The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold

The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold is a promotional mixtape^[2][3] by American musician Prince, originally issued as a limited edition cassette and given away to attendees of the Versace collection at the 1995 Paris Fashion Week. The album was intended to promote Prince's then-upcoming album The Gold Experience.^[4]

The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold
2019 re-release cover
Mixtape by Prince
Released	July 8, 1995 (1995-07-08)[1]
Length	32:43
Label	NPG Legacy
Producer	Prince
Prince chronology
The Black Album (1994) The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold (1995) The Gold Experience (1995)

The cassette was re-released posthumously for Record Store Day on April 13, 2019,^[3] and released on CD, vinyl, as a digital download and for streaming through NPG Records and Legacy Recordings on September 13, 2019.^[5]

Music

The cassette was issued in promotion of Prince's 1995 album The Gold Experience and half of the included tracks are excerpts or mixes of songs which were later released on that album: "Pussy Control", "Shhh", "Eye Hate U", "319", "Shy", "Billy Jack Bitch" and "Gold". However, several were originally written for the New Power Generation's second album Exodus (1995), as well as his collaborations with Clare Fischer (issued as "the New Power Generation Orchestra"), and his jazz fusion group Madhouse.^[4]

Track listing

1. "Pussy Control" (Club Mix; edit) – 3:02
2. "Shhh" (X-cerpt) – 3:54
3. "Get Wild in the House" (performed by The New Power Generation) – 2:14
4. "Eye Hate U" (Remix) – 3:28
5. "319" (X-cerpt) – 1:28
6. "Shy" (X-cerpt) – 2:22
7. "Billy Jack Bitch" – 2:31
8. "Sonny T." (X-cerpt) (performed by Prince and Madhouse) – 0:28
9. "Rootie Kazootie" (performed by Prince and Madhouse) – 2:37
10. "Chatounette Controle" – 2:24
11. "Pussy Control (Control Tempo)" (edit) – 1:23
12. "Kamasutra Overture #5" (performed by The New Power Generation Orchestra) – 0:43
13. "Free the Music" (performed by The New Power Generation) – 1:44
14. "Segue" – 0:49
15. "Gold" (X-cerpt) – 3:36

Charts

Chart performance for The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[6]	50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7]	19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8]	61
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9]	29
French Albums (SNEP)[10]	94
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11]	59
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12]	25
Scottish Albums (OCC)[13]	38
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[14]	20
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15]	30
UK Albums (OCC)[16]	83
US Billboard 200[17]	170
US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[18]	17

References

1. "The VERSACE Experience Prelude 2 Gold by Prince". Apple Music. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
2. Jenke, Tyler (April 4, 2019). "An extremely rare Prince mixtape will be reissued for Record Store Day". Tone Deaf. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
3. Kenneally, Cerys (April 3, 2019). "Prince's rare The VERSACE Experience mixtape will be released for Record Store Day". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
4. Arcand, Rob (September 13, 2019). "Stream Prince's Rare Versace Experience Cassette". Spin. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
5. "Take a listen to Prince's ultra-rare 'Versace Experience' cassette from 1995, now streaming online". NME. 13 September 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
6. "Austriancharts.at – Prince – The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
7. "Ultratop.be – Prince – The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
8. "Ultratop.be – Prince – The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
9. "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince – The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
10. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 38, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Prince – The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
12. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2019-09-23" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
13. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
14. "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 38: del 13.9.2019 al 19.9.2019" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
15. "Swisscharts.com – Prince – The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
16. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
17. "Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
18. ""Prince Chart History (Top R&B Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2022.

External links

• Prince’s Versace Experience, With Rare Songs From Paris Fashion Week 1995, Is Now Streaming: Listen