''3121'' (pronounced "thirty-one twenty-one") is the thirty-first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. It was released on March 21, 2006 (or, on 3/21). ''3121'' was released by

NPG Records NPG Records is a record label that was owned by Prince and run by Trevor Guy. "NPG" is short for New Power Generation. It was founded to release his music after Paisley Park Records was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Though the 1994 com ...

and distributed, under a "one-album deal", by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. ''3121'' reinforced Prince's big comeback after the critical success of ''

Musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

'' (2004). It is the only Prince album ever to debut at number one (during his lifetime) on the ''Billboard'' 200, with over 180,000 copies sold in its first week. It knocked the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, th ...

'' off the top spot, and became Prince's first number one album since ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' in 1989. Eventually it was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Album information

The album's first single, "

Te Amo Corazón "Te Amo Corazón" is a song by Prince, released as the first single from his 2006 album, '' 3121''. It was officially released by the NPG Music Club on December 13, 2005. It failed to chart in the US; however, it was a top 25 hit in multiple Europ ...

", was released in the United States on December 13, 2005; the second single, "

Black Sweat "Black Sweat" is a song by Prince that was released as the second single from his 2006 album ''3121''. The music video to accompany the single was released on February 2, 2006. At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best R&B Song ...

", was released on February 2, 2006. The record is one of the first to utilize the

autotune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

effect. The album title refers to Prince's rental home at 3121 Antelo Rd, Los Angeles.

ref name="Thorne2012"> Later homes rented by Prince were colloquially referred to as "3121", including a home owned by professional basketball player

Carlos Boozer Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last seas ...

. Album sessions started in November 2004 with the recording of the song "3121" at Paisley Park with

Michael Bland Michael Bland (born March 14, 1969) is an American musician best known as a drummer for Prince starting in 1989. He was with Prince during The New Power Generation era and played with him live and on albums for seven years. From 1995 to 1997, B ...

and

Sonny T Sonny T. (born Sonny Thompson) is an American bass player. He was a member of The New Power Generation, Prince's recording and stage band, from 1991–1996. Sonny T. was a member of the Minneapolis bands Back to Black and The Lewis Connection ...

. A limited number of albums included "purple tickets," whose finders were flown in from Europe, Asia, Mexico and the US to attend a semi-private performance (along with a long list of celebrities) at Prince's home in Los Angeles. Tickets for the Earth tour in 2007 in London's O2 arena were priced at £31.21, echoing the title of this album.

Track listing

Personnel

(on "3121"), Cora Coleman Dunham (on "Te Amo Corazón," "Get On the Boat") – drums *

(on "3121"), Joshua Dunham (on "Te Amo Corazón," "Get On the Boat") – bass *

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...

Candy Dulfer Candy Dulfer (born 19 September 1969) is a Dutch jazz and pop saxophonist. She is the daughter of jazz saxophonist Hans Dulfer. She began playing at age six and founded her band Funky Stuff when she was fourteen. Her debut album ''Saxuality'' ( ...

, Greg Boyer and Ray – horn section *Herbert Urena, Ricky Salas (on "Te Amo Corazón"),

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

(on "Get On the Boat") – percussion *

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorate ...

– string arrangements *

The New Power Generation The New Power Generation, also known as The NPG, was the backing band of musician Prince from 1990 to 2013. They were replaced by 3rdeyegirl as his backing band in 2013. In 2015, the New Power Generation reunited as Prince's backing band for h ...

(shouts), Támar (and co-lead on "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed") – additional and backing vocals *Prince – all other instruments and voices Technical * Produced by Prince *

Photo A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...

: Afshin Shahidi *

Designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

: Sam Jennings * Recorded at

Paisley Park Studios Paisley may refer to: *Paisley (design), an ornamental Persian pattern or motif commonly identified with the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, in west Scotland People * Paisley (name), including a list of people with the name *Lord Paisley, in the ...

and 3121 *

Engineered Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specializ ...

by Ian Boxill, L. Stu Young * Assisted by Lisa Chamblee Hampton *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''3121'' countdown and contest details
* {{DEFAULTSORT:3121 (Album) 2006 albums Prince (musician) albums Albums produced by Prince (musician) NPG Records albums Universal Records albums