In 1984, Prince released one of the highlights of his illustrious career in the form of Purple Rain. It's taken three decades, but thankfully Radio Riddler and a few special guests decided to rework those classic tracks into reggae tunes on the perfectly titled Purple Reggae.
The duo, which consists of Fun Lovin' Criminals bandmates Brian "Fast" Leiser and Frank Benbini, worked on their debut LP for five years but were able to finish it in time for the release to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain this past June. Purple Reggae is a track-for-track take on the Prince masterpiece, with guests like Citizen Cope, UB40's Ali Campbell, The Slits' Hollie Cook, Deborah Bonham and Beverly Knight. Most notably, Sinead O' Connor, who shot to the top of the pop charts with her rendition of the Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U," joined Radio Riddler for the seventh track "I Would Die 4 U." This actually isn't the group's first tribute effort either. They also put out an EP titled Marvin Reggae (another superb title) with five of the soul singer's hits.
Purple Rain made it all the way to number one on Billboard's album charts and the Recording Industry Association of America has certified the album as having gone platinum 13 times over. It's also sold more than 20 million copies, making it one of the best-selling records of all time. "There are also constant reminders of Sly Stone in the ferocious bass lines and the hot, dance-conscious mix," Kurt Loder wrote for Rolling Stone about the album. "But like Jimi and Sly, Prince writes his own rules. Some of his effects are singularly striking - note that eerie, atonal synthesizer touches that creep in at the end of 'The Beautiful Ones' and the otherworldly backward-vocal montage in the frankly salacious 'Darling Nikki' - and his vocals continue to be among the most adventurous and accomplished on the current scene."
Check out Radio Riddler's cut of "Purple Rain" with Ali Campbell below.
