NEW YORK (Universal Motown Records Group) - In what is sure to be one of the seminal music events of the year,
Prince will release his Universal Records album debut, 3121, on March 21st. The much anticipated disc is being hailed as 'classic' Prince, the multi-talented superstar's first studio album since 2004's acclaimed album Musicology, and features the songs "
Te Amo Corazon" (I Love You Sweetheart), "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed", featuring rising R&B ingenue Tamar, and Prince's newly released single, "Black Sweat," the video of which has been embraced by MTV, VH1, and BET, among other outlets. The sultry black and white clip recently premiered on both MTV's signature daily countdown show TRL and BET's highly rated music program 106 and Park. "This is a return to vintage Prince," stated BET's Stephen Hill, Executive Vice President for
Music and Entertainment programming for the innovative network. "BET viewers, both longtime fans of
Prince new admirers are primed for this video, the perfect showcase for a true national treasure once again delivering like no other artist can."
The video for "Black Sweat," helmed by groundbreaking Moroccan director Sanaa Hamri (Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Seal) scores as a strutting, minimalist counter-punch to the lush exoticism of Prince's first single, the ballad "Te Amo Corazon," (also greeted with open arms this past December, simultaneously premiering across all of VH1's platforms; TV, broadband and wireless), and directed by award winning actress Selma Hayek. Prince recently previewed another gem from his new repertoire of songs, the guitar-tinged "Fury," the first major promotional appearance in support of the album which he performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live on February 4th. It was the first time Prince appeared on the long running comedy show in 25 years, garnering the highest ratings for SNL since 2004.
As anticipation for 3121 builds throughout the entertainment industry, Prince is providing a bonus surprise for fans that purchase the album beginning March 21st. Billed as the 'Purple Ticket Campaign,' a limited number of purple tickets will be included in specially selected albums, entitling the lucky purchaser to attend what is being hailed as An Evening With Prince - A Private Performance At Prince's House. Digital tickets can also be won through Apple's iTunes online music store.
Prince's ascension to the top of the pop world has been both meteoric and enduring, inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, his most recent release, Musicology, rose to the Top 5 of the album charts, netting the singer/songwriter two Grammy nominations, capping a three-decade reign in which he is generally regarded as one of the most acclaimed and influential musical artists of the 20th century. The Minnesota native's career literally exploded in 1984 with the world-changing dual phenomenon of Purple Rain (the movie broke box office records, the Grammy nominated album sole more than 11 million copies an spent 24 weeks at No 1) making Prince one of the few triple threats in history to simultaneously land the No 1 single, album, and movie. A series of genre defying albums - from 1985's Around The World In A Day, to 1987's prophetic A Sign Of The Times, to 1989's Batman soundtrack to 1991's Diamond And Pearls indelibly cemented his reputation as a fearless pursuer of the musical stratosphere.
With more than 60 million records sold, Prince launched his web-centric NPG Music Club in the early '90s, pioneering direct sales and value-added content that would become the artist-driven online entrepreneurial model artists and internet gurus would be flocking to by the end of the decade. More groundbreaking albums followed, with Prince himself stewarding their marketing and promotion, with major imprints such as EMI, Arista and Columbia forming temporary but fruitful relationships with the visionary artist.
Prince also launched one of the most successful tours in music history in 2004 (Pollstar Magazine crowned him top concert draw for the year), as well as winning a NAACP Image Award, and being honored by Rolling Stone magazine in a special issue which named Prince No 5 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Most recently, the tireless singer/songwriter was inspired to write two songs to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims, "S.S.T.", and "Brand New Orleans," both of which are available on www.NPGMusicClub.com.
