"S.S.T." is a song by American musician

Prince A prince is a Monarch, 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 title, hereditary, in s ...

which was recorded and released directly after the impact of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. It was officially released as a digital download by 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 ...

on September 3, 2005, and reached number one on the iTunes R&B chart. It was later made available as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any s ...

through commercial outlets. All proceeds from the recording went to hurricane relief. The song's title alludes to

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WA ...

's 1985 song "

The Sweetest Taboo "The Sweetest Taboo" is a song by English band Sade from their second studio album, ''Promise'' (1985). It was released on 12 October 1985 as the album's lead single. While the song peaked at number 31 on the UK Singles Chart, it fared consid ...

", which is namechecked more than once in the lyrics. "S.S.T." also refers to

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies according to the measurement method used, but it is between and below the sea surface. Air ma ...

, which is used to monitor the threat of hurricanes. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of the single is the

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

"Brand New Orleans".

Charts

References

2005 singles Hurricane Katrina disaster relief charity singles Prince (musician) songs Songs written by Prince (musician) NPG Records singles 2005 songs Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) {{2000s-pop-single-stub