- 12 minutes ago
Prince wasn’t just a hitmaker for himself — he was a behind-the-scenes songwriting machine too. Join us as we celebrate the unforgettable tracks that carried the Purple One’s creative fingerprints, even when another artist took center stage. From silky R&B ballads and funk anthems to pop smashes and deep cuts, these songs prove his genius reached far beyond his own catalog. Which one surprised you most?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most memorable tracks that carry the Purple
00:11One's creative fingerprints.
00:19Number 30, You, Paula Abdul.
00:27Long before this flirtatious album cut landed on Spellbound, its history already stretched back more than a decade.
00:34Prince first recorded You with the Rebels in 1979.
00:37Years later, Paula Abdul released the re-recorded song on her second album.
00:41All I want is you, you, give me a fever 110, you know.
00:48Credited as Paisley Park, he composed, produced, and arranged the track, while V. Jeffrey Smith and Peter Lord handled programming
00:55and keyboards.
00:56The finish number is a fizzy, teasing funk-pop workout whose coy spoken break, clipped phrasing, and text-message-style
01:02spelling make its authorship feel obvious in hindsight.
01:05True genius. I was very fortunate and blessed and humbled that he wrote a song for me, and that I
01:12got to work with him.
01:14It remains a delightful deep cut, and proof that even an old Prince idea could arrive sounding tailor-made for
01:21another pop star.
01:22Number 29, Giving Em What They Love, Janelle Monae featuring Prince.
01:27I am sharper than a razor, eyes made of lasers, bolder.
01:31A snarling guitar riff and two commanding voices make this collaboration feel less like a guest spot than a shared
01:38creative exchange.
01:39Released on Janelle Monae's 2013 album, The Electric Lady, Prince contributes co-lead vocals, guitar, bass, and lyrics.
01:47Tell your picture and your picture, I'ma give a gift what you love.
01:54Monae later stressed that she produced him and directed his performance, a delicious reversal of the usual legend and protege
02:01dynamics.
02:01The arrangement piles hard funk, theatrical strings, horns, and vocal howls into a swaggering showcase that reflects the album's grand
02:10sound.
02:18Even on a record crowded with famous guests, this pairing stands out because neither artist shrinks to accommodate the other.
02:25Instead, the track plays like a mutual dare.
02:31Prince and Janelle Monae make one electrifying power pairing, but we have another in mind.
02:36You and Ms. Mojo's 24-7 live stream.
02:39Scan the QR code on screen to join us live for non-stop pop culture fun.
02:43Some of the lips are glass on the ceiling, all the girls showin' love while the boys be catchin' fillin'.
02:48Number 28, Born to Breed, Moni Love.
02:51Come on, look at you, look at you smile.
02:58A clipped rap cadence, disco strings, and a raga-flavored refrain turn a parenting manifesto into a club record.
03:05Moni Love co-wrote the 1993 single with Prince and Levi Cesar Jr., while Prince produced it, played nearly every
03:12instrument, and handled most of the recording.
03:19Their partnership grew from an exchange.
03:21She wrote raps for Carmen Electra's album, and he supplied material for her record.
03:25The acronym in the song's title expands to build relationships where education and enlightenment dominate, framing lyrics about motherhood, schooling,
03:34and parental responsibility.
03:41It's serious ideas still moved bodies, reaching number one on Billboard's U.S. Dance Music Slash Club Play Singles chart,
03:48and number seven on its Hot Rap Songs chart.
03:51Prince built the engine.
03:52Love decisively steered the message.
03:55You gotta be strong, you gotta be strong, oh, you gotta be horrible.
04:01Number 27, If I Love You Tonight, Misha Paris.
04:08A London encounter eventually sent one of British soul's richest voices to Paisley Park.
04:13Misha Paris recalled that Prince spotted her in the crowd during one of his shows, handed her a microphone, and
04:18later sent her four songs.
04:20If I Love You Tonight.
04:25One became this slow-burning confession on her 1990 album Contribution.
04:30Its history reached back to 1979, when he wrote an early version for Gail Chapman during the Rebel Sessions before
04:36re-recording it himself in 1987.
