Prince fans learned Thursday that a new album of the late singer’s previously unreleased music will drop this summer.
The artist’s album, titled “Welcome 2 America,” will finally come out July 30, more than five years after the singer’s death, the Prince Estate and Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, announced according to CNN. (RELATED: Prince’s Doctor Prescribed Him Narcotics Under Another Name Just Days Before His Death)
“Prince’s enigmatic and prescient statement album #Welcome2America will be released July 30, 2021, by The Prince Estate and @SonyLegacyRecs,” a tweet from the official account for the late singer read. (RELATED: Prince’s Home To Be Open For Tours This Fall)
“The Deluxe Edition includes the previously unreleased studio album and a full 2011 Prince concert at @TheForum on Blu-ray,” the post added.
Prince’s enigmatic and prescient statement album #Welcome2America will be released July 30, 2021, by The Prince Estate and @SonyLegacyRecs. The Deluxe Edition includes the previously unreleased studio album and a full 2011 Prince concert at @TheForum on Blu-ray. pic.twitter.com/Zrxr51bqfL
— Prince (@prince) April 8, 2021
In a second post a short time later, the life and legacy account for the “When Doves Cry” hitmaker explained the album was recorded in 2010 before his Welcome 2 America Tour. (RELATED: Prince Documentary Reportedly Coming Out In 2017)
Recorded in 2010 before the Welcome 2 America Tour, the studio album #Welcome2America 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. pic.twitter.com/F7X9eaeAo5
— Prince (@prince) April 8, 2021
“The world is fraught with [misinformation],” Prince previously told Ebony Magazine around the same time he was recording the album, another tweet read. “George Orwell’s vision of the future is here. We need 2 remain steadfast in faith in the trying times ahead.”
The title track, “Welcome 2 America” is now streaming on various music platforms.
“Throughout the powerful song, Prince delivers a searing, spoken-word soliloquy set to music about golden parachutes, the superficial nature of social media, reality TV-fueled celebrity culture, and corporate monopolies in the music industry, ultimately concluding that America is the ‘Land of the free / home of the slave,'” according to a news release, the outlet noted.
The legendary singer died in April 2016 of an accidental overdose of opioid fentanyl. He was 57.