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

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

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. The ...

. Released on March 21, 2006 (3/21) by

NPG Records NPG Records is a record label that was owned by Prince (musician), 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. ...

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

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

, the album reinforced Prince's big comeback after the critical success of ''

Musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

'' (2004). The only Prince album ever to debut atop the ''Billboard'' 200 during his lifetime, with over 180,000 copies sold in its first week, it knocked the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...

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

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

'' in 1989, eventually being certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

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", was released in the United States on December 13, 2005; the second single, " Black Sweat", was released on February 2, 2006. The album title refers to Prince's rental home at 3121 Antelo Rd, Los Angeles. 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 season ...

. 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. 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

All tracks are written and produced by

Personnel

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

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), known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians of her generation; she is known for skills as a multi-instrumental ...

(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 doctorat ...

– 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 ...

(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, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and pra ...

: 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 exper ...

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

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

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