from Timbaland, adding a double-time rap over a drum-and-bass breakdown. And there are echoes of OutKast's Andre 3000 throughout the album, as well -- no shock, given that the rapper-producer is pretty much the new Prince.

But "3121" is no hip-hop album. Rather, it's basically a party-ready funk record, albeit one that also features bluesy Southern soul ("Satisfied"), sophisticated, symphonic tango ("The Dance") and hard-driving, "1999"-style rock ("Fury").

"Lock the door till you see the sun, we gonna party like there ain't gonna be another one," Prince sings on the title track, accompanying himself with the pitch-shifted vocals of his longtime alter ego, Camille, who sounds like a drunken alien. "Futuristic fantasy, this is where the purple party people be." Riding a steady mid-tempo groove, he embellishes the psychedelic song with wormy synth vamps and a fuzzed-out guitar solo.

"Get On the Boat" is a James Brown-style workout that even features a shout of "Good God!" plus a saxophone solo by the onetime Brown sideman Maceo Parker. (Parker is one of "3121's" only interlopers, as Prince plays almost all the instruments on the self-produced recording; he does the majority of the singing, too, though his newest protege, soul songstress Tamar, lends her voice in spots.)

Prince also gets down on "Lolita," though he doesn't actually, you know . . . The formerly freak-nasty singer is still sorta salacious, but he's apparently adopted a look-but-don't-touch lyric policy, now that he's a Jehovah's Witness: "I know you're fine, from head to pumps/If you were mine, we'd bump, bump, bump." But, he adds of the song's young subject, "Lolita, you're sweeta', but you'll never make a cheater out of me."

I promise not to stray, either -- as long as Prince is back to sounding like Prince for good.

PRINCE SIGNS WITH UNIVERSAL RECORDS;
NEW ALBUM, 3121, SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN 2006

PRINCE AND SALMA HAYEK’S “TÈ AMO CORAZÓN” VIDEO DEBUTS TODAY ACROSS
ALL OF VH1’S TELEVISION, BROADBAND AND WIRELESS PLATFORMS

New York, NY (December 13, 2005) – Announcing his new musical home, musical superstar Prince has signed an exclusive recording agreement with Universal Records, it was announced today by Doug Morris, chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group, Mel Lewinter, chairman of Universal Motown Records Group, Monte Lipman, president of Universal Records, and Prince. His first release on Universal Records, an album entitled 3121, is set to debut in 2006. Concurrently, VH1 will today shepherd the first audiovisual installment from his forthcoming album, the Salma Hayek-directed video, “Tè Amo Corazón” (“I Love You, Sweetheart”), marking the world’s first-ever multiplatform worldwide exclusive premiere of a music video.

“‘The entire Universal Music Group family is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such a visionary and charismatic talent as Prince,” stated Universal’s Doug Morris. “Prince is one of popular music’s greatest architects,” added Monte Lipman. “He is the embodiment of what musical artistry and talent is all about; he continues to be a major trendsetter whose many talents have always earned him the highest respect and praise.”

Prince will premiere “Tè Amo Corazón” today across all of VH1’s platforms: television, broadband and wireless. This unique event will premiere simultaneously today, at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT/global), on VH1, VH1 Classic, VHUNO, Tempo, VH1 Soul as well as VH1.com through VH1’s broadband channel Vspot and through VH1 Mobile through its partnership with Verizon’s VCast service. The gorgeous and decadent location of Marrakesh, Morroco provided the backdrop for the incredibly lush ballad and video featuring Prince and Mia Maestro, directed by Salma Hayek.

”VH1 is honored to present this unprecedented multimedia experience with a legendary innovator like Prince,” commented Tom Calderone, general manager of VH1.

“Salma heard the song and came up with the original concept,” Prince said. “Salma is the most thoughtful, attentive director I have ever worked with. An absolute joy.”

Prince’s rise to fame was nothing short of meteoric, from a buzzed-about musician (with the release of his first album, 1979’s For You) to arguably one of the most acclaimed and influential artist of the 20th century. USA Today has hailed him as “one of the most daring and brilliant artists,” just one of the many accolades bestowed on Prince by both critics and peers throughout his career. In fact, a chorus of acclaim literally exploded with the release of the Minnesota native’s world-changing, 1984 dual phenomenon of Purple Rain (the movie broke box office records, the Grammy-nominated album sold more than 11 million copies and spent 24 weeks at #1), making Prince one of the few triple-threats in history to simultaneously land the #1 single, album and movie. His plaintively brilliant single, “When Doves Cry,” the first of many Top Tens, exemplified the kind of transformational musical current that only Prince could deliver. To top it off, he won the “Best Original Score” Academy Award for Purple Rain. A series of seminal albums – from 1985’s Around The World In A Day to 1987’s prophetic Sign o’ the Times, to 1989’s Batman soundtrack to 1991’s Diamonds And Pearls, indelibly cemented his reputation as a 21st century impresario, and a fearless pursuer of the musical stratosphere.

With more than 60 million records sold, Prince launched his web-centric NPG Music Club, a groundbreaking, completely autonomous Prince-authorized nexus, emphasizing direct sales and value-added content for Prince fans and subscribers, a virtual template of the kind of online, artist-driven entrepreneurial models artists and internet gurus would be gravitating towards the close of the decade. More groundbreaking albums followed, with Prince himself stewarding their marketing and promotion. A varied array of label distribution deals were interspersed throughout, with major imprints such as EMI, Arista and Columbia, forming temporary but fruitful relationships with the evocative artist.

