Emancipation is the nineteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on November 19, 1996, by NPG Records and EMI Records as a triple album. The title refers to Prince's freedom from his contract with Warner Bros. Records after 18 years, with which 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), which made 1996 one of the most prolific years for material released by Prince.

Overview Emancipation marked the first album in Prince's career to include cover versions of songs written by other songwriters. He said 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), " 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 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".

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 Egyptians and Egyptian pyramids.

Reception In the United States, the album debuted at number 11. Though not a major seller, it did sell over 500,000 copies. Being three discs, it qualified to being certified double platinum (the RIAA certifies based on the number of discs sold - 3 disc set).

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

The song "The Love We Make" was used as the finale of 2020 TV series We Are Who We Are.

Track listing

Notes: "Mr. Happy" contains a sample of "What Can I Do?" (1994) by Ice Cube. "Sex in the Summer" contains a sample of "Good Old Music" (1970) by Funkadelic. "Face Down" contains a strings sample of "Killin' at the Soda Shop" by Jill Jones, orchestrated by Clare Fischer. "Style" contains a sample of "Atomic Dog" (1982) by George Clinton. "Sleep Around" contains a sample of "Squib Cakes" (1974) by Tower of Power. "The Love We Make" was inspired by Jonathan Melvoin's death.

Personnel Adapted from Benoît Clerc

Musicians

Prince – lead vocals , rap , spoken vocals , backing vocals , beat box , electric guitar , acoustic guitar , bass , synthesizers , piano , Hammond organ , drums , programming , Roland TR-808 , finger cymbals , percussion , claps , tambourine Walter Chancellor Jr. – saxophone Rosie Gaines – backing vocals Eric Leeds – flute , saxophone Michael Mac – backing vocals , scratching Ninety-9 – vocal sample Kat Dyson – backing vocals , electric guitar , Godin classical guitar Mr. Hayes – backing vocals , synthesizers , Hammond organ Rhonda Smith – spoken vocals , bass Brian Gallagher – tenor saxophone Dave Jensen, Steve Strand – trumpet Kathy Jensen – baritone saxophone Michael B Nelson – trombone Tommy Barbarella – synthesizers Michael B. – drums Sonny T. – bass Brian Lynch – trumpet Janice Garcia – spoken vocals Mayte – Spanish spoken vocals , backing vocals Todd Burrell – synthesizers Scrap D. – rap , backing vocals Ricky Peterson – synthesizers , piano Hans-Martin Buff – spoken vocals , sound effects Savion Glover – tap dance Kirk Johnson – drums (not confirmed) Joe Galdo, César Sogbe – synthesizers , programming Chanté Moore – backing vocals Mike Scott – electric guitar Smooth G – backing vocals Kate Bush – backing vocals

Technical

Prince – producer , arrangements Steve Durkee, Shane T Keller – recording engineers Ray Hahnfedt, Tom Tucker – recording engineers Hans-Martin Buff, Peter Mokran – recording engineers Joe Galdo, César Sogbe – recording engineers Kirk Johnson – arrangements

Singles and Hot 100 positions "Betcha by Golly Wow!" (No. 31 US Airplay, No. 10 US R&B Airplay, No. 11 UK, No. 20 Australia) "Betcha by Golly Wow!" "Right Back Here in My Arms" "The Holy River" (UK CD 1) (No. 58 US Airplay, No. 19 UK) "The Holy River" (radio edit) "Somebody's Somebody" (edit) "Somebody's Somebody" (live studio mix) "Somebody's Somebody" (Ultrafantasy edit) "Somebody's Somebody" (promo CD) (No. 15 US R&B Airplay, No. 19 UK) "Somebody's Somebody" (radio edit) "Somebody's Somebody" (album version)

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Emancipation Chart (1996) Peak positionDanish Albums (Hitlisten) 15Spanish Albums (AFYVE)42

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Emancipation Chart (1997) Position US Billboard 200 146 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 68

Certifications

References