A previously unreleased and never-before-heard Prince album is set to be unleashed for the first time ever five years after the icon’s death.
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Welcome 2 America was recorded in 2010 before Prince went on tour and is set to be heard this Sunday night on 60 Minutes. In a teaser clip, Prince’s longtime keyboardist Morris Hayes told Jon Wertheim that Prince never performed songs from the album and didn’t give a reason why.
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Now, we’ve got our first sneak peek at the record as Prince’s team has shared the title track. The song drips in funk as Prince opts for spoken word and lets his background vocalists do the singing.
The description on the video calls Welcome 2 America “the statement album” that “documents Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice.”
In the title track, Prince lends his observations about America touching on everything from technology, fame, racial justice, education, and much more. Prince was notoriously averse to the internet and technology and it’s present in the song as he sings about being “distracted by the features of the iPhone” before asking to “hook up later at the iPad/or we can meet at my place.”
Later on, Prince sings “Welcome to America/Go to school to become a celebrity/(F.A.M.O.U.S.) but don't be late/And everybody and they mama got a sex tape.”
He then goes on to sing “Welcome to America/We snatch bass players, not purses/Keep playing, it gets worse.”
Prince concludes the song with a powerful observation and message to the listener. “Land of the free, home of the brave/Oops, I mean/Land of the free, home of the slave/Get down on your knees,” his backup singers sing before leaving listeners with a question. “Transformation happens deep within: yes or no?”
Welcome 2 America will be released on July 30.
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