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Prince estate and Jay-Z bury the hatchet, plan Tidal release from the Vault

Jay-Z speaks at a pre-Grammys gala held in his honor, Jan. 2018. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Jay-Z speaks at a pre-Grammys gala held in his honor, Jan. 2018. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

by Jay Gabler

May 11, 2018

Prince and Jay-Z shared so much respect that Prince chose Tidal as the only streaming platform to host his music during his lifetime. After Prince's death, though, things between his estate and Jay-Z got tense. Very tense. Now, though, things seem to be patched up. In a press release, Tidal announced that in 2019 it will release an album of previously unavailable Prince music that it will have exclusively for two weeks.

"Our only goal is to share Prince’s music with his fans as he wanted," said Jay-Z in the press release (via Pitchfork). "After thoughtful and honest conversation with him, he chose TIDAL as his partner for HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two, and we will continue to respect and honor Prince’s enduring legacy and wishes with this new collection."

The Tidal release won't include any of Prince's music "subject to prior agreements with Warner Brothers Records." That likely means that the release will entirely consist of music recorded since Prince split with the label in the mid-1990s. This Tidal release will also be distinct from the previously unreleased album expected to be released later in 2018.

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