Last year saw the cultural icon command the mainstream music radar with a vengeance, releasing the critically and commercially acclaimed Musicology (the disc snagged two Grammys), being inducted to the Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, and rolling out one of the most successful, talked about tours in music history, (Pollstar Magazine crowned him a top concert draw for the year) coinciding with the two-decade anniversary of his masterpiece Purple Rain. Prince also won an NAACP Image award in 2004 and was most recently inspired to write two songs to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims, “S.S.T.” and “Brand New Orleans,” both of which are available on NPGMusicClub.com.

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world’s largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry’s largest global music publishing operations. Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Music Group, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division, and Universal Music Mobile. Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

About VH1

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in over 87 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array if digital services including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Uno and VH1 Country. Connect with VH1 at http://www.vh1.com.

The World Multiplatform Exclusive to Premiere on VH1, VH1 Classic,
Vspot, VH1.com, VH1 Soul, VHUNO, Tempo and VH1 Mobile
on Tuesday December 13 at 11:00PM Across All Time Zones

NEW YORK, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Prince will premiere "Te Amo Corazon," which translates to "I Love You, Sweetheart," the first audio visual installment from "3121" the forthcoming album, across all of VH1's platforms: television, broadband and wireless. This unique sonic and visual event will premiere simultaneously on VH1, VH1 Classic, VHUNO, Tempo, VH1 Soul as well as VH1.com through VH1's broadband channel Vspot (http://vspot.vh1.com/) and through VH1 Mobile through its partnership with Verizon's VCast service at 11:00 p.m. Tuesday December 13.

"Te Amo Corazon" represents the first ever multimedia, multiplatform, worldwide exclusive premiere of a music video.

The gorgeous and decadent location in Marrakesh, Morroco provided the backdrop for this incredibly lush ballad and video featuring Prince and Mia Maestro directed by Salma Hayek. "Salma heard the song and came up with the original concept," Prince said. "Salma is the most thoughtful, attentive director I have ever worked with. An absolute joy."

"VH1 is honored to present this unprecedented multimedia experience with a legendary innovator like Prince," commented VH1 General Manager, Tom Calderone.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in over 87 million households in the U.S. Vh1 also has an array of digital services including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Uno and VH1 Country. Connect with VH1 at http://www.vh1.com/.

Prince inks with Universal for new CD
by Jonathan Cohen

Fri Dec 9, 7:13 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Prince has inked a deal with Universal for the release of his next album, "3121."

The set will be preceded by the single "Te Amo Corazon," the video for which stars actress Mia Maestro ("Frida," "The Motorcycle Diaries") and was directed by actress Salma Hayek.

The clip, which was shot in Marrakesh, will be available online Tuesday (December 13) via Prince's NPG Music Club site (http://www.npgmusicclub.com).

"3121" is the follow-up to Prince's 2004 studio set, "Musicology," which was issued via a one-off deal with Sony's Columbia label. The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

That release was supported by a lavishly praised tour, which drew nearly 1.5 million people and grossed $90.2 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. Prince is expected to return to the road sometime next year.

For more information,
visit www.npgmusicclub.com

Prince Pens New Songs 4 Hurricane Relief

Minneapolis, MN. -- In response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Prince has written 2 songs and will donate all proceeds to hurricane relief efforts.

The cybersingles "S.S.T." and "Brand New Orleans" are now available for download at Prince's official website, NPG Music Club (www.NPGMC.com). The classic and timely track "U Will be Moved", from Mavis Staples' CD "The Voice", has also been added to the download store to aid the relief effort.

"S.S.T." and "Brand New Orleans" were recorded early Friday morning, September 2, at Prince's Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis and released through his NPG Music Club the following day. Prince played all the instruments and sang all vocals.

The Musicology Download Store at the NPGMC offers well over 200 Prince songs, videos and ringtones direct from the source. The NPG Music Club was created in 2001 and is currently the top artist-owned and completely independent download service, winning "Best Use of Technology by an Artist" from the Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards. The website's download store, offering music and videos, is available to members and non-members alike. Members receive a discount on all downloads, plus exclusive opportunities, merchandise and access to an active and vibrant online global Prince fan community.

For more information,
visit www.npgmusicclub.com.

Lyrics to "S.S.T."

Who will be a guest in ur tent?
Certainly not the ones who don’t wanna repent
And keep giving guns to the poorest of our nation's sons
Who is gonna call u by name
With no confusion, trinity or preacher`s vain
Who says that everytime
And opens up the eyes of the blind
Who will be the one in his bed?
Certainly not the who put thorns on his head
And wished him dead while they took his daily bread
Which one is of value 2 U
The one depleting the oil supply
Or the One that renews it
And keeps the peace
Like the groove on Sade’s Sweetest Taboo

Who will be a guest in ur tent?
R u gonna b happy with how your life has been spent
Did you have open arms for each and everybody U met
Or did U let them die in the rain
Endless war, poverty or hurricane….
Then it’s time for another groove
Like Sade’s Sweetest Taboo

Send your comments, suggestions, or corrections by using the box below.
Please remember that this web page is not affiliated with Prince, Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records, NPG Music Club or Prodigy.
Any messages intended for any of the above should be sent to them directly.

Your e-mail address:

This web page is not affiliated with Prince, Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records, NPG Music Club or Prodigy.