O-{-> Records 3 hours of "EMANCIPATION"

EVEN THOUGH THE ARTIST Formerly Known as Prince’s Chaos and Disorder, his final album un-der his contract with Warner Bros., fell off the charts in only five weeks, p has not stopped thinking big. He next plans to release Emancipation, a three-CD set of new material, possibly as early as late November but more likely next year. p has not reached an agreement on how the album will be distributed, though his attorney, L. Londell McMillan, states that three major distribution companies are "actively competing" for the project. Each CD will contain 12 songs and will be exactly one hour long – "To the minute," p declares.

'I've been recording almost every day of my life, working on a vast number of styles," f says during an interview in August at his Paisley Park Studios, in Chanhassen, Minn, I've always looked forward to the day when I would be free from any demands of any kind from anyone  free to do everything I want to do."

Such ambition is part of the reason for p’s falling-out with Warner Bros., for which he has recorded since his de-but album, For You, appeared in 1978. Perhaps the most prolific artist of his generation, O-{-> has in recent years re-leased albums with a rapidity completely at odds with the more leisurely pace that record companies expect – and desire – from their superstar artists. That slower pace allows record companies to steadily promote a string of carefully planned singles from each album, thus maximizing sales. Frustrated because Warner Bros. refused to accommodate his prolific ways, p took to appearing in public with the word  sleeve written on his face. For its part, Warner Bros. watched with dismay as sales plummeted for an artist with whom in 1992 it had negotiated one of the most lucrative contracts in the recording industry. (Warner Bros. still has the right to release compilations of all of f "s previously released music) p no longer considers him-self a slave, but anyone who now expects conventional behaviour from him will be sorely disappointed. In its meticulous structure,  Emancipation, he says, is based on his  studies "of the Egyptians, the building of the pyramids and how the pyramids were related to the constellations. They were a message from the Egyptians about how civilization really started." The album’s music, however, is another story entirely. As p says, "With three CDs, you have room to stretch out." Among the tracks to be induced are a splendid cover of the Stylistics’ "Betcha By Golly, Wow"; "Sex in the Summer," which takes its tempo from a sample of the heartbeat of the baby whom O-{-> is expecting with his wife, Mayte; "Damned If I Do, Damned if 'I Don’t," which features O-{->’s ferocious guitar playing and a version of "I Can’t Make You Love Me." The Bonnie Raitt track? "It ain’t no more," O-{-> says with a smile. o-{-> is also  planning a worldwide tour next year. His itinerary will include the United States, his first time on the road in this country since 1993. And he’s looking even further ahead. "I wrote a song for Dawn," he says, alluding to the album that he has long talked about as his definitive statement. "It was so much better than what I’m doing now that I thought, Im gonna have to wait to put this out’ "I worry about that," he adds. "I worry whether people are going to be ready for what I do."