MPLSound Prince album

NPG Records

album

We gotta take the radio back.

The Minneapolis (MPLS) sound is a phrase coined to describe the funk-pop fusion of music pioneered in the early 1980s by Prince. At that time with Minneapolis having no real music scene to speak of, during his album sessions for Dirty Mind and Controversy, Prince created an entire music genre of his own making. With his band and collection of other side-projects The Time, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, The Family and Sheila E, their innovative brand of pop music introduced the latest drum machines blended with synthesised rock. Their so-named ‘Minneapolis sound’ shot to prominence with the Purple Rain movie and became a major influence in the genres of R&B, electro, house and techno, right through to the 1990s with hip-hop and beyond.

The year 2008 was an uncharacteristically quiet one in terms of Prince releases. Now deep into his late career, that year Prince had moved full-time to LA and the change gave him a fresh outlook to create an album that evoked the Minneapolis sound of old, and so named the new project accordingly. MPLSound was recorded in the home studio installed at the mansion he rented at that time, 77 Beverly Park Lane in the prestigious Beverly Hills. The recording sessions for MPLSound took place throughout 2008 and continued until January 2009, as very much a solo project with Prince playing every instrument and every vocal layer. This is with the exception of Chocolate Box in which rapper Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest guests on the track after having met Prince in Las Vegas. Their meeting on 16 November 2008 occurred when Q-Tip covered 1999 during his show at House Of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Prince appeared unexpectedly onstage to Q-Tip’s surprise and taking over his band member’s guitar to accompany the song.

MPLSound was released as one disc as part of a triple CD set that included another solo Prince project, entitled LotusFlow3r and the debut album for his then girlfriend, Bria Valente’s Elixer. The set retailed through an exclusivity license with US store giant Target at the price of $11.98. The trio of albums were also available digitally from 24 March 2009 as downloads served from a specially dedicated subscription website lotusflow3r.com. Target’s physical format of MPLSound packaged with its companion albums LotusFlow3r and Elixer followed on 29 March, under elusive license to the US. Bundled with LotusFlow3r, the Target deal suggests Prince did not have confidence MPLSound could stand on its own. Yet despite the set’s restricted availability, the collection achieved 168,000 sales in the first week, sufficient enough to chart at number 2 on the Billboard 200 – a mere 3,000 units shy of the top spot. The package ultimately retailed 543,700 units although its limited availability meant it was unable to qualify for RIAA certification.

Although Chocolate Box and Dance 4 Me were considered for the album’s promotional singles, and accompanying videos were also shot, neither MPLSound nor LotusFlow3r were supported with commercial singles. Two officially endorsed remix singles were later independently issued for Dance 4 Me, receiving no Prince involvement. The first, titled Icon Remix was a digital single produced by remix engineer David Alexander in 2009 and was available in France – the only market outside the US where the album was available. The single peaked at number 38 in the French chart. Dance 4 Me [Icon Remix] followed in 2011 and on this occasion available in physical formats (CD and vinyl). This second iteration of the single included additional mixes of the track created by fellow producers Jamie Lewis and Brian Matrix and was distributed under a Swiss label named Purple Music. Evidently impressed with the result, in 2012 Prince had the label distribute the physical release of his standalone EP Rock And Roll Love Affair.

MPLSound enjoyed more favourable reception among fans than its LotusFlow3r companion – chiefly owed to Prince rekindling his industry-defining Minneapolis sound and his artistic return to old-school electro funk – Prince even resurfacing his iconic Linn LM-1 Drum Machine. The album harks a reflective tone, as while Ol’ Skool Company name checks Prince’s past drummers, longterm friendships are also fondly remembered: Valentina is the name of the newly born daughter of close acquaintance Salma Hayek; and Better With Time affectionately recalls Prince’s Under The Cherry Moon costar Kristin Scott Thomas.

The two albums are stylistically different despite sharing the same digipak, Prince having done similar when issuing Crystal Ball as a set with The Truth in 1998. LotusFlow3r was the result of studio sessions ranging from 2004 to 2008 – although this was not unusual for Prince to develop an albums over several configurations before deciding on the finished version, MPLSound was therefore his most recent work at the time of the set’s publication in 2009 and could quite easily have a global release on its own merit.

France release

Despite the exclusivity arrangement for US distribution, MPLSound received a physical release albeit limited to France. It was issued as a standalone CD on 7 September 2009 – although confusingly titled LotusFlow3r – as well as on vinyl as part of a two‑album gatefold set packaged with LotusFlow3r. Distribution was handled under license with Because Music, the French imprint of Virgin Records. MPLSound was the only album from the set available as a separate item, but confusion surrounding the CD erroneously titled LotusFlow3r appears to stem from the vinyl edition where both albums were bundled together.