04:39With co-producers Andres Levine and Camuscelli, Paris rebuilt the composition as plush contemporary R&B, her stellar vocals balancing
04:47desire with caution.
04:49The single reached number 43 in Britain.
04:56Number 26, The Sex of It, Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
05:06Slinky horns, rubbery bass, and inimitable swagger make this collaboration sound custom-built for its flamboyant frontman.
05:14Prince recorded the basic track at Paisley Park in July 1987.
05:17After meeting August Darnell in Europe and promising him a song, he sent over the recording in late 1989.
05:24Darnell added the lead, while Prince supplied most of the backing track alongside contributions from Sheila E., Levi Cesar Jr.,
05:31Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, and Deanne Sorrell.
05:39Released in 1990, the single reached number 29 in Britain and number 19 on Billboard's Dance Chart.
05:45Darnell later said its provocative title drew resistance from radio stations, complicating its mainstream prospects.
05:57Number 25, Superhero, Earth, Wind, and Fire.
06:01I'ma be a superhero, but you must understand.
06:08Built on a foundation of funk grooves and layered harmonies, this collaboration represents a seamless exchange between generations.
06:14Prince recorded the basic track at Paisley Park in September 1992, contributing keyboards, drum programming, background vocals, and the rhythm
06:23arrangement.
06:24Earth, Wind, and Fire then expanded the recording with lead vocals from Maurice White and Philip Bailey,
06:29Verdeen White's bass, and Michael Thompson's guitar.
06:31Don't tell me that I am not worthy.
06:35I've been 400 years old, but time...
06:38Maurice White produced their version and contributed its horn arrangement alongside Bill Myers for the band's 1993 album Millennium.
06:45The new power generation featuring the Steeles re-recorded it for Blank Man.
06:49Be a superhero, but I understand.
06:53It appears to be Prince's only released musical contribution to Earth, Wind, and Fire's catalog,
06:59and a rare meeting between two funk institutions.
07:03Number 24, 100 miles an hour, Maserati.
07:06There's a very deal that says what's up on the tide.
07:12An oversized opening flourish gives way to a muscular, fast-moving rhythm that makes this funk workout feel engineered for
07:19momentum.
07:20Prince tracked the song at his Flying Cloud Drive warehouse in June 1984,
07:24before Sir Casey Terry recorded the lead vocal the following April.
07:28A hundred miles an hour, baby.
07:30That's what it's all about.
07:32I need a love that slow me down.
07:34Prince wrote the song, played every instrument, and sang background vocals.
07:39And several Maserati members added backing vocals.
07:42Prince produced the track, while Brown Mark produced the vocal sessions.
07:45And the original release credited Brown Mark alone as producer.
07:53The song reached number 19 on Billboard's Black Singles chart and number 12 on the dance chart.
07:59Prince's own vocal version finally received an official release on 2019's Originals.
08:17Urgent vocals and cinematic strings give this track a dramatic, emotionally charged place within the Minneapolis sound.
08:23Prince recorded the basic track at his Flying Cloud Drive warehouse in August 1984,
08:28playing every instrument before St. Paul Peterson and Susanna Melvoin overdubbed their vocals.
08:37Claire Fisher's orchestration made it the first released Prince-related recording to feature strings arranged by Fisher.
08:44Although the original release credited Peterson and Melvoin as writers,
08:48later documentation identifies Prince as the song's author,
08:51while the production credits named David Zee and the Family.
09:01The song introduced the project's blend of sleek funk, theatrical romance, and orchestral sweep.
09:07Its scale makes the family sound fully formed from the opening note.
09:18Number 22, The Dance Electric, Andre Simone.
09:27A warning about global collapse became a reunion between two musicians who had grown up together.
09:33After leaving Prince's band and establishing his own solo career,
09:36Andre Simone reconnected creatively with his old friend for this 1985 single,
09:41their only studio collaboration from that chapter of his career.
09:51Prince supplied the composition and its relentless instrumental foundation,
09:55while Simone added the commanding lead vocal and shared the production credit.
09:59Rather than offering simple escapism,
10:01the track drives its club-ready pulse toward an urgent plea for connection before time runs out.
