The Prince Estate has announced that Prince’s unreleased 2010 album, Welcome 2 America will be shared out of the Paisley Park vault on July 30th.
The new collection features 11 original Prince tracks alongside a cover of Soul Asylum’s “Stand Up and B Strong.” While the tracks have never gotten an official release, Prince has played some of the songs live. The forthcoming deluxe edition of the album is set to also feature a Blu-ray concert film from Prince’s 2011 Inglewood, California stop during his “Welcome 2 America” tour.
The title track, which was released today, is a five-and-a-half minute spoken word that sees Prince soulfully delivering lyrics like, “Welcome to America / Where you can fail at your job, get fired, rehired/ And get a $700 billion tip.”
Listen to “Welcome 2 America” below.
“The world is fraught with misin4mation,” Prince says in a statement that the Estate has shared. “George Orwell’s vision of the future is here. We need 2 remain steadfast in faith in the trying times ahead.”
Alongside the concert film and the album, the Welcome 2 America Deluxe Edition also features a 32-page companion book, reproductions of concert tickets, setlists, and more.
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
Check out the tracklist in full below.
Welcome 2 America Tracklist:
01 – “Welcome 2 America”
02 – “Running Game (Son of a Slave Master)”
03 – “Born 2 Die”
04 – “1000 Light Years from Here”
05 – “Hot Summer”
06 – “Stand Up and B Strong (Soul Asylum cover)”
07 – “Check the Record”
08 – “Same Page, Different Book”
09 – “When She Comes”
10 – “1010 (Rin Tin Tin)”
11 – “Yes”
12 – “One Day We Will All B Free”
Welcome 2 America (Live at The Forum, April 28, 2011) Blu-ray Tracklist:
01 – “Joy in Repetition”
02 – “brown Skin (India.Arie cover)”
03 – “17 Days”
04 – “Shhh”
05 – “Controversy”
06 – “Theme from ‘Which Way Is Up’ (Stargard cover)”
07 – “What Have You Done For Me Lately (Janet Jackson cover)”
08 – “Partyman”
09 – “Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan cover)”
10 – “Misty Blue (Eddy Arnold cover)”
11 – “Let’s Go Crazy”
12 – “Delirious”
13 – “1999”
14 – “Little Red Corvette”
15 – “Purple Rain”
16 – “The Bird (The Time cover – Prince composition)”
17 – “Jungle Love (The Time cover – Prince composition)”
18 – “A Love Bizarre (Sheila E. cover – Prince composition)”
19 – “Kiss”
20 – “Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)”
21 – “Inglewood Swinging (cover of Kool & the Gang’s ‘Hollywood Swinging’)”
22 – “Fantastic Voyage (Lakeside cover)”
23 – “More Than This (Roxy Music cover)”