| Welcome 2 America is the first full previously-unreleased studio album of Prince material to be released posthumously, and the tenth posthumous album release overall. Recorded in 2010, the album was tentatively planned for release in 2011, likely as a follow-up to 20Ten and in conjunction with the Welcome 2 America Tour, which ran from December 2010 to May 2011. The album was abandoned at the time for unknown reasons, however. If released at that time, it would have been Prince’s 36th full-length studio album. The posthumous release makes use of what’s believed to be the final configuration of the album. Contrary to some previous releases by The Prince Estate, there was no technical necessity to do new mixes of the songs.
A deluxe edition of the album includes a blu-ray video of the 28 April 2011: The Forum: Inglewood, CA, USA show on the Welcome 2 America Tour (part of the "Twenty One Nite Stand" in California).
Sessions and compiling
The bulk of the album was recorded by Prince with Chris Coleman and Tal Wilkenfeld in about a week and a half of recording at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA, from 10 March 2010 to 19 March 2010. Additional recordings with Shelby J., Liv Warfield, Elisa Dease and Morris Hayes took place during the Spring.
Black Muse is assumed to have been recorded around the same time but it’s unclear if it was at any point slated for inclusion on the album.
The released version was built from three reference CDs found by The Prince Estate in 2019, each containing different configurations of the album. Morris Hayes was commissioned to build the final tracklist from these three cds. The official version is similar to one of the configurations which also included Cause And Effect. It was decided not to retain this song for the final version because it was attached to the 20Ten album (Prince quotes titles from this album in the lyrics).
Musicians input
Welcome 2 America contains more contributions from others than its predecessor, 20Ten and is a band-oriented album, with musicians and/or vocalists appearing on all tracks. Drummer Chris Coleman and bass guitarist Tal Wilkenfeld make their only appearances on a Prince album. Shelby J., Liv Warfield and Elisa Dease, who had been present throughout 20Ten, appear on all of the songs except When She Comes. Shelby J. is also the co-lead vocalist on Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master) and provides a rap on Same Page, Different Book. Morris Hayes co-produced half of the songs of the album. 1010 (Rin Tin Tin) is the only song to feature Prince as the sole musician (with Shelby J., Liv Warfield and Elisa Dease on backing vocals). John Blackwell plays drums on 1000 Light Years From Here.
Track releases
Hot Summer was premiered on Minnesota public radio station 89.3 The Current’s website on 7 June 2010, Prince’s 52nd birthday, prior to the album’s intended release. Same Page, Different Book was streamed as audio only over a static video on 3rd Eye Girl YouTube channel in January 2013 (as Same Page Different Book). 1000 Light Years From Here was released in an entirely different form (with new lyrics and arrangements) in 2015 on Hitnrun Phase Two, included in full as a 3:05 coda to the track Black Muse (as such, the title 1000 Light Years From Here is not used on the album’s tracklist). An alternate recording of When She Comes with different verses was also released on Hitnrun Phase Two.
Promotion
The album was announced and available to pre-order on 8 April, 2021. The title track, Welcome 2 America, was made available on streaming and download platforms, and a 55-second promo video was made available to promote the set. The accompanying vinyl single, Welcome 2 America with an exclusive live b-side was also announced on the official website. Born 2 Die was also made available for download as a preview two months before the release of the album. A second teaser was made available through Hot Summer, released on 22 July 2021. A 7" single of the song was included as a cover mount with the August 2021 edition of Rolling Stone magazine in Germany.
The Prince Estate and The Current radio-station produced a four-part podcast series, presented by Minneapolis Music journalist Andrea Swensson, Shelby J. and Morris Hayes titled “Prince: The Story of Welcome 2 America”. In this audio-documentary Tal Wilkenfeld, Chris Coleman, Elisa Fiorillo and Liv Warfield, among others, share stories about the making-of the album.
Charts
The album entered Billboard Top R&B Albums at number 1 and at number 4 on the The Billboard 200 chart.
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Track listing
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| CD
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LP
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The compact disc and digital versions are the original issue.
- Welcome 2 America (5:23)
- Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master) (4:05)
- Born 2 Die (5:03)
- 1000 Light Years From Here (5:46)
- Hot Summer (3:32)
- Stand Up And B Strong (5:18)1
- Check The Record (3:28)
- Same Page, Different Book (4:41) 2
- When She Comes (4:46)
- 1010 (Rin Tin Tin) (4:42)
- Yes (2:56)
- One Day We Will All B Free (4:41)
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Side A:
- A1 Welcome 2 America (5:23)
- A2 Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master) (4:05)
- A3 Born 2 Die (5:03)
- A4 1000 Light Years From Here (5:46)
Side B:
- B1 Hot Summer (3:32)
- B2 Stand Up And B Strong (5:18)1
- B3 Check The Record (3:28)
- B4 Same Page, Different Book (4:41)
Side C:
- C1 When She Comes (4:46)
- C2 1010 (Rin Tin Tin) (4:42)
- C3 Yes (2:56)
- C4 One Day We Will All B Free (4:41)
Side D:
Etching
Blu-ray: Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011 - available on Deluxe (2LP + 1CD + Blu-ray) set and a Japanese edition (1CD + Blu-ray) only
- Joy In Repetition (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Brown Skin (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)3
- 17 Days (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)4 (contains unlisted lyrics from Lovergirl 5)
- Shhh (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Controversy (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Theme From "Which Way Is Up" (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)6
- What Have You Done For Me Lately (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)7
- Partyman (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- It’s Alright (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)8
- Make You Feel My Love (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)9
- Misty Blue (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)10
- Let’s Go Crazy (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Delirious (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- 1999 (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Little Red Corvette (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Purple Rain (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- The Bird (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)11
- Jungle Love (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)11
- A Love Bizarre (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)12
- Kiss (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)
- Play That Funky Music (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)13
- Hollywood Swingin’ (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)14
- Fantastic Voyage (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)15
- More Than This (Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011)16
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All songs written by Prince except where noted.
