1999: The New Master – Prince

Where was I when this EP was released? Oh yeah, that’s right. I was a 17 year old boy in my final year of high school & I was hanging around with a couple of dudes who claimed that they loved Prince….but believe me, I was pretty damn hardcore compared to those other two fellas. Anyways, from what I can remember, I had heard about the release of the disc on the Internet and of course I was trying with all my might to get my hands on a copy. At the time, Prince was talking about how he’d started re-recording his older songs in an effort to get his music back from his former record label….so it was most definitely very exciting to hear about this particular release. Eventually it was brought to my attention that one of the main importers over here in Sydney was actually carrying the CD, therefore I finally had a chance to get a copy…..the only problem was……every time I went out to the city, it was always sold out. Every single time without fail. Then one day I found it right on the shelf & took it up front to pay for it….but imagine my disappointment when I discovered that once again, the disc was not available. Damn! This was getting beyond a joke. So anyway I decided to get them to order it in for me & a week later, I went back to the store & purchased it. I remember enjoying what I heard……or maybe I just felt like I had to like it cause I was such a huge Prince fan. Not too long after this disc was released, Prince vowed to never play the song ever again, as he felt as though it was not necessary to do so in the new millennium. However, while he was performing live in 2003, 2004 & 2007, he actually ended up playing intro until eventually breaking out into the entire song, using it as the opening number for his “Earth Tour” in that same year (‘07 that is). What can ya do? He’s Prince! As a result of Mr Nelson’s vow, I, personally avoided the song as well…….but then after he started singing it again I decided to break out the E.P. & give it a good ole track for track analysis. This is what I had to say:

1999 (The New Master): What Prince has done here is, simply taken the original song, “1999″ and given it a bit more of a “house” sound, while still retaining certain parts of the original song. For instance, the weird trippy intro telling us “Don’t worry I won’t hurt you I only want you to have some fun” is still present. As are the backing vocals from former band members Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman and Dez Dickerson. Of course, the legendary synth line from the original song is still included in this particular remix. He didn’t do a bad job, I suppose. My only complaint would be the rap verse from old school rapper Doug E Fresh, who just doesn’t fit the song at all….which reminds me, did I just hear Doug saying, “No ego in the game” while directly referring to Prince? Yeah, sure. How much did he get paid for that one? As we all know, this wouldn’t be “1999″ if it didn’t conclude with the rather quirky, baby-like question of, “Mommy….why does everybody have a bomb?” And, sure enough, it does.

Rosario (1999): Funnily enough, this remix actually contains a very subtle sample of the synth line from “Little Red Corvette.” I say funnily enough, because, as it is common knowledge amongst hardcore Prince fans, “Little Red Corvette” is the song that followed “1999″ on the legendary original album of the same name. That aside, this is a pretty messed up remix that he’s decided to include here. He’s basically asked the actress Rosario Dawson of such films as “Men In Black” and “Kids,” to recite a poem full of incredibly whacked out phrases such as, “Christmas means – get this: to send Christ away.” Obviously I very strongly disagree with Prince & all of that Jehovah’s Witness stuff that he’s been trying to force upon us all ever since he discovered the religion for himself back in the mid-to-late ’90s, but hey…..let’s allow him to have his own personal views.

1999 (The Inevitable Mix): Prince tries his hand at a bit of a “Latin” sounding remix and throws in some samples from the original song in the process. Perhaps he was trying to make it sound “futuristic,” being that he’s forever the innovator & what have you when it comes to music. Then again, the whole “latin sound” was pretty big at the time….so I guess you should take that last comment any way you choose. Other than that it’s quite a drastically different song compared to the original song. Perhaps the most different thing being that it’s actually Rosie Gaines & Larry Graham singing the two opening verses, as opposed to Wendy, Lisa and Dez. To me it sounds pretty lame, but hey Larry was and still is Prince’s Yoda, so of course for him, such a combination was the greatest thing in the whole wide world. Oh well…..each to Princey’s own.

1999 (Keep Steppin’): This time around, Prince has decided to let Doug E Fresh shine for a little while. The whole remix is rapped by him, while Prince backs him up with a chant of “Armageddon is headin’/Lethal rap weapon/One nine, nine, nine/People keep steppin’.” I must admit, that does sound pretty cool, but consider this……Prince actually asked Doug to write a rhyme all about the world ending. Either that or Doug did it on his own. So, while it may sound cool, by the same token, the whole notion about the world ending after 1999 just sounds stupid several years after the fact. But, let’s not forget – that very notion is exactly what made Prince want to sit down & write the song in the first place.

1999 (Rosie & Doug E. In A Deep House): Truth be told, I never really paid attention to this particular version, which, if I recall correctly, was streaming on his old website the NPG Music Club sometime in the early 00s. Being that I never listened to it properly, I always assumed it was just an instrumental version with samples of Doug E Fresh rapping & even more samples of Rosie occasionally doing some jazz scats. While both of these things are present in the song, both performers also bring their own individual contributions to the remix over a much more straight up house beat. Therefore, the title pretty much speaks for itself. Obviously, I never really cared for this remix. So sue me if I go 2 fast….or sumthin’.

1999 (The New Master Edit): Again, the title pretty much speaks for itself: it’s just a short version of the main remix. The intro is ommited & it fades out after about four minutes and thirty two seconds. There could be other stuff that’s missing too, but I’m unsure.

1999 (Acapella): Obviously Prince included this version in order for disc jockeys to mess around with it & eventually come up with their own personal interpretations of the song. He even listed the Beats Per Minutes (or BPMs for short) on the back cover. Basically this acapella features vocals from Rosie Gaines, Larry Graham, of course Prince, and finally, Doug E Fresh. I’ve got to be honest, hearing Larry singing the line: “But when I woke up this morning could’ve sworn it was judgement day” makes me feel pretty uneasy. Prince definitley would’ve gotten his thrills out of hearing one of his heroes singing his own lyrics though – I’m conviced of that.

Verdict: Back in 1999 it was a big deal to have this thing in your collection. I mean, even the non fans probably went out & copped this disc, which could have very well been the reason for it constantly being sold out whenever I tried to buy it. Couple that with the fact that it originally cost me thirty bucks, but now it sells for as low as thirteen. What a difference. As for the release itself, it’s not too bad for what it is. While I may not approve of some of the ways in which Prince may have re-interpreted the song (at the end of the day, he wrote that shit himself – so let him do with it what he will) I can appreciate the fact that the man was also trying new things out with a few of the remixes, and hey, he’s a musician so why not let him do that every once in a while? Other than that, the EP is okay.