Prince invoked Camille, the alter-ego behind his unreleased 1986 album
Camille, as the guiding force responsible for
The Black Album. The opening track also mentioned the title of the album as being
The Funk Bible, which was a consideration during work on this project. The title refers both to the album's all-black cover design and to Prince's attempt to earn back his credibility among the black pop audience. The album features one of the most atypical Prince songs: "Bob George", in which he assumes the identity of a profane man who suspects his girlfriend to have had an affair with a man named Bob. He asks her what the man does for a living and learns that Bob manages Prince, whom he dismisses as "that skinny motherfucker with the high voice". The gun-wielding alter ego then fires a multitude of gunshots, and ends up being raided by the police. During live performances of the song during the
Lovesexy Tour, he ends up being shot. The name for the track was a combination of Bob Cavallo (former manager), and
Nelson George, a critic who was felt to have become very critical of Prince. "Bob George" features a growling monologue that is pitched down (using a Publison) to the point of being almost unrecognizable as Prince. The voice at the end of the song that says "bizarre" is actually a stock sound from the
Fairlight CMI IIx library, with its pitch raised, the sample being lifted from the spoken-word track “Our Bizarre Relationship” on
The Mothers of Invention's 1969
Uncle Meat album.
The Black Album features songs such as the
hip hop parody "Dead on It", which playfully makes the accusation that all rappers are tone-deaf and unable to sing, and the playful "Cindy C.", which refers to supermodel
Cindy Crawford. The rhyme at the end of the song was originally written by
Steve "Silk" Hurley and was included on a song titled "Music Is the Key", which was previously released by
Chicago house-music group JM Silk, of which Hurley was the founder. Hurley would later go on to remix two of the songs from the "
Gett Off" maxi-single, the Housestyle and Flutestramental versions. The album contains several instances of the portrayal of characters, using either a sped-up or slowed-down vocal track by Prince (as on "
If I Was Your Girlfriend", "
U Got the Look", "Strange Relationship", and "Housequake", all from the ''
Sign o' the Times'' album). The instrumental jazz-funk jam "2 Nigs United 4 West Compton" was revisited as a live song on the
One Nite Alone... Live! album, but it was hardly the same track. "Rockhard in a Funky Place" was originally considered for inclusion on the
Camille project and then the planned
Crystal Ball album. After the album's fade out, dissonant feedback fades in, followed by Prince saying "What kind of fuck ending was that?" before fading out again. "When 2 R in Love" is the only ballad on the album, and reappeared on
Lovesexy, which was released the next year. Prince performed "Bob George", parts of "When 2 R in Love", and "Superfunkycalifragisexy" on his
Lovesexy Tour. "When 2 R in Love" was usually part of the piano medley in Act II, whereas the other two songs were part of the Act I segment, where Prince's evil side showed through (coinciding with the idea that
The Black Album was evil). Act II was his "born-again" segment, with more upbeat spiritual songs, highlighting most of the
Lovesexy songs, and top 40 hits. Samples of "Bob George" would later show up on the "Dub Beats" official promo mix of
Madonna's 1989 single "
Like a Prayer". == Withdrawal ==