The Black Album Songwriting Credits by Prince

Originally scheduled for release in December 1987 as a surprise follow-up to Sign 'O' the Times, Prince's eighteenth studio album was withdrawn just days before its release date when he reportedly had a spiritual epiphany and considered the material morally unsuitable. Despite its official non-existence for years, bootleg copies circulated widely and became some of the most sought-after bootlegs in rock history, with major labels acknowledging its existence only years later. Prince eventually authorized an official release in November 1994 through Warner Bros. to fulfill contractual obligations, crediting it simply to Prince with a plain black cover bearing no text or catalog information. The album's eight tracks blend jazz-funk, dance music, and electro-funk in a darker, more sexually explicit vein than his then-recent work, featuring the extended grooves of 'Le Grind,' 'Bob George,' and '2 Nigs United 4 West Compton.' Rolling Stone noted the irony of the 1994 release: material that once represented Prince's rejected dark side now sounded relatively restrained compared to contemporaries in the era of gangsta rap.