Emancipation (Prince album)

Emancipation
Studio album by Prince
Released	November 19, 1996
Recorded	1995–96
Genre	Hip hop R&B[1]
Length	180:00
Label	NPG/EMI
Producer	Prince
Prince chronology
Chaos and Disorder (1996) Emancipation (1996) Crystal Ball / The Truth (1998)
Singles from Emancipation
"Betcha by Golly Wow!" Released: November 13, 1996 "The Holy River / Somebody's Somebody" Released: January 13, 1997 "Face Down" Released: April 1997 (promo)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Robert Christgau	A–[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B[4]
The Independent	(unfavorable)[5]
MusicHound	4/5[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin	7/10[8]

Emancipation is the nineteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on November 19, 1996 by NPG Records and EMI Records. The title refers to Prince's freedom from his contract with Warner Bros. Records after 18 years, with whom he had a contentious relationship. The album was Prince's third to be released that year (along with Chaos and Disorder and the soundtrack album of the Spike Lee movie, Girl 6), making 1996 one of the most prolific years for material released by Prince.

Emancipation is also the first triple full-length original R&B studio (non-compilation) album ever released.

Overview

Emancipation is something of a concept album, celebrating his release from Warner Bros. as well as his marriage to Mayte Garcia, who became his wife on Valentine's Day earlier that year. With his newfound creative freedom, Prince experimented more openly with varying genres, including house and blues. Prince also freely commented on his fame and dealings with Warner Bros. ("White Mansion"; "Slave"; "Face Down") while also returning slightly to the "computer" theme he explored a decade earlier ("Emale"; "My Computer").

"Jam of the Year" is the opening song on the album. It features Prince, singing in his falsetto range, and Rosie Gaines on backing vocals. It later became the name of the tour for the album, and a live version of the song was released as part of a single called "NYC Live" in 1997.

Prince wrote several songs and ballads dedicated to his child, most of which appear on the second disc of the album. The child, born in October (about 1 month before the album's release), suffered from Pfeiffer syndrome type 2, a rare skull disease, and died shortly after birth. A recording of the child's heartbeat is featured as part of the percussion of "Sex in the Summer".

Emancipation marked the first album in Prince's career to include cover versions of songs written by other songwriters; Prince claimed that he had wanted to cover songs in the past, but was advised against it by Warner Bros. Four such covers appeared on the album: "Betcha by Golly Wow!" (previously a hit for The Stylistics), "I Can't Make You Love Me" (previously a hit for Bonnie Raitt), "La-La (Means I Love You)" (previously a hit for The Delfonics) retitled "La, La, La Means I Love U", and "One of Us" (written by Eric Bazilian, and previously a hit for Joan Osborne). Notably, Prince changed the chorus of "One of Us" from "What if God was one of us / Just a slob like one of us" to "...Just a slave like one of us".^[9]

The album is notable for its format: it consists of three discs, each containing 12 songs with exactly 60 minutes per disc. Prince insinuated to the press at the time that the number of songs, discs and length of the album had a connection with the Egyptian pyramids.

Response

In the United States, the album debuted at #11. Though not a major seller, it did sell over 500,000 copies, and being three discs, it was qualified to being certified double platinum (the RIAA certifies based on amount shipped rather than sold). Emancipation is the fourth-best-selling triple album ever in the United States.

The subsequent Jam of the Year Tour was a major success (though ironically very few songs from Emancipation were included in the concerts, and the vast majority of the album's tracks would remain unperformed), resulting in a significant comeback for Prince, after the commercial and critical disappointment of Chaos and Disorder from earlier that year.

Track listing

All tracks written, music and lyrics, by Prince except where noted

Disc 1

1. "Jam of the Year" – 6:09
2. "Right Back Here in My Arms" – 4:43
3. "Somebody's Somebody" (Prince, Brenda Lee Eager, Hilliard Wilson) – 4:43
4. "Get Yo Groove On" – 6:31
5. "Courtin' Time" – 2:46
6. "Betcha by Golly Wow!" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) – 3:31
7. "We Gets Up" – 4:18
8. "White Mansion" – 4:47
9. "Damned if I Do" – 5:21
10. "I Can't Make U Love Me" (Mike Reid, Allen Shamblin) – 6:37
11. "Mr. Happy" – 4:46
12. "In This Bed I Scream" – 5:40

Track 11 contains a sample of "What Can I Do?" (1994) by Ice Cube.

Disc 2

1. "Sex in the Summer" – 5:57
2. "One Kiss at a Time" – 4:41
3. "Soul Sanctuary" (Prince, Sandra St. Victor, Thomas Hammer, Jonathan Kemp) – 4:41
4. "Emale" – 3:38
5. "Curious Child" – 2:57
6. "Dreamin' About U" – 3:52
7. "Joint 2 Joint" – 7:52
8. "The Holy River" – 6:55
9. "Let's Have a Baby" – 4:07
10. "Saviour" – 5:48
11. "The Plan" – 1:47
12. "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife" – 7:37

Disc 3

1. "Slave" – 4:51
2. "New World" – 3:43
3. "The Human Body" – 5:42
4. "Face Down" – 3:17
5. "La, La, La Means I Love U" (Thom Bell, William Hart) – 3:59
6. "Style" – 6:40
7. "Sleep Around" – 7:42
8. "Da, Da, Da" – 5:15
9. "My Computer" – 4:37
10. "One of Us" (Eric Bazilian) – 5:19
11. "The Love We Make" – 4:39
12. "Emancipation" – 4:12

Track 6 contains a sample of "Atomic Dog" (1982) by George Clinton.
Track 7 contains a sample of "Squib Cakes" (1974) by Tower of Power.

