Prince (November 13, 2003) – “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” NPG Music Club Premiere

NPG MUSIC CLUB

Prince premiered “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” through the NPG Music Club on November 13, 2003, making the song available to listeners months before its eventual appearance on Musicology. The streamed version ran 3:47 and lacked the Italian spoken-word passage heard after the song on the later album release, preserving an earlier presentation of a recording Prince had made during the summer of 2002.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURE	DETAILS
Artist:	Prince
Title:	What Do U Want Me 2 Do?
First Released:	November 13, 2003
Original Release Platform:	NPG Music Club
Location Within NPG Music Club:	Glam Slam VIP room
Original Stream Length:	3:47
Later Album:	Musicology
Musicology Position:	Track 7
Album Version Length:	4:14
Musicology Release:	March 27, 2004
Writer:	Prince
Producer:	Prince
Recording Period:	Summer 2002
Recording Location:	Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota – believed
Additional Voice:	Ornella Bonaccorsi – Italian spoken word
Known Live Performances:	None documented in the supplied source
Format:	Online Audio Premiere / Song Chronicle
Principal Theme:	Prince using the NPG Music Club to premiere a recording months before incorporating it into Musicology

ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL

WHAT DO U WANT ME 2 DO?

INTRODUCTION

NOVEMBER 13, 2003	AN EARLY DIGITAL RELEASE
“What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” first reached listeners through Prince’s NPG Music Club on November 13, 2003.	This initial appearance preceded the song’s inclusion on Musicology by several months, making the NPG Music Club stream the first documented release of the track.

NPG MUSIC CLUB

PRINCE’S ONLINE PLATFORM	GLAM SLAM VIP
Prince used the NPG Music Club to place recordings directly before listeners outside the conventional physical-album release schedule.	“What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” was streamed through the site’s Glam Slam VIP room.

THE FIRST VERSION

3:47	ORIGINAL STUDIO PRESENTATION
The NPG Music Club stream ran for 3 minutes 47 seconds.	The supplied documentation describes it as the original studio version without the Italian spoken segue that follows the track on Musicology.

BEFORE MUSICOLOGY

NOVEMBER 13, 2003	MARCH 27, 2004
The song received its first release through the NPG Music Club on November 13, 2003.	The track subsequently appeared on Musicology when that album was released on March 27, 2004.

FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS EARLIER

ONLINE FIRST	ALBUM LATER
The initial NPG Music Club stream arrived approximately four and a half months before the Musicology release.	This chronology makes “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” another useful example of Prince allowing online audiences to encounter work before its eventual home on a conventional album.

THE CHOCOLATE INVASION

A DIFFERENT PROJECT	PLANS CHANGED
The NPG Music Club premiere occurred when a planned seven-CD configuration of The Chocolate Invasion had been put on hold indefinitely.	“What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” consequently emerged online during a period in which Prince’s plans for distributing and grouping new recordings were continuing to change.

SUMMER 2002

RECORDING PERIOD	BEFORE THE STREAM
The supplied recording chronology places “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” in the summer of 2002.	The song therefore existed for more than a year before its November 2003 NPG Music Club premiere.

PAISLEY PARK STUDIOS

CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA	REPORTED AS THE LIKELY STUDIO
Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen is listed as the likely recording location.	The source itself treats the studio identification as assumed, so it should remain qualified rather than presented as definitively established.

RECORDING CHRONOLOGY

DATE / PERIOD	EVENT
Summer 2002	Song recorded; Paisley Park Studios listed as the likely location
November 13, 2003	First released through the NPG Music Club
March 27, 2004	Released as part of Musicology

PRINCE

WRITER	PRODUCER
Prince wrote “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?”.	Prince also produced the recording.

THE RECORDING PERSONNEL

PRINCE	ADDITIONAL VOICE
Prince is credited with all vocals and instruments except where otherwise noted.	Ornella Bonaccorsi is credited with the Italian spoken-word contribution associated with the later presentation of the track.

ORNELLA BONACCORSI

ITALIAN SPOKEN WORD	THE MUSICOLOGY VERSION
Ornella Bonaccorsi contributes Italian spoken word.	This material distinguishes the later album presentation from the shorter version originally streamed through the NPG Music Club.

