For the first time since Prince died unexpectedly in 2016, the singer’s estate will release a completed – but never heard before – album from his vast vault of remaining music.
Until now, the estate has largely focused on the release of some of the greatest albums of Prince’s career, such as “1999” and “Sign o ‘the Times”, or on compositions such as “Originals”, which consist of the demonstrations of the singer who became hits for other artists.
But on July 30, ‘Welcome 2 America’, a 12-track album recorded in 2010 at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios, will finally be released.
In its announcement, the estate calls ‘Welcome 2 America’ ‘a document of’ Prince’s concern, hopes and visions for a changing society, which foretells an era of political division, disinformation and a renewed struggle for racial justice . “The album touches on” golden parachutes, the superficial nature of social media, TV-inspired celebrity culture and corporate monopolies in the music industry, and eventually concluded that America is the ‘land of the free / home of the slave’, ” the estate said.
It also contains a quote about Prince’s then-album, written in his trademark style: ‘The world is laden with misin4mation. George Orwell’s vision for the future is here. We must 2 remain steadfast in the faith in the difficult times ahead. ”
Consistent with the message, songs from the album include titles such as ‘Running Game (Son of a Slave Master)’, ‘Born 2 Die’ and ‘One Day We Will All B Free’. On the title track, Prince sings: “Subtracted by the features of the iPhone / do you have an application, make a solution for your situation.”
From 2010 to 2012, Prince played more than 80 concerts on a tour of the same name, but he never explained why he put together the related “Welcome 2 America” album.
It has been a stumbling block for the estate since the singer died five years ago from an accidental overdose of an opioid painkiller. While Prince was known for his zealous control over his career, including retaining ownership of much of his music, he left no will. Prince was determined to have six family members who qualified as heirs, though one – a half-brother – has since passed away.
The release of ‘Welcome 2 America’ will take place via Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, which starts releasing Prince Music after a previous $ 31 million deal between the estate and Universal Music was revoked by a judge.
The estate has since experienced tax problems with the IRS, which said the estate was worth $ 163.2 million – almost double the $ 82.3 million claimed by the estate administrator, Comerica Bank & Trust. (A judge overseeing the estate referred to a state of ‘personal and corporate chaos’.)
Prince’s vault at Paisley Park, his studio complex outside Minneapolis, is believed to contain hundreds – or possibly thousands – of songs that have not yet been released.