Alternate configurations

July 1995 configuration

1. "Right Back Here in My Arms" (Different version than released)
2. "Slave 2 the System" (Officially unreleased)
3. "Slave" (Different version than released)
4. "New World"
5. "2020" (Officially unreleased)
6. "Feel Good" (Officially unreleased)
7. "Journey 2 the Center of Your Heart" (Different version than released)
8. "I'm a DJ" (Officially unreleased)
9. "Emancipation" (Different version than released)

Mid-1995 configuration

1. "Emancipation" (Different version than released) – 4:30
2. "Right Back Here in My Arms" (Different version than released) – 4:32
3. "Slave 2 the System" (Officially unreleased) – 3:05
4. "Slave" (Different version than released) – 5:09
5. "2020" (Officially unreleased) – 2:09
6. "New World" – 3:41
7. "Feel Good" (Officially unreleased) – 4:05
8. "Journey 2 the Center of Your Heart" (Different version than released) – 4:14
9. "I'm a DJ" (Officially unreleased) – 4:47
10. "(Excuse Me Is This) Goodbye" (Later released as "Goodbye" on Crystal Ball) – 4:30

August 1996 configuration

Full track list and sequencing unknown, but triple album, includes:

• "She Gave Her Angels" (Later released on Crystal Ball) – 3:52
• "Let's Have a Baby" – 4:07
• "Sex in the Summer" – 5:56
• "Betcha by Golly, Wow!" – 3:30
• "Damned If I Do" – 5:20
• "I Can't Make U Love Me" – 6:37
• "Somebody's Somebody" – 4:43
• "Get Yo Groove On" – 6:31
• "La, La, La Means I Love U" – 3:58

Personnel

• Prince – lead vocals and various instruments
• Mr. Hayes – keyboards (1–6, 2–10, 3–10), backing vocals (1–4)
• Tommy Barbarella – keyboards (1–6, 2–10, 3–10)
• Tom Burrell – additional keyboards (1–10)
• Ricky Peterson – piano (2–1), additional keyboards (2–10)
• Kathleen Dyson – guitar (2–1, 2–4, 2–6, 3–11), backing vocals (1–4)
• Mike Scott – guitar (3–5)
• Rhonda Smith – bass (1–4, 1–7, 1–10, 2–1, 2–6), backing vocals (1–4)
• Sonny T. – bass (1–6, 2–10, 3–10)
• Michael B. – drums (1–6, 2–10, 3–10)
• Kirk Johnson – drums (unspecified tracks)
• Eric Leeds – saxophone and flute (1–1), saxophone (1–4,1–7, 1–10, 2–4, 2–6, 3–6)
• Walter Chancellor Jr. – saxophone (1–1, 3–6)
• Brian Gallagher – tenor saxophone (1–5, 1–9, 2–10, 3–7)
• Kathy Jensen – baritone saxophone (1–5, 1–9, 2–10, 3–7)
• Brian Lynch – trumpet (1–7, 2–4, 3–6)
• Steve Strand – trumpet (1–5, 1–9, 2–10, 3–7)
• Dave Jensen – trumpet (1–5, 1–9, 2–10, 3–7)
• Michael B. Nelson – trombone (1–5, 1–9, 2–10, 3–7)
• Rosie Gaines – backing vocals (1–1)
• Kathleen Bradford – backing vocals (2–12)
• Rhonda Johnson – backing vocals (2–12)
• Chanté Moore – backing vocals (3–5)
• Kate Bush – backing vocals (3–9)
• Mayte – Spanish spoken word (1–9), backing vocals (3–10)
• Ninety-9 – vocal sample (1–2, 3–4), spoken word (2–7)
• Scrap D. – rap (1–11, 3–8)
• Michael Mac – scratches (2–7)
• Savion Glover – tap performance (2–7)

^[10]

Singles and Hot 100 positions

• "Betcha by Golly Wow!" (#31 US Airplay, #10 US R&B Airplay, #11 UK, #20 Australia)
  1. "Betcha by Golly Wow!"
  2. "Right Back Here in My Arms"
• "The Holy River" (UK CD 1) (#58 US Airplay, #19 UK)
  1. "The Holy River" (radio edit)
  2. "Somebody's Somebody" (edit)
  3. "Somebody's Somebody" (live studio mix)
  4. "Somebody's Somebody" (Ultrafantasy edit)
• "Somebody's Somebody" (promo CD) (#15 US R&B Airplay, #19 UK)
  1. "Somebody's Somebody" (radio edit)
  2. "Somebody's Somebody" (album version)

Charts

Certifications

References