Prince is speaking out about his new music, blasting Madonna and his former record label in the process.
Prince slams Madonna for taking all of the attention from their former record label, Warner Bros. Records. “It was always about Madonna,” he claims to Billboard, explaining why he left Warner Bros. in 1999. “She was getting paid, but at the same time we were selling more records and selling out concerts on multiple nights.”
“Were” is really the slam’s key word, as Madonna has now sold roughly $300 million records worldwide to Prince’s $100 million. Madonna has also had hits in the 21st century, so Prince’s comments sound a bit like dated whining.
The two artists have a long-time feud that extends beyond Prince’s recent remark. Prince and Madonna briefly dated in the 1980s, and apparently it didn’t go well.
“[He] was a little troll,” she said during a 1994 interview, detailing one of their first dates. “He was just sipping tea, very daintily. I have this theory about people who don’t eat. They annoy me.”
Now, Prince continues to blame the Material Girl for the fizzle of his career in the 1990s, claiming she got most of the record label’s energy and superior marketing.
The comments follow on the heels of a leaked new Prince song, which made rounds on the internet earlier this week. The track, called “Screwdriver, ” was allegedly posted by his new background band, 3rdEyeGirl. Yet, Prince insists he knew nothing about the song. Perhaps the notoriously anti-social media artist is finally learning how to market in the digital age–where an accidental leak is just another way to strum up publicity.
Prince is also apparently “done” with labels entirely, scoffing “I don’t do albums anymore — I don’t have a deal. I do songs.”
When questioned about when fans could expect new music, Prince pulls a Radiohead.”If my fans want this, they will tell me what to do and how much they want to pay” Prince says.
Madonna, sitting pretty in the middle of her $120 million Live Nation contract, has yet to comment. No word on how much she thinks a new Prince song would be worth.
