Prince's estate release stunning track ahead of much anticipated 'Welcome 2 America' album - listen

9 April 2021, 10:33 | Updated: 9 April 2021, 10:48

Prince's 2010 album Welcome 2 America is to be released 11 years after it was first recorded. Picture: Getty

By Giorgina Ramazzotti

Prince originally recorded the album 'Welcome 2 America' in 2010 and embarked on a tour of the same name before his untimely death in 2016.

Prince's 2010 album Welcome 2 America is to be released 11 years after it was first recorded.

Prince Estate and Sony’s Legacy Recordings will team up to release the lost album on July 30, 2020 and have given fans a taster by releasing the title track on YouTube.

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According to a statement, the album is "a powerful creative statement that documents Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice."

Lyrics on the Welcome 2 America track include “Land of the free / home of the slave”, a nod to when Prince felt trapped by his record label in the 1990s.

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Prince goes on to say that the US is a place "where everything and nothing that Google says is hip” and citizens are “distracted by the features of the iPhone … Hook up later at the iPad / or we can meet at my place.”

Shortly after Prince recorded his Welcome 2 America album, he embarked on a tour of the same name and performed in various cities across the United States.

Listen to title track 'Welcome 2 America' below:

Prince - Welcome 2 America

The star memorably wrote to ticket holders ahead of the tour, saying: “Bring friends, bring Ur children, and bring foot spray, because … it’s gonna B funky,” and went on to add: “The world is fraught with misin4mation. George Orwell’s vision of the future is here.”

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The Deluxe edition of the album will include a never-before-released full concert video of the famous show Prince gave on April 28, 2011 show at The Forum in Inglewood California.

Prince's album Welcome 2 America is now available to pre-order on Vinyl via the Prince Store.