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Jul 22, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Mike Ruiz

A previously unreleased Prince album from 2010, Welcome 2 America, is set for release next Friday (July 30) via Legacy. Now another song from it, “Hot Summer,” has been shared. It’s a light summer anthem. Listen below.

The Prince Estate has also announced a new season of their podcast. This season is titled The Story of Welcome 2 America and it goes behind the scenes of the album. Listen to episode one on Spotify or below.

In the episode Prince backing vocalist Elisa Fiorillo recounts how after recording “Hot Summer” Prince took them for a drive past the beach while blasting the new song out the windows. “All those people were outside and I’m thinking it’s broad daylight, they’re gonna see him. But we didn’t care,” she says. “We had the windows rolled down and we were playing ‘Hot Summer.’ There’s nothing like driving in a car and listening to music and I think he agreed.”

Previously the album’s title track was shared. “Welcome 2 America” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then its second single, “Born 2 Die,” was released and it also made our Songs of the Week list.

A previous press release described Welcome 2 America as “a powerful creative statement that documents Prince’s concerns, hopes, and visions for a shifting society, presciently foreshadowing an era of political division, disinformation, and a renewed fight for racial justice.”

The deluxe version of Welcome 2 America will come with a full-length live concert video from one of Prince’s string of 2011 shows at The Forum in Los Angeles during his “Welcome 2 America” tour.

Last year, the Prince Estate put out an expanded reissue of Prince’s 1987 album Sign O’ The Times. Prince passed away in 2016.

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