When Prince died in April of 2016, he left behind an extensive cache of unreleased records that could reportedly fill up to 100 albums. Though some of those cuts may never see the light of day, the late artists’ estate has announced that new Prince material is on the way. And it’s purportedly “mind-blowing.”
“He was a guy who practically lived in a recording studio, and once we started going through [the unreleased material] we really started finding some gems,” Troy Carter, adviser to Prince's estate, told Variety. “I heard some music the other night that was pretty mind-blowing and we’re getting some stuff mixed right now. We’ve got great projects in the works that I’m excited to talk about […] So the answer is yes, there will be unreleased Prince music coming soon.”
The news arrives shortly after the announcement of a four-day memorial concert for the legendary singer. His estate told Rolling Stone this month that the event will take place on the second anniversary of his death at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The concert is expected to deliver special guest performances as well as unreleased Prince material.
As of now, it is unclear which record label will distribute Prince’s new “mind-blowing” music. His estate had inked a $31 million deal with Universal Music several months after his death; however, the fuzzy terms of Prince’s contract with Warner Bros. caused the Universal deal to be nullified in 2017.
According to Variety, Prince officially split with Warner Bros. in 1996 and the bulk of his subsequent recordings are owned by his estate and presumably available for licensing. But after the Universal agreement fell through, many potential distributors are hesitant to touch the material.
Keep it locked to find out which lucky label will get the rights to the upcoming music.
