His Purpleness remains a man of mystery. Prince dropped a surprise album, HITNRUN Phase Two, online on Saturday, Dec. 12, without any prior hint or warning.
“Please everyone purchase the product after listening,” he tweeted, with a link to the 12-track album on Jay Z’s artist-friendly streaming site Tidal.
According to a release, Prince labored for nearly four years to produce the album, which includes such tracks as “When She Comes,” “Revelation,” and protest song “Baltimore.”
“HITNRUN Phase Two was recorded fully in analog, giving it a lushness and human quality that defies the current computer-driven trend prevalent in practically all popular music today,” the release reads.
The album is a continued effort from Prince’s September release of HITNRUN Phase One, which co-producer Joshua Welton called “experimental.”
“I know he has different types of fan bases and this kind of for the [hardcore] Purple Collective, the ones who say, ‘I don’t care what he puts out! I love Prince,’” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “And because he’s such a creative, it gives him that freedom to say, ‘I just want to make music like this today.’”
This is the singer’s 39th studio album since he debuted with For You in 1978.
