April 5 (Minneapolis, MN) - Prince’s Grammy winning twenty-eighth studio album Musicology received rave reviews from critics and fans alike when it was released nearly 20 years ago, and with its revolutionary direct-to-fan marketing strategy, effectively changed music promotion forever.
Today, to commemorate 2 decades of Musicology, NPG Records and Paisley Park Enterprises, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, have released “United States Of Division,” a rare 2004 Prince recording that was initially offered as a virtual B-side download for “Cinnamon Girl” exclusively from Prince’s NPG Music Club and eventually as a non-LP bonus track for the UK CD single of “Cinnamon Girl,” but has not been distributed via streaming services until now.
April 5 (Minneapolis, MN) - Prince’s Grammy winning twenty-eighth studio album Musicology received rave reviews from critics and fans alike when it was released nearly 20 years ago, and with its revolutionary direct-to-fan marketing strategy, effectively changed music promotion forever.
Today, to commemorate 2 decades of Musicology, NPG Records and Paisley Park Enterprises, in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, have released “United States Of Division,” a rare 2004 Prince recording that was initially offered as a virtual B-side download for “Cinnamon Girl” exclusively from Prince’s NPG Music Club and eventually as a non-LP bonus track for the UK CD single of “Cinnamon Girl,” but has not been distributed via streaming services until now.
“United States Of Division” is a powerful protest song that sees Prince boldly confronting the social and political issues that continue to plague the nation to this day. Over a percussive backbeat and slinking bassline colored by synths and horn stabs, Prince laments the state of a fractured nation: “How far from heaven must we go? / Before the winds of change will blow and show / This world how it's supposed to be / Land of peace and harmony.” Released in the midst of the US war in Iraq, “United States Of Division” serves as a potent reminder of Prince’s often underappreciated passion for social commentary. While Prince’s 2004 lyrics may be referring to a past era, his unyielding stance on inequality remains ever so relevant in the turbulent socio-political landscape of the present. The timelessness of his songwriting once again serves as a reminder that music has the power to bring people together.
"It's obvious that there's an agenda against the disenfranchised and the uneducated," according to Prince during the Musicology era, "so ultimately, I think, to counter that, we're gonna have to talk to one another. One of the ways we used to do that was through our music…"