Entertainment

Prince’s 3121 Gets Expanded 20th‑Anniversary Edition with Rare Tracks and Live Video

By Mike Duquette

The Prince estate will release an expanded edition of the 2006 album 3121 on December 11. The set, available from NPG and Sony Music, will come as a 2‑CD/Blu‑ray or 3‑LP/Blu‑ray package. It pairs the original album with a bonus disc of ten previously unreleased tracks from Prince’s vault and a Blu‑ray that includes a professionally filmed performance from his 2007 Las Vegas residency, The Artist’s Performing Live 3121, at the Rio Hotel and Casino. The video disc also contains three music videos from the 3121 era. The audio from the same residency will be issued on CD and vinyl for Record Store Day Black Friday.

3121 was Prince’s 31st studio album and was released on March 21, 2006. The title refers to a Los Angeles home he rented at the time. The album followed his 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and the 2005 release of Musicology, which had been distributed to tour attendees. 3121 continued Prince’s focus on stripped‑down R&B and funk. Its lead single, “Te Amo Corazon,” drew on acoustic and Latin influences. Other tracks include the hard‑rocking “Fury,” the James Brown‑style “Get on the Boat,” and the minimalist “Black Sweat,” which reached No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 – the first new Prince single to chart there since 1999.

Guest musicians on the album included New Power Generation members Sonny Thompson and Michael Bland on the title track, Sheila E. on percussion for “Get on the Boat,” and Támar Davis on the duet “Beautiful, Loved and Blessed.” Davis, formerly of Girl’s Tyme (later Destiny’s Child), helped the album earn five Grammy nominations, including Best R&B Album.

3121 was Prince’s first release to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the first to reach that peak since the 1989 Batman soundtrack. Live performances from the period included the Las Vegas residency and a Super Bowl XLI halftime show, widely regarded as one of the greatest live appearances in football history.

The bonus disc contains ten tracks that illustrate the relationship between 3121 and other projects from the era. Songs such as “Streets of Panama” and “Elixer” were early versions of 3121 tracks, while “Elixer” was later developed for Bria Valente’s 2009 album of the same name. “Time of Ur Life” was speculated to be intended for a project with The Time frontman Morris Day. The track “Glass Cutter” was previously offered for download through the NPG Music Club between the releases of Musicology and 3121. An acoustic version of “Love” was streamed online around the time of 3121’s release.

The expanded edition is available for purchase on Amazon in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. The 2‑CD/Blu‑ray version will be sold as NPG/Paisley Park, 2026, and the 3‑LP/Blu‑ray version will be sold as NPG/Paisley Park, 2026. The original 2006 album is included on CD 1/LP 1‑2, while the bonus tracks appear on CD 2/LP 3. The Blu‑ray contains the full 2007 residency performance, which will also be released as a 2‑CD/3‑LP set for Record Store Day.