New Prince Song Dropped April 5 2024

April 5, 2024 7:55 PM

Well, this is fun. Prince - United States Of Division (Official Audio) is a 6m20s funk jam with New Power Generation. Not quite sure WHEN this was recorded, but it feels appropriate to release right now.

Chorus:
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody stop fighting
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make love

posted by hippybear (12 comments total)

And since this showed up in my sidebar for this video, I should mention that I absolutely completely adore the AFKAP song with NPG, Now. Different subject and feel from the FPP song.
posted by hippybear at 7:57 PM on April 5

I’m still in denial he’s gone. Thanks for this!
posted by grumblemf at 11:08 PM on April 5 [2 favorites]

Not quite sure WHEN this was recorded

You’re yanking our chain, right?

Really like this. Big Sly Stone vibes.
posted by rory at 12:17 AM on April 6

Not quite sure WHEN this was recorded

Probably around 2:30 AM

Prince's creative output was more than he released commercially, much more.
posted by otherchaz at 6:40 AM on April 6 [3 favorites]

Well, I mean he had NPG backing him up for over a decade. When within that period it was recorded could be interesting to know.
posted by hippybear at 6:47 AM on April 6 [1 favorite]

I'm guessing 2004. Call it a hunch.
posted by rory at 7:08 AM on April 6 [1 favorite]

Looks like it's not a "new" Prince song per se, but a rarity that was previously released as a "virtual B-side" (likely on the newly opened iTunes store?) to the "Cinnamon Girl" single on July 4, 2004. It was only physically released on the European CD single for the same.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:57 AM on April 6

I'm... fairly underwhelmed with the posthumous Prince releases. I'm not saying I don't like any of it. (I do.) But it was suggested we would get multiple whole mind-blowing original studio albums. And mostly, we're getting alternate takes, outtakes, demos, live records.

Even the one album album (Welcome 2 America) we got was mostly only pleasant. It wasn't Prince going all out. It was more like him actually giving talented collaborators room to breathe, when the latter era Prince usually kept the lid on tight.

Are they holding out? Was Prince's judgment on what should stay in the vault better than we gave credit for? Or were my expectations too high? Probably mostly the latter two, though I hope for a bit of number one.

It could also be that the giant trove of stuff left is still being spelunked through and charted.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:32 AM on April 6 [2 favorites]

I'm guessing 2004. Call it a hunch.

no, no, that's what they want us to think...
posted by Naberius at 9:55 AM on April 6 [1 favorite]

I'm... fairly underwhelmed with the posthumous Prince releases. [...]. Are they holding out? Was Prince's judgment on what should stay in the vault better than we gave credit for?

I seem to recall that he was extremely clear when asked that nothing in the vaults was to be released, but it's the estate that's disregarding this because he failed to have a will or put his wishes down in writing?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:08 AM on April 6

I don't think he was extremely clear, but extremely ambiguous yes. I recall an interview in Q magazine, which I don't have to hand, where he said that his unreleased music would be for people to deal with after he was gone.

And the estate's archiver or archivers are taking the approach that they won't release anything that's not a finished song, which also means that they'll release demos or other performances of released songs (e.g. I Could Never Take... 1979, I Feel 4 U acoustic).

My expectations are very low - we have a decade of him becoming a red giant and then 25 years of collapsing into a white dwarf but with enough residual brightness to make Jay-Z and Beyonce run across a room to bask in the light.

My personal take is that all the post-2016 material doesn't say anything new but just fills in the gaps, which is all I can hope for, as the creative intent is no longer with us. I saw him at the Electric Ballroom in 2014 and 3rdEyeGirl totally gave The Revolution a run for their money, who we also saw a few years later. All his bands in-between were very good but just keeping the seats warm.
posted by bookbook at 2:29 AM on April 7 [3 favorites]

we have a decade of him becoming a red giant and then 25 years of collapsing into a white dwarf but with enough residual brightness to make Jay-Z and Beyonce run across a room to bask in the light.

Definitely favoriting that excellent turn of phrase!
posted by rory at 8:08 AM on April 7 [1 favorite]