Bamboozled Prince compilation

Motown Records

compilation

How can a non-musician discuss the future of music.

The Bamboozled official soundtrack compilation album contains the first song credited to ‘Prince’ since he reverted to his birth name again after previously changing it to Prince Love Symbol, in 1993. Prince wrote the track 2045: Radical Man in protest over contract with Warner Brothers who he was then in dispute with over their ownership of his music. The song is about obsession with ownership, which will lead to the destruction of the so-called ‘radical man’ by the year 2045.

As a friend of movie director Spike Lee, Prince had previously given him material for his Girl 6 film OST, and so later gave 2045: Radical Man for inclusion in the soundtrack for Lee’s movie Bamboozled. It is the sole Prince contribution to the album, which at the time was itself promoting the launch of new and then unknown artist India.Irie.

The movie is a fictional story of a frustrated African-American TV writer (played by Damon Wayans) who, in protest, creates a black-faced New Millennium Minstrel Show but inadvertently becomes a hit. It is a depiction of the lack of diversity within the film and TV industry. The movie was released on 6 October 2000, two weeks after the release of the soundtrack.

Recorded at Paisley Park Studios in early 2000, 2045: Radical Man was intended for the fourth album credited to the New Power Generation, following GoldNigga (1993), Exodus (1995) and Newpower Soul (1998). The announcement of the new album along with a brief snippet of the song was available on Prince’s then website NPGOnlineLTD.com in March 2000. Although NPG’s fourth album never materialised, 2045: Radical Man and the remnants of the remaining tracks recorded for it were uploaded to NPG Music Club. Bamboozled movie soundtrack was released on 26 September 2000, with 2045: Radical Man configured as the closing track. Prince subsequently re-released the song on 29 March 2004 in his NPG Music Club digital compilation The Slaughterhouse: the track was additionally B-side to its lead CD issued single Peace – available only from concerts merch stands at Prince’s Hit N Run Tour. Anecdotally, the sole other track Prince released with a year named in its title is the iconic 1999 – he even references this in the lyrics of the 2045: Radical Man.

Shot with a budget of just $10 million, although the movie would take just $2.5 million from its very limited theatrical release, in 2023 Bamboozled was chosen by the US Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in acknowledgement of cultural significance.