Welcome 2 America

by 
AlbumJul 30 / 202112 songs, 54m 30s
Funk Neo-Soul
Popular

It’s hard to know what to make of the steady stream of releases to flow from Prince’s legendary vaults. On one hand, even a casual fan can marvel at the sheer scope of his output, and how he would regularly cast aside entire albums’ worth of songs that would be career highlights for any other artist. On the other hand, he was a meticulous artist with impossibly exacting standards that these songs didn’t meet for whatever now-unknowable reasons, so what does it mean to listen to them without his blessing? *Welcome 2 America* does not offer any immediate clues as to its pariah status. Recorded in 2010 with New Power Generation, these are fully realized funk, R&B, and rock songs, often sharp and lyrically prescient—nothing necessarily revelatory or adventurous by the measure of Prince’s own formidable canon, but far from anyone’s idea of detritus. “Yes” is a rowdy rave-up, while Prince pays tribute to fellow Minneapolis lifers with a perhaps unlikely cover of Soul Asylum’s 2006 “Stand Up and B Strong.”

4

6.2 / 10

Recorded in 2010, Prince’s first posthumous album of all unreleased material is a state-of-the-union concept record in which he bluntly broadcasts his opinions on taxes, technology, drugs, religion, and the music industry.

A-

Recorded in 2010, then inexplicably shelved, the album features some of Prince's feistiest lyrics and catchiest music of the 21st century

'Welcome 2 America', the first full album of unheard material from Prince’s legendary vault, tackles race and injustice through joyful funk

Prince's posthumous album 'Welcome 2 America,' reviewed by 'Rolling Stone.'

The redeeming feature of Prince’s late-career cast-offs is a rich political and social seam, while Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay’s new LUMP record feels suitably offbeat

Prince recorded the 12 songs that comprise the posthumous album Welcome 2 America back in 2010, polished off some mixes, and allegedly completed a sequence, then he set it aside.

8 / 10

In the modern music landscape, few things are as polarizing as the posthumous release. Most of the time, unfinished music gets pieced togeth...

This shelved collection from 2010 is not peak Prince – and he knew it

6 / 10

There are glimmers of brilliance on this "lost" Prince album, but ultimately it feels like a footnote at best, a cash-in at worst

7 / 10

Recorded in 2010, 'Welcome 2 America' is Prince by the numbers, which is still better than most artists could do.

Prince’s stock as a recording artist was low in 2010, so it makes weird sense for this work to appear in 2021, getting the posthumous attention it deserves

68 %

Album Reviews: Prince - Welcome 2 America

The superstar's latest posthumous release is sonically diverse, politically prescient and most importantly of all: deliciously funky

Review: This posthumous Prince album is an excruciating, boring, half-baked mess

7 / 10