One of the rarest items in Prince’s catalogue is set to receive a special Record Store Day reissue next week, with his 1995 Versace mixtape being re-released.
If you’re even a casual fan of Prince, you’d likely know that some of his rare material can sell for a pretty penny.
In fact, his shelved 1994 record, The Black Album, is so sought-after that it set a record on Discogs after selling for $15,000.00, before another was sold for $27,500. In 2017 though, a cache of these records were discovered, with one selling for over $42,000.
Needless to say, it’s a rather expensive habit to be a Prince collector.
However, back in 1995, Prince decided to do something rather special for attendees of the Versace collection at Paris Fashion Week, handing out a one-of-a-kind promotional mixtape.
Dubbed The Versace Experience – Prelude 2 Gold, and released before his 1995 record The Gold Experience, the mixtape was issued under The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, and featured a number of exclusive tracks and remixes, including tunes by The New Power Generation, and Madhouse.
Over the years, it has become one of the most-wanted releases in Prince’s back catalogue, with a single copy fetching $5,640 back in 2016.
Now, with Record Store Day around the corner, Prince’s estate are finally set to reissue this incredibly rare album.
Released on cassette, this piece of musical history will be limited to just 4,000 copies around the world, meaning that if you’re keen to snare your own version of this mixtape, you might want to get in early.
Of course, this isn’t the only piece of Prince history coming out on the day, with a reissued version of the Japan-only His Majesty’s Pop Life/The Purple Mix Club record being limited to 14,000 copies.
Check out the tracklist for Prince’s enigmatic release below.
Check out Prince’s ‘Eye Hate U’:
Prince’s The Versace Experience – Prelude 2 Gold Tracklist
SIDE A
1. Prince – ‘Pussy Control (Club Mix) (Edit)’
2. Prince – ‘Shhh (X-cerpt)’
3. The New Power Generation – ‘Get Wild In The House’
4. Prince – ‘Eye Hate U (Remix)’
5. Prince – ‘319 (X-cerpt)’
6. Prince – ‘Shy (X-cerpt)’
SIDE B
1. Prince – ‘Billy Jack Bitch’
2. Madhouse – ‘ Sonny T. (X-cerpt)’
3. Madhouse – ‘ Rootie Kazootie (Edit)’
4. Prince – ‘Chatounette Controls’
5. Prince – ‘Pussy Control (Control Tempo) (Edit)’
6. The New Power Generation Orchestra – ‘Kamasutra Overture #5’
7. The New Power Generation – ‘Free The Music’
8. Prince – ‘Segue’
9. Prince – ‘Gold (X-cerpt)’
