Givin Em What They Love is the second track (first song) on Janelle Monáe’s second studio album The Electric Lady. Prince appears on the track, providing co-lead vocals, guitar and bass guitar, as well as co-writing the lyrics (most likely writing lyrics for his own vocal section). The track is written by Charles Joseph II, Janelle Monáe, Nathaniel Irvin III, Terrence L. Brown, Chuck Lightning, Nate "Rocket" Wonder and Prince, and produced by Janelle Monáe, Nate "Rocket" Wonder and Chuck Lightning (the latter pair as "Wonder & Lightning"), with co-production by Roman GianArthur.
While specific recording dates are not known, it is assumed to have been recorded in mid-to-late 2012 (Janelle Monáe first performed the song during the 27 September 2012 (a.m.): House Of Blues Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Prince one-off show, albeit without Prince), with the main portion of the track recorded at Wondaland Recording Studios, Atlanta, Georgia. While credits do not indicate Prince’s contributions were recorded separately, it is likely that he recorded his contributions at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
The track is the only known studio collaboration between Prince and Janelle Monáe, though they publicly shared their mutual respect following her debut album The ArchAndroid released in 2010, and she appeared on stage with Prince multiple times. Of note also is that the track features additional bass guitar by Esperanza Spalding, who shares a similar relationship with Prince. She and Prince also worked together on We Are America, released two months after Janelle Monáe’s album.
The album booklet states the song is "inspired by Hiddencolors1&Two and the burning big house in Django Unchained" (a 2012 Quentin Tarantino film); since the film was released in late December 2012, it is not known if this "inspiration" was attributed after the fact, or if Janelle Monáe had access to footage of the film before recording the track.
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