Prince’s HITnRUN Phase One Opens Weak Before Snarling Back

Prince’s 2015 album HITnRUN Phase One is a strange, scattered artifact. Released digitally in September 2015 with almost no warning, it was the first of two albums Prince put out under the HITnRUN banner. The 11-track, 38-minute set was trailed in some quarters as “Prince’s hen party album,” and it opens with a promise of loose, celebratory funk.

It does not fully keep that promise. What it delivers is a record split down the middle: a sluggish first half that drags its feet, followed by a closing stretch where Prince finally sounds like himself. The result is an uneven listen that lands at 53/100 on Metacritic, and that is about right.

Million $ Show and the Slow Open

The album opens with “Million $ Show,” a slick, synth-heavy piece of retro-funk. It is glossy production and a hook that nods backward to Prince’s own catalog rather than forward to anything new. The song works in isolation, but it also signals a problem: the first four tracks are content to coast on vibes rather than momentum.

“Shut This Down” follows, and it is the first real stumble. The track is built on a nagging, repetitive keyboard line that never quite catches fire, and Prince’s vocal feels buried under the mix. It is not bad, exactly, but it is forgettable.

“Ain’t About 2 Stop” keeps the pattern going. The title promises persistence, but the song itself is a mid-tempo shuffle that never builds to anything. There is a decent groove buried in there, and the production has a warm, analog feel that suggests Prince was reaching for something vintage. But the chorus is thin, and the verses feel like they are marking time.

“Like a Mack” is the weakest of the opening quartet. It is a slow, almost drowsy number that leans heavily on a simple bassline and a spoken-sung delivery. The track has a certain lazy charm, but it also has no real hook. Four tracks in, the album has yet to deliver a single moment that feels essential.

This Could B Us and the Turn

Then comes “This Could B Us,” and the record finally shifts. The track is a slow-burning ballad that builds from a sparse, piano-led opening into a fuller arrangement, and it is the first song on the album that sounds like Prince is actually trying. The vocal is tender, the melody is strong, and the production gives the song room to breathe. It is a genuine highlight.

“Fallinlove2nite” is next, and it is the most immediately catchy thing on the record. The track has a bright, bouncy synth line and a chorus that lodges in your head after a single listen. It is pure pop, the kind of song that would have been a radio hit in an earlier era, and it shows what this album could have been if the first half had matched its energy.

X’s Face and Hardrocklover

“X’s Face” is the album’s grittiest moment, and it is the one that critics singled out most often. The track is built on a nasty, distorted bassline and a vocal that finds Prince snarling rather than crooning. It is aggressive, propulsive, and it sounds like nothing else on the record. Where the opening tracks coasted on nostalgia, “X’s Face” pushes forward.

“Hardrocklover” follows, and it is a harder-edged rock hybrid that keeps the momentum going. The track is less immediate than “X’s Face,” but it has a swagger that the first half lacked, and it lands with a satisfying thump.

Mr. Nelson and the Final Run

“Mr. Nelson” is a brief, almost skeletal track that clocks in at just under two and a half minutes. It is a strange little piece, more of an interlude than a full song, built around a simple keyboard figure and a vocal that feels half-improvised. It does not outstay its welcome, and it works as a palate cleanser.

“1000 X’s & O’s” is a slow, romantic number that leans into Prince’s softer side. The track is warm and affectionate, with a melody that feels familiar without being derivative. It is not a standout, but it is a solid addition to the album’s better half.

The final track, “June,” is the real surprise. It is a stripped-back, almost acoustic number that finds Prince reflecting rather than performing. The vocal is intimate, the arrangement is minimal, and the song feels like a genuine farewell rather than a closing statement. It is a quiet, lovely way to end the record.

The Producer Question

A word on producer Joshua Welton, who handled much of the album’s production. The record’s sound is clean and polished, with a glossy finish that suits the retro aesthetic Prince was reaching for. But it also feels safe. The first half of the album is so slick that it loses any sense of danger, and Welton’s work does not do much to rescue the weaker material.

The back half is where the production shines, particularly on “X’s Face,” where the distorted bass and tight drumming give the track a live, urgent feel. Welton deserves credit for that, but he also has to own the record’s flat spots. The album’s unevenness is not entirely his fault, but it is his fingerprints all over the first half.

The Track List

The Verdict

Prince parties like it’s 1999 on his latest album. Nearly everything about HITnRUN Phase One evokes earlier parts of The Purple One’s career — or vintage moments in music itself. That is the album’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness. When the nostalgia lands, as it does on “Fallinlove2nite” and “X’s Face,” the record feels alive. When it does not, as on the first four tracks, it feels like a tribute act covering a legend who is still in the room.

The album’s best moments are its most direct. “X’s Face” is a deliciously gritty standout, and “This Could B Us” and “June” show a tenderness that the record’s glossy production too often smothers. But the first half is a mediocrity, and it drags the whole project down. HITnRUN Phase One is not a failure, but it is a reminder that even Prince could not coast on reputation alone.

Just as the jury threaten to return an “off with his head” verdict on producer Joshua Welton, Prince redeems himself with three absolute belters. That redemption is real, but it comes too late to save the album as a whole. HITnRUN Phase One is a record of two halves, and the good half is not good enough to outweigh the bad.

The score is 53 out of 100.

2015 album · album review · funk · HITnRUN Phase One · pop · Prince