TWO RELEASED PRESENTATIONS

NPG MUSIC CLUB	MUSICOLOGY
3:47 November 13, 2003 Original studio version No Italian spoken segue following the song	4:14 March 27, 2004 Album version Italian spoken material included in the album presentation

MUSICOLOGY

PRINCE’S 28TH STUDIO ALBUM	TRACK SEVEN
“What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” subsequently became part of Prince’s Musicology album.	The song appears as Track 7 in the album sequence.

FROM ONLINE TRACK TO ALBUM CUT

2003	2004
In November 2003, listeners encountered the song as a standalone NPG Music Club stream.	By March 2004, it had been incorporated into the larger sequence of Musicology.

A DIFFERENT LISTENING CONTEXT

STANDALONE STREAM	ALBUM SEQUENCE
The original presentation required no surrounding album to provide context.	Its later position on Musicology placed the song between other pieces selected for Prince’s new studio album.

NO DOCUMENTED LIVE PERFORMANCE

STUDIO RECORDING	LIVE ARCHIVE
The supplied song documentation does not identify a Prince live performance of “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?”.	The track is therefore best documented here through its studio, streaming and album history rather than through an unsupported concert chronology.

WHY NOVEMBER 13 MATTERS

FIRST RELEASE	NOT THE ALBUM RELEASE
November 13, 2003 is the first documented public release date for “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?”.	Using only the later Musicology date would overlook the song’s earlier life within Prince’s online NPG Music Club.

PRINCE & DIRECT DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

NPG MUSIC CLUB	THE LISTENER
The release demonstrates Prince using his own online environment to circulate music independently of the normal album timetable.	For members at the time, “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” was new Prince music rather than a preview identified simply as Track 7 of a future album.

GLAM SLAM VIP

THE ONLINE ROOM	A DIGITAL PREMIERE
The track appeared specifically in the NPG Music Club’s Glam Slam VIP area.	That detail belongs in the archive because it identifies not merely the website but the particular online environment in which listeners first encountered the song.

VERSION DIFFERENCES

3:47 STREAM	4:14 ALBUM VERSION
The shorter stream represents the original studio presentation documented by the NPG Music Club release.	The longer Musicology version incorporates the additional spoken material following the song.

A SONG WITH TWO RELEASE HISTORIES

DIGITAL HISTORY	PHYSICAL / ALBUM HISTORY
The NPG Music Club establishes the song’s first-release chronology in November 2003.	Musicology subsequently gave the recording a permanent place within Prince’s studio-album catalogue in March 2004.

WHAT THE RELEASE DOCUMENTS

NOVEMBER 2003	MARCH 2004
Prince “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” NPG Music Club Glam Slam VIP 3:47 stream First release Original studio presentation	Musicology Track 7 4:14 album presentation Prince as writer and producer Italian spoken word by Ornella Bonaccorsi

CONTEXT AND NOTES

HISTORICAL CONTEXT	ARCHIVAL SIGNIFICANCE
“What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” was first released through the NPG Music Club on November 13, 2003, several months before its later appearance on Musicology.	The chronology is important because documenting only the album would erase the recording’s earlier public life as an online Prince release.
The track is documented as having been recorded in summer 2002, with Paisley Park Studios listed as the likely rather than definitively established location.	That qualification should remain intact. The recording period is documented, while the precise studio location is not presented by the supplied source as certain.
The NPG Music Club version runs 3:47 and does not include the Italian spoken segue following the song. The Musicology presentation runs 4:14.	These differing durations help distinguish the initial online version from the later album presentation.
No live performance by Prince is documented in the supplied song information.	No concert date or speculative live version has therefore been added to the Chronicle.

CONCLUSION

WHAT DO U WANT ME 2 DO?	ONLINE BEFORE MUSICOLOGY
On November 13, 2003, “What Do U Want Me 2 Do?” belonged to the NPG Music Club rather than to Musicology. Listeners encountered a 3:47 studio version through Glam Slam VIP, continuing Prince’s practice of allowing new music to exist online outside the conventional album-release cycle.	Four and a half months later, the song became Track 7 of Musicology in a longer presentation incorporating the Italian spoken material. Preserving both dates restores the full release history: not simply a 2004 album track, but a Prince recording whose public life had already begun online in November 2003.

SOURCES / COPYRIGHT & ARCHIVAL USE

SOURCES

Prince Vault

NPG Music Club documentation

November 13, 2003

Musicology original release documentation

March 27, 2004

Contemporary Prince recording documentation

COPYRIGHT & ARCHIVAL USE

All photographs, recordings, record artwork, digital archive material and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.