It is now available for D/L at NPGMC, and yes, it states it will be on both of their albums.
[Edited 2/7/06 21:47pm]

Is it just me (and my love 4 listening 2 this track with headphones) or does this line send chills up ur spine (in a good way!) when he sings:


A constant battle
2 stay ahead in the game

Honeslty, the first time I heard it I "heard" a song that I loved and many dissed...

Shoo-Bed-Ooh

However, beyond that its just a grerat song and Prince has nailed it with this track. The upbeat and modern "hey hey hey" chant (R&B Gwen IMO)

discuss....

PicassoFace said:

Because she's not.

http://www.prince.org/msg/5/171089

This song is terrific. I'm actually glad to hear it's going to show up on 3121, I'm really digging it. So far, I'm 3 for 4 as to the new songs - Te Amo being the only weak link of the bunch. It's decent, but nothing I'm too enthusiastic over.

Fury, BL&B, and Black Sweat are far more engaging tunes than anything that showed up on Musicology, save for A Million Days.

i LOVE this song! It has such a BEAUTIFUL message and it completely uplifts me. As much as I have jammed Black Sweat and played the heck out of Te Amo Corazon, I can't get enough of Beautiful, Loved and Blessed. It is WONDERFUL.

This is another song that SHOWS the AMAZING BRILLIANCE of PRINCE. What a perfect duet, what a perfect song and what a gem it is that he shared it with us all.

Long Live the NPG!

Not sure if this has been posted yet. As far as credits, PP6 stated:

Ok. So now it is confirmed this title is on 3121. That's bad news.

I love BS and Fury. Really like TAC. But as for B,L&B, I think this tune is really lame (apart from the last 20 seconds or so). Just boring R&B.
So we have at least one bad title on 3121.

BeautifulFrance said:

I respect your opinion but I gotta disagree. I was actually *hoping* that "BL&B" would be on "3121." Prince is 4 for 4 with me thus far -- I love all the new tracks.

Peace, David

livewire said:

I hate new R&B so whatever he's gonna come up with in that style, I'm gonna hate it !

I like the track, but it's a Tamar track featuring Prince, and that's how it sounds. Yes, he plays all the instruments, and produced it, but she sings lead vocal and he contributes only a verse and a chorus (I think). This is a good song for her own album, but I'm a little disappointed that it's on both.

booyah said:

I agree that it seems kinda more hers than his, but from a marketing standpoint -- at this early stage -- it appears that "BL&B" is going to do some heavy lifting for "3121." On another thread, it's shown that the track has come out of the gate quite nicely at Urban AC radio. With Prince's album beating Tamar's to shops by almost two months, that sets "3121" up nicely with an important demographic.

Peace, David

True dat.

Hey, anyone know if there will be a video for BLAB? Seems like a logical move. I half-expected to see one in the Musicology store along with the other downloads, to kick off a BLAB push on TV also.

Here's the radio airplay data for Beautiful, Loved and Blessed. Urban AC format.

LW: Jan 25 - Jan 31
TW: Feb 1 - Feb 7
Updated: Wed Feb 8 12:13 PM PST
Station Market Format Spins
by daypart TW lw +/- ovn am mid pm eve
WHRP-FM Huntsville 27 0 27 6 2 7 7 5
WDLT-FM Mobile 18 0 18 5 1 4 5 3
WRRX-FM Pensacola 11 0 11 3 1 3 4 0
WTMP-AM Tampa 10 0 10 2 0 4 1 3
KVMA-FM Shreveport 9 0 9 2 1 1 5 0
KOKY-FM Little Rock 4 0 4 1 0 1 1 1
WIMX-FM Toledo 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0

Come on yall that song just feels good. It sounds like my childhood in the seventies riding in my father's cadillac. The harmonies on the vocals are tight. She looked great and no wonder hes not being overly sexual w/ her, she phat as all outdoors good grief. Her dancing is erotic w/out her thinking about it. Way to go Prince!

