The Chocolate Invasion (subtitled Trax from the NPG Music Club Volume One) is the 29th full-length studio album by Prince, and is the first compilation album of NPG Music Club downloads from 2001-2; a companion piece to The Slaughterhouse (released on the same day).
Four tracks are edits or alternate versions to those previously-released.
In 2003, the album was planned for inclusion as the centerpiece of the The Chocolate Invasion 7 CD set, which was put on hold indefinitely in late 2003, officially due to a manufacturing problem.
In 2015, the album was re-released on the Tidal music service, using the original, previously-unissued configuration, the tracklist of which had been listed on the CD label image used on the 2004 download page. The most notable difference was that My Medallion was included on this version, replacing the original version of The Dance, which had been included on the 2004 release as the sole new track (but which was later re-recorded for 3121). During its initial availability on Tidal, the album was available only to stream before a download store was opened three months later, offering the album in mp3 and flac files.
Sessions and compiling
Specific recording dates are not known, but it is believed that most of the tracks were recorded between late 1999 and 2001 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA. Many of the tracks were at one point considered for the album High, which was completed in late Summer 2000, before being abandoned. Instead, the tracks were released on an individual basis on the NPG Music Club.
The Dance was not released before its inclusion on The Chocolate Invasion, and its genesis is not known, but was likely recorded during the same timeframe as the other tracks (Prince later re-recorded the track and included it on his 31st album 3121).
Notably, Gamillah had been previously released under the name New Power Generation. This collection does not credit tracks at all, but the album is considered here as a "Prince" release.
Promotion
No singles were released from the album at the time of release (U Make My Sun Shine had been commercially released in 2001, however, and Supercute had been sold at shows on the Hit N Run Tour in 2001).
The album was not eligible for the charts, as it was available only through the NPG Music Club, and 11 years later through Tidal.
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