Emancipation
Studio album by Prince
Released	November 19, 1996
Recorded	January 1995 – October 1996
Genre	Funk *Pop * R&B
Length	185:57
Label	NPG EMI
Producer	Prince
Prince chronology
Chaos and Disorder (1996) Emancipation (1996) NYC (1997)
Singles from Emancipation
"Slave" Released: December 9, 1995 (US promo) "Betcha by Golly Wow!" Released: November 13, 1996 "The Holy River" / "Somebody's Somebody" Released: January 13, 1997 "Somebody's Somebody" Released: January 13, 1997

Emancipation is the nineteenthstudio album by American recording artistPrince. It was released on November 19, 1996, byNPG Records andEMI Records as atriple album. The title refers to Prince's freedom from his contract withWarner Bros. Records after 18 years, with which he had a contentious relationship. The album was Prince's third to be released that year (along withChaos and Disorder and thesoundtrack album of theSpike Lee movieGirl 6), which made 1996 one of the most prolific years for material released by Prince.

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 forthe Stylistics), "I Can't Make You Love Me" (previously a hit forBonnie Raitt), "La-La (Means I Love You)" (previously a hit forthe Delfonics) retitled "La, La, La Means I Love U", and "One of Us" (written byEric Bazilian, and previously a hit forJoan 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".^[1]

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 andEgyptian pyramids.^[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Blender	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B[5]
The Guardian	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
Music Week	[8]
NME	5/10[9]
Q	[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]
Spin	7/10[12]
The Village Voice	A−[13]

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 (theRIAA certifies based on the number of discs sold - 3 disc set).

The subsequentJam of the Year World Tour was a major success (though very few songs fromEmancipation 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 ofChaos and Disorder from four months earlier.

The song "The Love We Make" was used as the finale of 2020 TV seriesWe Are Who We Are.^[14]

Notes:

• Every use of the pronoun "I" throughout the song titles and liner notes is represented by a stylized "👁" symbol. This symbol is commonly transliterated as "eye" amongst Prince fans, as "👁 No" and "I Wish U Heaven" both appeared onLovesexy.
• "Mr. Happy" contains asample of "What Can I Do?" (1994) byIce Cube.
• "Sex in the Summer" contains a sample of "Good Old Music" (1970) byFunkadelic.^[15]
• "Face Down" contains astrings sample of "Killin' at the Soda Shop" byJill Jones,orchestrated byClare Fischer.^[15]
• "Style" contains a sample of "Atomic Dog" (1982) byGeorge Clinton.^[15]
• "Sleep Around" contains a sample of "Squib Cakes" (1974) byTower of Power.
• "The Love We Make" was inspired byJonathan Melvoin's death caused from aheroinoverdose.^[15]

Adapted from Benoît Clerc^[15]

• Prince – lead vocals(all tracks except 2;11 and 3;4),rap(tracks 1;2, 1;11, 3;4), spoken vocals(track 2;6), backing vocals(all tracks 2;9, 2;11, and 3;4),beat box(tracks 1;2, 3;1),electric guitar(tracks 1;1, 1;3–5, 1;7, 1;9, 1;12, 2;1, 2;4, 2;7–8, 2;10, 2;12, 3;2, 3;4, 3;6–10, 3;12),acoustic guitar(tracks 1;8–9, 2;5, 2;8, 2;12, 3;9),bass(all tracks except 1;6–7, 1;10, 2;1, 2;6, 2;10–11, 3;2–3, and 3;10),synthesizers(all tracks except 1;6, 2;9, and 3;10),piano(tracks 1;1–2, 1;5, 1;9, 2;5, 2;8–9, 3;5, 3;11),Hammond organ(track 3;7),drums(tracks 1;7, 1;9, 3;11),programming(tracks 1;4, 1;9–12),Roland TR-808(track 3;8),finger cymbals(track 1;1),percussion(tracks 1;2–3, 1;9, 1;12, 2;3, 3;6),claps(tracks 1;5, 1;7, 2;10),tamborine(tracks 1;8, 2;1, 2;3, 2;8, 3;5)
• Walter Chancellor Jr. –saxophone(tracks 1;1, 3;6)
• Rosie Gaines – backing vocals(track 1;1)
• Eric Leeds –flute(track 1;1), saxophone(tracks 1;1, 1;4, 1;7, 1;10, 2;1, 2;4, 2;6, 3;6)
• Michael Mac – backing vocals(track 3;6),scratching(tracks 1;2, 1;11, 2;7)
• Ninety-9 – vocalsample(tracks 1;2, 3;4)
• Kat Dyson – backing vocals(track 1;4), electric guitar(track 2;1),Godinclassical guitar(track 2;6)
• Mr. Hayes – backing vocals(track 1;4), synthesizers(track 1;6), Hammond organ(tracks 2;10, 3;10)
• Rhonda Smith – spoken vocals(track 1;4), bass(tracks 1;4, 1;7, 1;10, 2;1, 2;6)
• Brian Gallagher –tenor saxophone(tracks 1;5, 1;9, 2;10, 3;7)
• Dave Jensen, Steve Strand –trumpet(tracks 1;5, 1;9, 2;10, 3;7)
• Kathy Jensen –baritone saxophone(tracks 1;5, 1;9, 2;10, 3;7)
• Michael B Nelson –trombone(tracks 1;5, 1;9, 2;10, 3;7)
• Tommy Barbarella – synthesizers(tracks 1;6, 2;10, 3;10)
• Michael B. – drums(tracks 1;6, 2;10, 3;10)
• Sonny T. – bass(tracks 1;6, 2;10, 3;10)
• Brian Lynch – trumpet(tracks 1;7, 2;4, 3;6)
• Janice Garcia – spoken vocals(track 1;8)
• Mayte –Spanish spoken vocals(track 1;9), backing vocals(track 3;10)
• Todd Burrell – synthesizers(track 1;10)
• Scrap D. – rap(tracks 1;11, 3;8), backing vocals(track 3;6)
• Ricky Peterson – synthesizers(track 2;10), piano(track 2;1)
• Hans-Martin Buff – spoken vocals(track 2;7),sound effects(track 2;7)
• Savion Glover –tap dance(track 2;7)
• Kirk Johnson – drums (not confirmed)(track 2;8)
• Joe Galdo, César Sogbe – synthesizers(track 3;3), programming(tracks 3;3, 3;7)
• Chanté Moore – backing vocals(track 3;5)
• Mike Scott – electric guitar(track 3;5)
• Smooth G – backing vocals(track 3;6)
• Kate Bush – backing vocals(track 3;9)

• Prince –producer(all tracks),arrangements(all tracks)
• Steve Durkee, Shane T Keller –recording engineers(all tracks except 3;5 and 3;7)
• Ray Hahnfedt, Tom Tucker – recording engineers(all tracks except 3;7)
• Hans-Martin Buff, Peter Mokran – recording engineers(tracks 1;2, 1;4, 1;6–8, 1;10–12, 2;1–2, 2;4–8, 3;3, 3;6–7, 3;9, 3;11)
• Joe Galdo, César Sogbe – recording engineers(tracks 3;3, 3;7)
• Kirk Johnson – arrangements(all tracks)

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

• 1996 albums
• Prince (musician) albums
• Albums produced by Prince (musician)
• NPG Records albums
• EMI Records albums

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