BeautifulFrance said:

Waiting for some1 who thinks like me. BS and Fury got me excited again. TAC was good enuff not to disappoitn, but this - it's just not up there. If it was by some other artist I might let it go by without switching stations but that's about as much as I can say. I guess it's just a matter of what you like. BTW: the record version is better thant the SNL one, which REALLY didn't do it 4 me.

I find this song to be a real grower. I wouldn't be surprised if it does better on the charts than BS due to its more regular r&b sound.

I would be shocked if it wasnt a big hit.

It doesn't sound like a Prince song, which is what todays listeners will like about it. They hate him..lol

Do any of you get a "Good Love" vibe when listening to this song? That struck me today...just reminds me of "Good Love" for some reason. Probably the cheery nature of the whole thing.

I like the song a lot, and I'm thrilled that Prince has a protege who can sing. Probably the best sounding voice since Jill Jones.

2freaky4church1 said:

That's not what I meant you naughty boy!

[quote]Do any of you get a "Good Love" vibe when listening to this song? That struck me today...just reminds me of "Good Love" for some reason. Probably the cheery nature of the whole thing.[quote]

Nah, but the song gives me a COOL Love vibe. U no the 1 by Sheena E.

BeautifulFrance said:

Couldn't agree more. Yuck.

I love, love, love BLB.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

It was me..I think it would work on contemporary gospel stations Right between Kirk Franklin and MaryMary....

Billboard Review of Beautiful Loved & Blessed

Prince protégé Tamar gets the royal treatment with her first Universal single. "Beautiful, Loved & Blessed" was written by the pair and features a vocal with Prince, who also produced and played all the instruments. The neo-soul joint offers a new age-y lyric: "When U found me/Was just a piece of clay/Was 4mless, U gave me a new name/With the breath of life/Now live abundantly." It also has an oddball melody that is at times creative and inspired, at others meandering and curiously sparse. Nice touches like an electric guitar and Tamar's versatile vocal style make this warrant repeated listening. But in today's radio world, this is not the song to launch a new artist. —Chuck Taylor


http://www.billboard.biz/...1001994928

It's always interesting to me how many Prince fans don't like R&B. Prince has always done R&B songs, but some of his fans seem to not like it. Hmmm...

bellanoche said:

I find it interesting as well.

It sounds like Tamar's forthcoming album is titled "Beautiful Love Everlasting" and is being released 5/7. (Prince mentions it at the end of their BLB performance.) BLB--both albums...interesting.

bellanoche said:

What does that mean? How do you distinguish his "R&B songs" from his "non-R&B songs"? I like it when he's original and interesting, not boring, same-ole and over-produced. I love Gotta Broken Heart Again, Do Me, Baby, Scandalous Anotherloverholenyohead, to name a few. If you're talking about soul ballads, that is...

Chuck Taylor of Billboard may have to eat his words. This song is already playing on 20 of the 80 Urban AC stations scanned in the first week, including these fine stations. Also, included some chart positions on those stations, already top 10 at a few. Oh, and it's the most added song at Urban AC radio this week.

WHRP-FM Huntsville Urban AC 21 spins #13
WDLT-FM Mobile Urban AC 18 spins #6
KVMA-FM Shreveport Urban AC 15 spins #6
WTMP-AM Tampa Urban AC 14 spins #22
WRRX-FM Pensacola Urban AC 12 spins #7
KOKY-FM Little Rock Urban AC 11 spins #13
WKXI-FM Jackson Urban AC 7 spins
KNEK-FM Lafayette, LA Urban AC 6 spins
KJLH-FM Los Angeles Urban AC 5 spins
KMEZ-FM New Orleans Urban AC 5 spins
WPHR-FM Syracuse Urban AC 5 spins
WIMX-FM Toledo Urban AC 5 spins
WWDM-FM Columbia, SC Urban AC 4 spins
WBLS-FM New York Urban AC 3 spins
WLXC-FM Columbia, SC Urban AC 3 spins
WVBE-FM Roanoke Urban AC 3 spins
WUHT-FM Birmingham Urban AC 2 spins
[Edited 2/11/06 23:04pm]