10:11Prince's original recording finally surfaced on Purple Rain Deluxe in 2017,
10:15but Simone's release captures two former musical partners
10:19reconnecting for one striking studio collaboration.
10:26Number 21, Sex Shooter, Apollonia 6.
10:36One provocative holdover survived a wholesale reinvention of Prince's female trio project.
10:41He had already begun a second Vanity 6 album,
10:44but after Vanity departed,
10:46much of that material was abandoned
10:48while Apollonia joined Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonzy in the renamed group.
10:56This song became the rare bridge between those two lineups,
11:00appearing on Apollonia 6's only album and in the film Purple Rain.
11:03Its cool electronic pulse and deliberately exaggerated seduction
11:07suit a performance built around image as much as melody.
11:10But the real fascination lies in its recycled identity.
11:14Come on, kiss the gun.
11:18Guaranteed for fun.
11:19Prince transformed an earlier Vanity 6 concept into Apollonia 6's debut single.
11:24His own recording was released on Originals in 2019.
11:33Number 20, Tip of My Tongue, L. DeBarge.
11:36Hmm, how do I love thee?
11:38It don't tip my tongue.
11:40This artist did not simply inherit a Prince composition.
11:43He reshaped it into a recording that belonged unmistakably to his own album.
11:48Prince and Kirk Johnson wrote the song,
11:50but DeBarge's musicians rebuilt it completely,
11:53leaving no Prince performance on 1992's In the Storm.
11:56I want you, baby.
12:00I want to move my tongue.
12:01DeBarge and Maurice White co-produced the album version,
12:04turning authorship into a starting point rather than a set of instructions.
12:08Prince's contribution lies in the writing rather than an uncredited performance on the released master.
12:13His original recording finally appeared on the 2023 Diamonds and Pearls expansion.
12:36In his two short 57 years on this earthly plane,
12:40the man-born Prince Rogers Nelson wrote literally thousands of songs.
12:45Many of them were recorded by him first before being passed off to others.
12:48And for others, the inverse was true.
12:51This is one of the latter cases.
12:52Actress whom I love something
12:57Can't even remember her first name
12:59Prince's 1999 album The Vault, Old Friends For Sale,
13:03was faithful to its name in the sense that it contained songs
13:05that had been written as long as 15 years prior to its release.
13:09Some eight years before The Vault,
13:11iconic British bluesman Joe Cocker recorded a version of its dusky,
13:14sultry, deep-cut Five Women for its 1991 album Night Calls.
13:18Just fall in love all over
13:21I guess with you I'll never win
13:25Number 18, Jerk Out, The Time
13:28I got a billboard on Friday night
13:31I couldn't find a damn thing to do
13:32So I pulled out a suit
13:34About the same color as my BMW
13:36Like we mentioned earlier,
13:38Prince has an extensive back catalog that runs real deep.
13:41Case in point,
13:42Jerk Out, which became The Time's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100,
13:45was originally recorded by Prince himself in 1981.
13:49Jerk Out
13:56Intended for The Time's 1982 album What Time Is It?
14:00The song changed hands several times over the course of the decade
14:02before ultimately being reworked and re-recorded by The Time for their 1990 album Pandemonium.
14:07If you heard this song on the radio,
14:09you couldn't be blamed for thinking that it was by Prince himself,
14:13given its irresistible groove, playful rapping, and red-hot guitar theatrics.
14:17The Time also turned another Prince co-write, Jungle Love,
14:21into one of their most swaggering signature hits.
14:30Number 17, You're My Love, Kenny Rogers
14:40Written by Prince under the hilarious, inexplicable pseudonym Joey Coco,
14:45You're My Love demonstrates his musical versatility,
14:48a far cry from the electric funk-pop fusion of the time.
14:51This mushy-gushy devotional finds Prince showing off his little-scene-sensitive side.
15:03Although Prince doesn't actually play any instruments on the Rogers recording,
15:07the song does feature a notable non-Prince guest appearance.
15:10That would be Elle DeBarge, lead singer of the family outfit DeBarge,
15:14who contributes backing vocals.
