Prince ‘Originals’ releases tracks he wrote for others

A new Prince album, featuring his recordings of 15 songs he wrote for other artists, will be released in June.

The late artist’s estate announced April 25 that the album, titled “Originals,” will begin streaming exclusively on Tidal on June 7 (in honor of Prince’s birthday). The album’s songs were selected by Troy Carter, on behalf of the estate, and Jay-Z.

“In the spirit of sharing Prince’s music with his fans as he wanted, the album will be available to stream in Master quality via Tidal’s HiFi subscription tier,” the announcement said. “Members will be able to hear the recordings just as the Artist intended the tracks to sound.”

Warner Bros. Records will then release the recordings, sourced directly from Prince’s archive of “Vault” recordings, via all download and streaming partners and physically on CD on June 21; 180 gram 2LP and limited edition Deluxe CD+2LP formats will follow on July 19.

In addition to Prince’s original 1984 version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” (which was issued in 2018 as a standalone single), “Originals” features 14 previously unreleased recordings of songs Prince wrote for other artists, including the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E., Apollonia 6, Jill Jones, the Family and Mazarati.

According to the estate, “Prince’s original demo recordings would be used as master takes on their albums, with only minor alterations to the instrumentation and a replacement of the vocal tracks. Other times, artists would rely on his demos to guide them through their own recording process, with Prince’s initial take informing their final version of his song.”

See the “Originals” track list below, along with the artist who first debuted each song:

“Sex Shooter” (Apollonia 6)

“Jungle Love” (The Time)

“Manic Monday” (The Bangles)

“Noon Rendezvous” (Sheila E.)

“Make-Up” (Vanity 6)

“100 MPH” (Mazarati)

“You’re My Love” (Kenny Rogers)

“Holly Rock” (Sheila E.)

“Baby, You’re a Trip” (Jill Jones)

“The Glamorous Life” (Sheila E.)

“Gigolos Get Lonely Too” (The Time)

“Love … Thy Will Be Done” (Martika)

“Dear Michaelangelo” (Sheila E.)

“Wouldn’t You Love to Love Me?” (Taja Sevelle)

“Nothing Compares 2 U” (The Family)