✦ Emancipation – Album US: Nov. 1996

A three‑disc liberation manifesto — love, freedom, and a new era beyond the contract.

✦ Summary

Released worldwide on November 19, 1996, Emancipation marked Prince’s long‑awaited creative freedom after the end of his Warner Bros. contract. Issued through NPG Records/EMI, the album arrived as a 36‑track, 3×CD / 3×cassette set, with each disc containing 12 songs and running exactly 60 minutes — a numerological structure Prince linked to Egyptian symbolism and pyramid geometry.

The album celebrates his marriage to Mayte Garcia, his independence, and his rebirth as 0(+>. It features bold reinterpretations of classics (“Betcha by Golly Wow!”, “La, La, La Means I Love U”, “One of Us”), collaborations with Kate Bush (“My Computer”), and samples from Funkadelic, Tower of Power, and Ice Cube. Prince described the project as a spiritual and artistic cleansing, even posting on his website: “I was Akhenaten…”

1996 was one of Prince’s most prolific years, with Chaos and Disorder and Girl 6 also released. Emancipation remains the longest album of his career and a defining statement of autonomy.

✦ Highlights

• First post‑Warner Bros. album

• 36 tracks across 3 discs, each exactly 60 minutes

• Celebrates marriage to Mayte and artistic independence

• Features three major cover songs

• Kate Bush appears on “My Computer”

• First vinyl release arrived in 2019 as a 6×LP box set

✦ Track Details

3×CD / 3×Cassette – NPG/EMI – 1996

Disc 1 / Cassette 1

Jam of the Year — 6:09

Right Back Here in My Arms — 4:43

Somebody’s Somebody — 4:43

Get Yo Groove On — 6:31

Courtin’ Time — 2:46

Betcha by Golly Wow! — 3:31

We Gets Up — 4:18

White Mansion — 4:47

Damned If I Do — 5:21

I Can’t Make U Love Me — 6:37

Mr. Happy — 4:46

In This Bed I Scream — 5:40

Disc 2 / Cassette 2

Sex in the Summer — 5:57

One Kiss at a Time — 4:41

Soul Sanctuary — 4:41

Emale — 3:38

Curious Child — 2:57

Dreamin’ About U — 3:52

Joint 2 Joint — 7:52

The Holy River — 6:55

Let’s Have a Baby — 4:07

Saviour — 5:48

The Plan — 1:47

Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife — 7:37

Disc 3 / Cassette 3

Slave — 4:51

New World — 3:43

The Human Body — 5:42

Face Down — 3:17

La, La, La Means I Love U — 3:59

Style — 6:40

Sleep Around — 7:42

Da, Da, Da — 5:15

My Computer — 4:37

One of Us — 5:19

The Love We Make — 4:39

Emancipation — 4:12

✦ Reissues & Global Variants

CD (1996)

• Europe, Canada, US (clean), Japan, Taiwan, Bulgaria (unofficial), promos

CD Reissues (2019)

• US, Europe — Digipak

• Japan — Blu‑spec CD2

Cassette (1996)

• US, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines

Vinyl (2019)

• First‑ever vinyl release

• 6×LP purple vinyl box set

• Slipcase with individual jackets

• Digital download voucher included

✦ Production and Context

• Produced, arranged, composed, and performed by 0(+>

• Recorded 1995–1996 at Paisley Park

• Mixed by 0(+> and Kirk Johnson

• Guests: Kate Bush, Mayte, Eric Leeds, Rosie Gaines, Rhonda Smith, Savion Glover

• Samples from Funkadelic, Tower of Power, Ice Cube

• Symbolic use of the “👁” glyph for the pronoun “I”

• Prince described the album as a spiritual and artistic rebirth

✦ Singles Released

Betcha by Golly Wow! — 1996

The Holy River — 1997

Somebody’s Somebody — 1997

✦ Chart Performance

• US Billboard 200 — #11

• UK — #18

• Multiple European Top 20 entries

✦ Discography Sidebar

Chaos and Disorder — 1996

Emancipation — 1996

Crystal Ball — 1998

✦ Prince Era Mini‑Timeline

1995 — Final Warner Bros. releases

1996 — Chaos and Disorder and Girl 6

Nov 1996 — Emancipation released

1997 — The Love Symbol era concludes

✦ Glam Flashback

Emancipation is Prince unbound — joyful, sprawling, and defiantly free. Across three hours, he dances through funk, soul, pop, jazz, and devotion, celebrating love and liberation with the exuberance of an artist finally steering his own destiny. It’s a monument to independence and one of the most personal statements in his catalogue.

✦ Image & Artwork Copyright Notice

All images, photographs, and artwork referenced or displayed in this post remain the property of their respective copyright holders. They are included strictly for historical, educational, and archival purposes under fair‑use principles.

✦ Sources

Prince Vault

Discogs