NPG Records and Paisley Park Enterprises, in partnership with Legacy Recordings, have announced the tenth anniversary of Prince’s HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two. Marking a significant milestone, both albums will be reissued on CD and pressed to vinyl for the very first time, giving fans a chance to experience the two-part project in physical form for the first time since its original release in 2015.
Prince first coined the term “Hit n Run” to describe his spontaneous pop-up concerts, a concept he carried through much of his career. In the summer of 2015, he extended that idea to the recording studio, teasing an album that promised to be “experimental, weird, and super funky.”
HITnRUN Phase One landed on September 7, 2015, as Prince’s 38th studio album. Featuring entirely new material, it was primarily recorded over the previous two years and marked Prince’s first collaboration with a co-producer, Joshua Welton. Contributions from ThirdEyeGirl, Rita Ora, Judith Hill, Lianne La Havas, and Curly Fryz helped shape the album’s eclectic sound. The record reached No. 7 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 70 on the Billboard 200. Tracks included Million $ Show, Shut This Down, Ain’t About 2 Stop, and Hardrocklover, showcasing Prince’s signature mix of funk, pop, and R&B.
Critical reception for Phase One was mixed, with Metacritic assigning a score of 53 based on 16 reviews. While some praised its adventurousness, others found the experimentation uneven.
Just three months later, Prince released HITnRUN Phase Two on December 12, 2015, the 39th and final studio album of his lifetime. Credited as “produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince & The New Power Generation,” the album arrived during a tense cultural moment. Its opening track, Baltimore, directly addressed the death of Freddie Gray, reflecting Prince’s engagement with pressing social issues.
The album blended new material with previously recorded tracks, including Black Muse, originally tracked in 2010, and XTRALOVEABLE, released as a single in 2011. Featuring the NPG Hornz-a five-saxophone, four-trumpet, two-trombone brass section-the record offered a more organic and soulful sound than the contemporary stylings of Prince’s preceding album, Art Official Age.
Phase Two received generally positive reviews. It earned a Metacritic score of 63, with critics praising its return to classic funk and its confident, engaging compositions. Rolling Stone described it as Prince’s “most consistently engaging album in years,” while Paste highlighted its euphoric, light-hearted grooves.
Commercially, Phase Two debuted at No. 23 on the US Top R&B Albums chart and climbed to No. 3 following Prince’s death in April 2016. The album ultimately reached No. 40 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 57,000 copies by late 2016.
HITnRUN Phase One
Million $ Show
Shut This Down
Ain’t About 2 Stop
Like A Mack
This Could B Us
Fallinlove2nite
X’s Face
Hardrocklover
Mr. Nelson
1000 X’s & O’s
June
HITnRUN Phase Two
Baltimore
Rocknroll Loveaffair
2 Y. 2 D.
Look At Me, Look At U
Stare
Xtralovable
Groovy Potential
When She Comes
Screwdriver
Black Muse
Revelation
Big City Background
Vinyl editions will now be available for the first time and CDs returning to stores.
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