JAY-Z is making sure that the purple carpet is being rolled out when it comes to the handling of the upcoming release of Prince’s posthumous LP, Originals.
As announced on Wednesday (May 29), the project, which is set to drop on June 7 as a TIDAL exclusive will also be accompanied by a listening party hosted by none other than Hov himself.
“Prince led the way, for artistic freedom, for ownership,” JAY-Z said in a statement. “He’s one of the bravest people I can think of in the industry. He trusted us, not just me, but TIDAL, to continue his fight. Trying to help further that legacy through his music is both an honor we couldn’t pass up as an organization dedicated to empowering artists. This gives his true fans that peak behind the curtain.”
Per TIDAL’s announcement, JAY-Z will host the project’s official listening party during a June 6 event in Los Angeles. In addition, the streaming service will also offer the opportunity for members to attend celebrations elsewhere in the United States, as well as in other countries such as Spain, Poland and Brazil.
While Prince spent his career being vocally against his music being made available via digital streaming services, he and JAY-Z bonded over the subject, with the Purple One teaming up with the hip hop veteran and allowing his TIDAL platform to host a slew of exclusive releases.
“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 in a statement at the time of his collaborative release with JAY-Z and TIDAL.
Prince’s upcoming posthumous project was curated by JAY-Z along with Troy Carter on behalf of the Prince Estate. Originals features 14 previously unreleased recordings from the late musician’s famous “vault,” which houses a treasure chest of highly safeguarded music. In addition to the previously unreleased tracks, the project also features the Prince version of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was released by his estate as a lone single in 2018. Much to the delight of Prince’s fans, some of the album’s songs include original versions of songs that he penned for other artists, such as Sheila E.’s “The Glamorous Life” and the Bangles’ “Manic Monday.”
As previously reported, Originals is out exclusively to stream via TIDAL on June 7 and will be given a wide release, including being made available on other streaming platforms on June 21 via Warner Bros. Physical copies will be made available on July 19. Those interested in pre-ordering Prince’s Originals may do so here.