Music
15 rare Prince albums released by TIDAL to celebrate his birthday
by Jeremy Mersereau
June 7, 2016
Prince would have been 58 today, so the streaming service shared a treasure trove.
Prince would have celebrated his birthday today, and to mark the occasion, Jay-Z-affiliated streaming service TIDAL has added 15 of the late legend’s lesser-known albums to its streaming repertoire.
Prince albums now available to stream on TIDAL include 1987’s The Black Album, the Crystal Ball collection from 1998, and Prince backing band the New Power Generation’s Exodus from 1995. Back in August, Prince made it clear he was going all-in on TIDAL, offering his then-upcoming albums HITnRUN Phase One and Two as exclusives.
“After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at TIDAL recognize and applaud the effort that real musicians put in2 their craft 2 achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry,” Prince said.
That’s not the only Purple One rarity news, either. Morrissey’s longtime favourite organization PETA has unleashed a 1999 song called “Animal Kingdom” that Prince recorded in honour of the organization’s then-20th anniversary. Just so you get the general idea: “No member of the animal kingdom / ever did a thing to me” go the lyrics, followed up by a flotilla of dolphin sound effects and some more lyrics about “fonky blue cheese.”
Hear “Animal Kingdom” for yourself here, or download it here.
Minnesota governor Mark Dayton is also getting in on the Prince birthday action, paying tribute to the seven-time Grammy winner by declaring June 7th “Prince Day” and encouraging Minnesotans to wear purple.
Worth noting, however: as a practicing Jehovah’s witness, Prince may not have celebrated his own birthday, since Witnesses believe them to have pagan roots and to be displeasing to God. But, then again, he also wrote the world’s best party anthem, so it could go either way.