15:21A 2021 interview with DeBarge revealed that Rogers,
15:25a self-proclaimed huge Prince fan,
15:27had asked him for a song and was gifted with You're My Love as a result.
15:31You're my love and I love when you're around.
15:38Number 16, Love Thy Will Be Done, Martika
15:47Yet another Billboard Hot 100 top 10 victory for Prince.
15:50This 1991 yearning soft rock ballad finds him shifting into an atypically subdued gear.
15:56Love Thy Will Be Done is further proof that Prince could straddle disparate genres with relative ease.
16:01Love Thy Will Be Done
16:06One of four songs that Prince wrote and produced for the Martika's Kitchen album,
16:10his contributions led to Martika significantly switching up her sound.
16:14Love Thy Will Be Done is a soul-bearing, slow-burning crescendo with gospel influences
16:19that shows off Prince's gift for open-hearted expressions of love and affection.
16:23The guiding light
16:24The guiding light
16:25The light that gives me power to keep up the fight
16:30This was worlds away from his raunchier, more popular solo work.
16:34Didn't we say he could do it all?
16:36Number 15, Nasty Girl, Vanity Six
16:43Short-lived girl group Vanity Six first came into existence as part of a Prince experiment
16:48that resembled the formation of the time.
16:50Comprising Canadian model-slash-actress Denise Vanity Matthews, Brenda Bennett, and Susan Moonsey,
16:56Vanity Six fulfilled the musicians' vision of creating a hyper-sexualized band of women
17:00who sang about topics familiar to Prince fans, but from a female perspective.
17:08Maybe Prince, who plays every instrument on the song, should have been careful as to what he wished for.
17:17Although Nasty Girl has developed a cult following over the years,
17:21it was initially shunned by American radio stations for its lyrics that, well, let's just say,
17:25didn't leave much to the imagination.
17:27Nasty Girl, Dance, Dance, Dance
17:31Number 14, Love Song, Madonna
17:33Are you wasting my time?
17:38Are you just being kind?
17:41Wait, what?
17:42Two of the biggest hitmakers of 80s pop music collaborated for a duet and somehow were not always talking about
17:49this?
17:49A deep cut off of Madonna's hugely influential, critically acclaimed 1989 Like a Prayer album,
17:55Love Song predictably subverts its seemingly simplistic title.
17:58Madonna openly declares that Love Song is anything but that,
18:02a plea to a wishy-washy lover to either commit or let her go.
18:05Am I losing my mind?
18:10The track came about after Prince and Madonna met at the 1985 American Music Awards
18:15and came up with several concepts for songs that were abandoned and never materialized.
18:19Eventually, Love Song was formulated by the two superstars over the phone
18:23and through tapes sent across the U.S.
18:26I am wrong
18:27This is not a soul
18:33Number 13, Waiting Room, No Doubt
18:42Now perhaps best known for being Gwen Stefani's vehicle to solo fame,
18:46it should be noted that No Doubt had an enviable selection of 90s hits.
18:50Having typically been grounded in reggae, ska, and dancehall sounds for their first four albums,
18:552001's Rocksteady found the band engaging in a wide range of new collaborators.
18:59These included The Neptunes, a.k.a. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo,
19:03The Cars' Rick Okasik, and, of course, Prince.
19:14Originally written for the band's previous album, 2000's Return of Saturn,
19:18Waiting Room combines the two acts' sensibilities in a satisfying, highly danceable fashion.
19:29Number 12, Stand Back, Stevie Nicks
19:40This pulsing, prototypically 80s electro pop jam doesn't officially bear the mark of the purple one.
19:46A top five hit for Nicks on the Billboard Hot 100,
19:48the 1983 song finds its roots in Prince's Little Red Corvette.
19:59Nicks, listening to the song in her car, was inspired by its synth-rich sound,
20:04and decided to call Prince to let him know of her source of inspiration.
20:15Maybe he was touched, maybe he was just feeling creative, but either way,
20:19Prince ended up, quote, programming it for them,
20:21and pretty much playing most of the song there in about 20 or 30 minutes.
20:24Now that's what we call creative generosity.
