Prince’s HITnRUN Phase Two Digs Back Into Live-Funk Roots and Mostly Delivers

Prince’s second album of 2015, HITnRUN Phase Two, is the bolder half of a two-part experiment. Where Phase One chased electronic pop, this record digs into the live-band funk that made him a legend. It wants to prove Prince still owns the grooves he helped invent, and it mostly succeeds.

Baltimore Opens the Case

“Baltimore” opens the record with a protest song that moves. The funk is loose, the message is direct, and the chorus lands hard. “Rocknroll Loveaffair” follows with a straightforward guitar strut, a little slight but pleasant. “2 Y. 2 D.” picks the pace back up with a tight synth line, then “Look at Me, Look at U” slips into a slick, mid-tempo come-on that feels effortless.

“Stare” is the first real peak. It’s a slow-burning seduction track with a bassline that locks in and refuses to let go. “Xtraloveable” keeps the heat up with a five-minute jam that feels like a club outtake, all swagger and repetition. “Groovy Potential” stretches past six minutes and earns it, building from a simple riff into a sprawling, joyful workout.

Black Muse and the Home Stretch

“When She Comes” is a quieter, funkier cousin to the classics, with a vocal that floats above the beat. “Screwdriver” is the weakest stretch — a forgettable rocker that goes nowhere fast. “Black Muse” is the centerpiece, a seven-minute epic that layers spoken-word verses over a deep, mournful groove. It’s the most ambitious thing here, and it lands.

“Revelation” brings the tempo down for a gospel-tinged closer, all piano and earnest vocals. Then “Big City” ends the album on a strange note: a six-minute synth-heavy jam that feels more like a bonus track than a finale. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t close the record with the punch “Black Muse” set up.

The sequencing works, though. The first half is hooky and immediate, the middle digs deeper, and the last two tracks let the air out gradually. At 58 minutes, it never drags.

The Verdict

HITnRUN Phase Two is an organic, polished record that knows exactly what it is. It’s not Prince reinventing himself — it’s Prince reminding you he’s still better at this than almost anyone. The grooves are live, the vocals are sharp, and the funk is consistent from front to back.

The flaws are real. “Screwdriver” is filler, “Rocknroll Loveaffair” is thin, and the album never reaches the heights of his 80s peak. But when it works — “Stare,” “Groovy Potential,” “Black Muse” — it works as well as anything he’d released in years.

Key facts:
– Released: 2015
– 12 tracks, 58 minutes total
– “Baltimore” runs 4:33
– “Black Muse” runs 7:21
– “Screwdriver” runs 4:15

It’s a solid, confident set from a musician who had nothing left to prove. The record won’t change your mind about Prince, but it will make you want to dance.

6.3/10.

2015 music · album review · funk · HITnRUN Phase Two · Prince