premiere: music legend andré cymone returns with bracing new track “money” from upcoming album

Before André Cymone became a world-renowned studio musician and producer, he was a teenager who found a kindred spirit in another prodigious young classmate, Prince. The two began playing in bands together, helping lay the foundation for a revolutionary Minneapolis sound–blending jazz, blues, and Motown–that would alter the face of popular music.

Cymone broke away from Prince’s band to launch a solo career in the early ’80s, releasing three critically acclaimed albums: Livin’ in the New Wave, Survivin’ in the ’80s and AC. He also established himself as a reputable producer, overseeing successful releases of artists including Jody Watley, Tom Jones, Pebbles, Adam Ant, Jermaine Stewart and Evelyn “Champagne” King, before stepping away from the spotlight in the late 1980s to focus on raising his children.

By Hari Ziyad*, AFROPUNK Contributor

Now he’s back, and taking us back to 1969, the title of his new album. In 1969, Cymone was just an 11-year-old child living in Minneapolis, but living in a politically and musically engaged family, it was in these early years that his interest in social issues and the desire to express himself through music developed. He taps into these formative moments in tracks like, “Money,” which he explains “came to me in a dream. In the dream I was playing a basement gig in North Minneapolis with two other guys. It was packed and we were tearin’ it up… I woke up and recorded the riff… In my humble opinion people place too much importance on money and what it can buy and not enough on humanity and what it can change… That’s what this song is about.”

Check out the return of the musical genius below!:

Written and Produced by Andre Cymone

Recorded Live at Coney Island Studio

Nick Adams, Drums

Chris Vasquez, Guitar

Devon Ian Pangle, Guitar

Clark Dark, Bass

Andre Cymone, Guitar, Bass and Keyboards.

*Hari Ziyad is a New York based storyteller and writer for AFROPUNK. They are also the editor-in-chief of RaceBaitR, deputy editor of Black Youth Project, and assistant editor of Vinyl Poetry & Prose. You can follow them on Twitter @hariziyad.