20:35Number 11, Round and Round, Tevin Campbell
20:43Released in 1990, R&B teen idol Tevin Campbell was just 13 years old at the time of this song's
20:49release in September.
20:50Recorded the previous December, Prince wrote and produced this funky bop,
20:54which alludes to the new jack-swing sound that was just about to take over the airwaves.
21:04Round and Round implores listeners to not let their dreams be dreams,
21:09making its case over a busy, bouncy instrumental.
21:12One day I'll make it in the big city
21:16And I'll be looking for a girl who's pretty
21:19Prince himself can be heard doing the song's backing vocals,
21:22which kind of leads you to wonder,
21:24how much further could Campbell hope to go if, on his debut single,
21:28he's already collaborated with one of the best to ever do it?
21:39Number 10, When You Were Mine, Cyndi Lauper
21:49Written and recorded by Prince for his 1980 release, Dirty Mind,
21:53this love song takes on an entirely new meaning when sung by a woman.
21:56If I am, I know
21:58But your girl will never go
22:04I tell her you don't care
22:06Because I love you better love you
22:09So, leave it to Cyndi Lauper to cover When You Were Mine for her provocative 1983 debut,
22:15keeping the original set of lyrics and placing the song between two of her more popular hits.
22:20It's a unique type of love triangle ballad,
22:22especially for the pop culture landscape of the early 80s,
22:25and the song ultimately became Cyndi Lauper's 7th and final single off She's So Unusual.
22:30I love you more, I love you more, I love you more, I love you more
22:36Number 9, Sugar Walls, Sheena Easton
22:45This time around, Prince opted to use a pen name,
22:48adopting the moniker Alexander Nevermind for this top 10 hit by Sheena Easton.
22:52As you might have guessed given the author,
22:54the walls don't represent those of a traditional home,
22:57but rather something more personal.
22:59And when Sheena Easton notes that blood races to your private spots
23:02and offers an invitation within the titular walls,
23:05well, the message becomes that much clearer.
23:07Blood races to your private spots
23:12The song becomes even more interesting when you imagine Prince with a pen in hand,
23:17perhaps anticipating a more PC world,
23:19but unwilling to tame down his lyrical content.
23:23Heaven on earth inside my sugar wall
23:27Number 8, How Come You Don't Call Me?
23:29Alicia Keys
23:37Originally released as a B-side on Prince's 1999 single,
23:41this song was picked up by future superstar Alicia Keys
23:44for her acclaimed debut album Songs in A Minor.
23:55Serving as the third single,
23:57How Come You Don't Call Me conveyed more of a retro feel for Alicia Keys,
24:00fitting as the original came out when she was less than a year old.
24:04With a rich set of lyrics communicating feelings of isolation and confusion,
24:07the musical aesthetic has both a playful and bluesy tone,
24:11making the song ideal for live shows.
24:14Number 7, Yo Mister, Patti LaBelle
24:21Today, a song with a title like this
24:26might not exactly work for an R&B artist well into their 40s,
24:30and that's what makes this collaboration so unique.
24:40With a raw message for unassuming fathers,
24:43Yo Mister chronicles the plight of young Cara,
24:45as Patti LaBelle so forcefully brings Prince's words to life.
24:55It's not your typical R&B song of the time,
24:58but even so, it still managed to do some damage on the charts.
25:01The street-smart lyrics are hard to ignore,
25:04especially when paired with the vocals of Patti LaBelle.
25:13Number 6, With This Tear, Céline Dion
25:23By writing With This Tear specifically for Céline Dion,
25:27Prince demonstrated not only his lyrical proficiency,
25:30but also his ability to match his content with the right artist.
25:33It's a gentle, romantic production,
25:35and through the formal set of lyrics and accessible structure,
25:38With This Tear evolved into a classic musical document of lost love,
25:42made even better through the intonations of young Céline.
25:53From conceptualization to final product,
25:55Prince and Miss Dion nailed it.
26:05Number 5, The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.
26:15Years after first meeting Prince at a concert,
26:18Sheila E. provided backup vocals for his 1984 album Purple Rain.
