Watch Kendrick Lamar Rap With Prince on ‘What’s My Name’
When the Purple One asks you to collaborate, you comply. As part of Tuesday’s Yahoo livestream special, in celebration of his two new studio albums, Prince teamed with rapper Kendrick Lamar for a funky take on “What’s My Name,” a rare track from Prince‘s 1998 box set, Crystal Ball. Check out Lamar’s reliably strong verse above, which finds the king of modern hip-hop spitting about “speaking to God” over staccato funk riffs and tumbling drum fills.
On Tuesday, Prince released two new LPs via Warner Bros. Art Official Age, produced, arranged, composed and performed with singer-songwriter Joshua Welton, is a solo album the Artist himself dubbed “classic Prince.” Plectrumelectrum is a collaboration with 3rdEyeGirl, which he labeled a “classic band album” and “an electrifying funk-rock statement.”
The livestream event, hosted on Yahoo’s Live Nation Channel, explored the history of Prince’s Minnesota estate-studio, Paisley Park, and featured interviews with some of the R&B-funk icon’s recent musical collaborators. Back in August, when Prince’s label revealed details of his new albums, a press release promised that “a series of very special events” would take place around the globe, but no additional events have been announced.
Prince was scheduled to participate in a Facebook fan Q&A on Tuesday. However, after three hours, he only answered one question, which asked the musician to “address the importance of ALL music being tuned to 432hz sound frequencies.” (He responded with this link.)