MP3: Prince - Born 2 Die

Prince
"Born 2 Die"
Official MP3 Audio

“Born 2 Die” is the second single made available from Prince’s upcoming unreleased studio album 'Welcome 2 America' and is available now via all major digital service providers.

The song was recorded during a flurry of studio activity in the spring of 2010, when President Obama was just a year into his first term and Prince was reflecting deeply on the issues affecting the Black community and the role he hoped to play.

As happened countless times throughout his career, Prince ended up shelving the song and the rest of 'Welcome 2 America' in his legendary vault, and the full album will be released from the vault for the first time on July 30.

The slow-burning song was first recorded by Prince, the bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, and the drummer Chris Coleman, and then accentuated by the vocal harmonies of Shelby J., Liv Warfield, and Elisa Fiorillo, and topped off by a melody sung by Prince himself.

He then tapped his longtime music director Morris Hayes to add final production to the track—and shared some of the inspiration behind its sound.

"We got to 'Born 2 Die'," and Prince said, "I'll tell you how that came about," Morris remembers. "He had been watching videos of his friend Dr. Cornel West on YouTube, and during one speech Dr. West said, 'I love my brother Prince, but he’s no Curtis Mayfield." So Prince said, "Oh really? We will see."

Shop exclusive Prince music and merchandise at the Official Prince Store...Pre-order 'Welcome 2 America' now via all major digital service providers