26:22Soon after, her debut album was in production,
26:25and the artist penned the ideal pop song to close out the record.
26:28She wears along for a coat of mink,
26:32even in the summertime.
26:35With The Glamorous Life,
26:36Prince utilized a formulaic narrative of material excess,
26:40yet he added just the right amount of timely descriptions
26:43for Sheila E. to build upon.
26:44She wants to leave.
26:47Glamorous life without a knife.
26:51As a result,
26:52Prince and his protege formed a close bond
26:54as the song paved the way for Grammy nominations
26:56and another successful collab
26:58with 1985's A Love Bazaar.
27:09Number 4, I Feel For You, Chaka Khan.
27:12Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan.
27:15Chaka Khan, let me rock it, let me rock it, Chaka Khan.
27:17Let me rock it, that's all I wanna do.
27:19Alright, so one may not equate Prince with late 70s disco,
27:23but he did in fact release a disco-like song
27:25on his 1979 sophomore album.
27:35Incidentally, R&B songstress Chaka Khan
27:37released an updated version five years later,
27:39complete with an opening verse by hip-hop icon Melly Mel.
27:42Lyrically,
27:43I Feel For You is relatively simple,
27:45but when combined with the superstar charisma
27:47of a prince or Chaka Khan,
27:49it takes on a more powerful effect.
27:58The purple one even took home a Grammy
28:00for best R&B song,
28:02proving that music is sometimes
28:03about the overall experience
28:05rather than a transcendent set of lyrics.
28:07I Feel For You,
28:11I, I, I think I love you.
28:15Number 3.
28:16Donald Trump, Black Version, The Time.
28:19Oh, baby, baby,
28:22you truly know me,
28:24you truly know me.
28:26Written by Prince for The Time's
28:28unreleased Corporate World album
28:29and ultimately released on their 1990 effort Pandemonium,
28:33Donald Trump, Black Version,
28:35helped explore the idea
28:35of an Afro-American retelling of Wall Street.
28:44Oozing with all the sexuality
28:46you'd expect from Prince,
28:47such as on tracks like Jerk Out,
28:48the song touches on notions of wealth and power
28:51and is far more softcore Cinemax sensual
28:54than anything involving Donald Trump should be.
29:03It's hard to imagine how the Donald felt
29:04about this R&B shout-out,
29:06but either way,
29:07his reaction was bound to be huge.
29:09Number 2.
29:10Manic Monday, The Bangles.
29:20In what has to be one of the most bizarre scenarios
29:23of mid-80s pop culture,
29:24this track was originally composed
29:26for Purple Rain star's Apollonia 6,
29:28but it just wasn't meant to be.
29:30A fan of their first album,
29:39Prince instead offered the song to The Bangles,
29:41which may or may not have been an attempt
29:43to woo the band's guitarist, Susanna Hoffs.
29:51With writing contributed to Christopher,
29:53Prince's character from Under the Cherry Moon,
29:56the song proved to be a massive top 10 hit
29:58for the band in 10 countries,
29:59and was only prevented from hitting number 1
30:02by Prince himself,
30:03who was topping the Hot 100 with Kiss.
30:05Just another Manic Monday,
30:10wish it was Sunday.
30:18Before we continue,
30:20check out this single from current,
30:22EDM Transformed.
30:24Check out the full track and album below.
30:36It's been seven hours and 15 days.
30:43Though the two artists in question
30:45didn't meet until after this song's release
30:47and reportedly didn't get along too well
30:49when they did,
30:50that doesn't minimize the potency
30:51of this 1990 cover.
31:00Originally recorded by the Prince-formed band,
31:03The Family,
31:03it was picked up by Sinead O'Connor
31:05for her sophomore release.
31:06While many even today may not have known
31:08who the song's author was,
31:10the abbreviated title,
31:11which Prince was known for,
31:13should have tipped listeners off.
31:20Kicking off the 90s,
31:21this Prince composition has become
31:23one of the most easily identifiable
31:25and emotional songs ever recorded.
31:32Which Prince-penned hit surprised you most
31:34and which one deserves more love?
31:36Let us know in the comments.
31:37Let us know in the comments.
Comments