New Power Generation

New Power Generation

New Power Generation, often shortened to NPG, is the backing group associated with Prince and later a side project linked to his output outside his Warner Bros. contract. Its origin is listed as Trinidad and Tobago, and it is also described as a Trinidadian soca artist.

Early period and name

The group makes its debut on Prince’s 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls. Its name comes from the song New Power Generation on Prince’s 1990 album Graffiti Bridge, although the phrase “Welcome to the New Power Generation” also appears on the opening track of Lovesexy from 1988.

Role in Prince’s work

When Prince enters a formal dispute with Warner Bros. in 1993 and changes his stage name to o(+>, the New Power Generation becomes a vehicle for music released outside his contract. Its role is described as similar to The Time, and as a project intended to reach a more urban audience than Prince’s mainstream material.

Albums and personnel

The group’s debut album, Goldnigga, features Tony M. as lead vocalist and rapper. That album uses rap heavily, while the music draws on 1970s funk. Prince writes and performs much of the music, while Tony writes and performs the raps. Prince provides co-lead vocals on “Black M.F. in the House” and “Johnny”, and these songs are performed by him in concerts and aftershows.

Prince later trims down the line-up when he begins performing as o(+> in early 1994. This smaller version backs o(+> on The Gold Experience and releases Exodus in 1995. Sonny T becomes lead vocalist for this period, and the emphasis shifts more strongly toward funk. Several raps are recorded for Exodus, but they are removed from the final release. In this version, o(+> also works behind the scenes under the masked name “Tora Tora”, and he performs lead vocals on several tracks, sometimes using an altered voice.