''The Rainbow Children'' is the twenty-fourth

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 recording artist

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 ...

. It was released on November 20, 2001, 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 Redline Entertainment. It was also released through Prince's website earlier in the year. It is the first album released outside of the

NPG Music Club NPG Music Club was the official website for Prince from 2001 to 2006, and was named after Prince's New Power Generation band. Based on being one of the first mainstream artists to use the internet as an independent music distribution hub, Prince won ...

to be released under the name of Prince again, as he had reverted to his previous stage name from his symbolic moniker a year earlier. It was released on double vinyl with a glossy color booklet, and was not available on vinyl again until the Legacy release in 2020. This

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

illustrates common Prince themes of

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

and

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, as well as love and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, through the fictitious story of a

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

toward a

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

-inspired utopian society. The album seems to allude to his recent conversion to the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

denomination, but Egyptian monotheism and

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

concepts such as the Akashic records are used as

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

s as well.

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

ier than any of his previous efforts, it was met with mixed reactions. Some fans saw the album as a musical and spiritual evolution for Prince. ''The Rainbow Children'' was released through the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

Redline Entertainment. At Prince's decision, it received minimal promotion, as he wanted to focus more on the music and avoid commercialism. The album sold 158,000 copies in US stores as of summer 2007, with an estimated 560,000 copies worldwide. The album also had a dedicated promotional website that offered the tracks "She Loves Me 4 Me" and "Mellow" as free

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

downloads. The album cover features Cbabi Bayoc's "The Reine Keis Quintet". Prince favored the painting of a women's band, as he was backed by an all-female ensemble.

Track listing

All songs written and produced by

. Additional notes: *Tracks 15–21 are all hidden tracks and are all silent with the exception of track 21, which gradually fades in to the repetition of the word "one" being sung.

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, electric guitars, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Yamaha Motif 6,

Korg Trident The Korg Trident is a polyphonic multi-section synthesizer released by Korg in 1980, combining three distinct synthesizers within a single instrument: a polyphonic section with two VCOs, alongside dedicated String and Brass sections. The polyphonic ...

, bass guitar, drums, electronic percussion *

Najee Jerome Najee Rasheed (born November 4, 1957, New York City), known professionally as Najee, is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist. Early life Najee was born in the lower west side of Manhattan in New York City and lived his teenage years ...

– Soprano saxophone, flute *John Blackwell – drums, cowbell and Roland V-Drums (1–9, 11–14) *

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bass guitar, bassist and baritone singer, with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the si ...

– bass guitar (4, 14)

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow Children, The 2001 albums Prince (musician) albums Albums produced by Prince (musician) NPG Records albums 2000s concept albums Jazz fusion albums by American artists

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

References

Further reading

External links