1 Written by Dave Pirner
2 Lyrics co-written by Shelby J.
3 Written by Mark Batson, Shannon Sanders and India.Arie
4 Written by Prince, Lisa Coleman, Dr. Fink, Wendy Melvoin
5 Written by Mary Christine Brockert
6 Written by Norman Whitfield
7 Written by Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and (uncredited) Janet Jackson
8 Written by Larry Graham
9 Written by Bob Dylan
10 Written by Bob Montgomery
11 Written by Morris Day, Prince, and (uncredited) Jesse Johnson
12 Written by Sheila E. and Prince
13 Written by Robert Parissi
14 Written by Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald Bell, George M. Brown, Robert "Spikes" Mickens, Claydes Charles Smith, Dennis R. Thomas, Richard A. Westfield
15 Written by Fred Alexander Jr., Norman Beavers, Marvin Craig, Fred Lewis, Tiemeyer McCain, Thomas Shelby, Steve Shockley, Otis Stokes, and Mark Adam Wood, Jr.
16 Written by Bryan Ferry
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Personnel
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| Musicians
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- Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
- Chris Coleman - drums on Welcome 2 America, Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), Born 2 Die, Hot Summer, Stand Up And B Strong, Check The Record, Same Page, Different Book, When She Comes and Yes.
- Tal Wilkenfeld - bass guitar on Welcome 2 America, Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), Born 2 Die, Hot Summer, Stand Up And B Strong, Check The Record, Same Page, Different Book, When She Comes, Yes and One Day We Will All B Free
- Morris Hayes - keyboards and percussion on Welcome 2 America, Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), Same Page, Different Book, keyboards, strings and percussion on Born 2 Die, keyboards, percussion and drum machine on Check The Record, keyboards on Hot Summer.
- Shelby J. - co-lead vocals on Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), backing vocals and rap on Same Page, Different Book, backing vocals on Welcome 2 America, Born 2 Die, 1000 Light Years From Here, Hot Summer, Stand Up And B Strong, Check The Record, 1010 (Rin Tin Tin), Yes and One Day We Will All B Free
- Elisa Dease - background vocals on Welcome 2 America, Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), Born 2 Die, 1000 Light Years From Here, Hot Summer, Check The Record, Same Page, Different Book, 1010 (Rin Tin Tin), Yes and One Day We Will All B Free, co-lead vocals on Stand Up And B Strong
- Liv Warfield - background vocals on Welcome 2 America, Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), Born 2 Die, 1000 Light Years From Here, Hot Summer, Stand Up And B Strong, Check The Record, Same Page, Different Book, 1010 (Rin Tin Tin), Yes and One Day We Will All B Free
- John Blackwell - drums on 1000 Light Years From Here
Live at The Forum, Inglewood, CA, April 28, 2011 (Blu-ray)
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| Production
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- Prince - producer
- Mr. Hayes - co-producer on Welcome 2 America, Running Game (Son Of A Slave Master), Born 2 Die, Hot Summer, Check The Record and Same Page, Different Book, mixing on Check The Record
- Jason Agel – engineer
- Dave Isaac – engineer on Born 2 Die
- Bernie Grundman - mastering and audio enhancement
- Archival Production / A&R: Kirk Johnson, Michael Howe & Trevor Guy
- Art Direction & Design: Mathieu Bitton and Trevor Guy
- Editor (Archival Producer/Editor] – Duane Tudahl
- Photography: Mike Ruiz, Kevin Mazur, Brian Ach, Randee St. Nicholas and Prince
- Producer (Production) – Chris Reynolds
- Additional Recording – James "Fluff" Harley
- Music Mixer – Chris James
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| Thanks
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- Thanks to: Andrea Swensson, Angelina Capodanno, Angelo Schifano, Duane Tudahl, Gretchen Brennison, John Conroy, Kiran Sharma, President Nelson, Richard Alcock, Ryan Supple, Roald Bakker, Teri Eastwood Molls and Zach Hochkeppel
- Very Special Thanks to: Alfred Jackson (In Memoriam), John R. Nelson, Norrine P. Nelson, Omarr Baker, Sharon L. Nelson, Tyka, and all Prince Fams (and Fans) worldwide.
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2020: Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition ◄
