PRINCE'S SECOND "2"

Sony Legacy has issued a second track from Welcome 2 America, the forthcoming release from Prince’s vault. Titled "Born to Die," the song received its world premiere on BBC 6's Music Breakfast Show.

It 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 in the social-justice movement.

In the announcement heralding the release, the artist's long-time musical director, Morris Hayes, who was tapped to add final production touches, is quoted as saying, “We got to ‘Born 2 Die’ and Prince said, ‘I’ll tell you how that came about.' 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.’”

Welcome 2 America comes out 7/30.

In other Prince news, SiriusXM kicked off Black Music Month with a relaunch of The Prince Channel. Moreover, his 1998 album The Truth will be issued for the first time as a stand-alone release on 6/12 as part of Record Store Day’s first RSD Drop.

Photo credit: Mike Ruiz