It might seem like a century ago, but it’s only been five years since Prince released the song “Baltimore.” The song’s lyrics addressed the police killings of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. Shortly after its release, Prince played a concert in Baltimore dubbed the “Rally 4 Peace.” That was a running theme for Prince in May 2015; he also held a “Dance Rally 4 Peace” at Paisley Park.
At the Baltimore concert, he addressed the need for change, saying, “The system is broken. It’s going to take the young people to fix it this time.” Now, that time of fixing seems to be at hand — and serendipitously, a new video for “Baltimore” is out in the world.
At Rolling Stone, Brenna Ehrlich reports that Prince’s estate has released a lyric video for “Baltimore.” The video incorporates documentary footage from the protests that took place in Baltimore in 2015 with images from Prince’s concert there.
It’s not the only new release announced this week. Prince’s official Twitter feed also announced a new recording of the 1987 song “The Cross” by a group of musicians who played with Prince at various points in his career.
Bandmates that span all four decades of Prince's performance and recording career got together virtually for an all-star rendition of "The Cross," which they released today "as a message of hope, love and peace." https://t.co/MuHPEnUuPG Credit: @ProductionsKaj
— Prince (@prince) June 7, 2020
The video opens with a short credit: “Dedicated to Minneapolis.” If you’ve wondered how the bulk of Prince’s artistic legacy would hold up after his death, these two videos provide a solid answer.
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