✦ HITnRUN Phase One – Studio Album: Sept. 2015

✦ Prince’s Digital‑Age Detonation

A high‑velocity, producer‑driven experiment that launched Prince into the streaming era with explosive energy and bold reinvention

✦ Summary

Released 7 September 2015, HITnRUN Phase One marked Prince’s most radical embrace of the digital age. Issued first as a TIDAL exclusive, the album arrived with little warning, reflecting the immediacy and unpredictability of its title. Built in close collaboration with producer Joshua Welton, the project pushed Prince’s sound into hyper‑modern territory — dense electronics, fractured beats, and club‑leaning textures that reframed his voice in a new sonic landscape.

The album includes reimagined versions of earlier tracks (“This Could B Us,” “1000 X’s & O’s”), alongside new material that blends EDM, funk, pop, and experimental production. Prince’s vocals — often processed, layered, or distorted — sit at the center of a project that feels like a deliberate collision between eras: the futurism of 2015 and the melodic instincts of his classic catalogue.

Though divisive among fans, HITnRUN Phase One stands as a bold snapshot of Prince’s late‑career restlessness — a willingness to break his own rules, collaborate deeply, and test the boundaries of what a Prince album could be in the streaming era.

✦ Highlights

• Released 7 September 2015 (TIDAL exclusive)

• Physical CD release followed shortly after

• Co‑produced with Joshua Welton

• Features reworked versions of “This Could B Us” and “1000 X’s & O’s”

• Prince’s first album built around EDM‑influenced production

• Companion album HITnRUN Phase Two released later the same year

• Marks Prince’s full embrace of streaming distribution

✦ Track Details

CD / Digital – 2015 (NPG / TIDAL)

• Million $ Show

• Shut This Down

• Ain’t About 2 Stop

• Like a Mack

• This Could B Us (Reimagined)

• Fallinlove2nite

• X’s Face

• Hardrocklover

• Mr. Nelson

• 1000 X’s & O’s (Reworked)

• June

✦ Reissues & Global Variants

• Digital release (TIDAL exclusive) — 7 Sept 2015

• CD release — worldwide retail

• No vinyl edition issued during Prince’s lifetime

• Later vinyl pressings appear in posthumous box sets

✦ Production and Context

• Heavy collaboration with Joshua Welton, who handled much of the programming

• Represents Prince’s most electronic, producer‑driven album

• Built from a mix of new compositions and reimagined older tracks

• Released during Prince’s partnership with TIDAL

• Served as the first half of a two‑part project, followed by Phase Two

• Reflects Prince’s interest in rapid‑release digital distribution

✦ Singles Released

Hardrocklover — 2015 (digital)

This Could B Us (Reimagined) — 2015 (digital)

Fallinlove2nite — 2014/2015 (various formats)

✦ Chart Performance

• US Billboard 200 — Top 40

• UK Albums Chart — Top 30

• Strong digital performance due to TIDAL exclusivity

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