France was chosen as the sole European market due to Prince’s high‑profile appearances across the region that summer: two shows at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on 18 July, followed by two concerts at Monaco’s Salle Garnier on 13 August and a headlining performance at the principality’s Sporting Summer Festival on 16 August. This brief European run concluded with matinee and evening concerts at the Grand Palais in Paris on 11 October billed as All Day/All Night. The tickets had gone on sale just three days before and both shows sold out. The event was followed by an acoustic session recorded for French radio at RTL Le Grand Studio the day after. The appearances helped MPLSound chart at number 166 in France. Prince remarked at the time that the Grand Palais was the most impressive venue he had ever played.

Cover story

Antony Malzone is a graphic designer who first met Prince in December 2008 through an introduction by his web designer Scott Addison Clay, who hired him to design the website lotusflow3r.com with which to digitally distribute the new albums. The artwork is part of a wider galaxy influenced piece created also for LotusFlow3r and Elixer. The MPLSound artwork is a surrealist collage that incorporates several elements comprising: a river, purple lightening, ‘disco jellyfish’, goldfish, a flower, seven doves, a swan with a mono jack in place of a head, 8-track mixing board, city skyline featuring a keyboard upright as one of the buildings, and a blue Fender Stratocaster resting on clouds – its fretboard displaying the title of the album in neon letters.

Performers

Vocals / all Instr

Prince

Data

Producer

Prince

Label

NPG Records

Distribution

NPG Records

Cover/Design

Anthony Malzone

Released

17 years ago on 24 March 2009

Running Time

47:44

US Chart Peak

2 (with LotusFlow3r)

US R&B Peak

1 (with LotusFlow3r)

UK Chart Peak

Did not chart

Prince Album

#34

Orig. Formats

Tracklist

1. (There'll Never B) Another Like Me (6:01)
2. Chocolate Box [rap Q-Tip] (6:14)
3. Dance 4 Me (4:58)
4. U're Gonna C Me (4:36)
5. Here (5:15)
6. Valentina (3:59)
7. Better With Time (4:54)
8. Ol' Skool Company (7:30)
9. No More Candy 4 U (4:14)

Singles from MPLSound

Dance 4 Me [Icon Remix]

NPG Records

Released

29 September 2009

Distribution

Because Music

US Chart Peak

No Release

UK Chart Peak

No Release

Cover/Art

Afshin Shahidi

Format

1. Dance 4 Me [Icon Remix] [Remix by David Alexander] (7:00)

Available in France only.

Dance 4 Me [reissue]

NPG Records

Released

9 December 2011

Distribution

Purple Music

US Chart Peak

Did not chart

UK Chart Peak

No Release

Formats

1. Dance 4 Me [Original Mix] [album version] (4:58)
2. Dance 4 Me [Revamped Purple Mix] [remix by Jamie Lewis] (7:12)
3. Dance 4 Me [Icon Mix] [remix David Alexander] (6:15)
4. Dance 4 Me [Da Big Room Mix] [remix by Brian Matrix] (6:41)
5. Dance 4 Me [Dominatrix Mix] [remix by Domninatrix] (5:49)
6. Dance 4 Me [Tribal Drum Mix] [remix by Domninatrix] (5:13)

Also available as a 12" picture disc (tracks 1-4).

MPLSound album review

The Minneapolis Sound indeed. Released as the companion album to LotusFlow3r, MPLSound is is argued is the more accomplished half of the package. It’s vintage Prince – There’ll Never Be (Another Like Me) and the driving Chocolate Box which start an album that is singularly mainstream for what is after all intended for the fans. Supposed to recapture the sound of Dirty Mind (I’ll argue The Gold Experience achieves that to far greater conviction) MPLSound nonetheless strikes hot from the outset. MPLSound carries considerable depth from fiendishly funky Dance 4 Me, to stunning sincerity with Here and finally the brashly No More Candy 4 U. But it is the plain nasty Ol’ Skool Company is where MPLSound reaches its height and shall see you clambering to replay. The beautifully soulful Better With Time and 2001s Ur’e Gonna C Me which gets a glossy makeover, show once again perfectionist Prince really can’t put a foot wrong having restored his penchant for making music that’s dammed good and wonderfully commercial.

LotusFlow3r edges the two for its rawness and creative dexterity but the crowning achievement in this package is to showcase, better than any greatest hits compilation could, Prince’s unmatched musicianship and songwriting. If it is possible to pick a best from MPLSound, try Valentina (Hey Macarena!) – named after the newly born daughter of friend Salma Hayek “Mexican bombshell came to conquer the west.” MPLSound refreshingly sees Prince being – Prince again, for the first time since departing Warner Brothers in 1996, and which till MPLSound one would have dared admit. The only gripe is that this was released as an exclusivity deal – when availability of Prince’s music made Prince fan living outside of the US discover skills in practical logistics fans of other musicians need not have faced. Who members calling on their US friends to acquire the set from Target. Plain barmy for an album this solid. But that’s just it. Being a Prince fan is a journey and we do it because there never really will be another like Prince.

MPLSound is rated 4 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.

Related releases

LotusFlow3r

NPG Records • 2009

About this release and review

Elixer

NPG Records • 2009

About this release and review