"
I Hate U" (also spelled "
Eye Hate U" to reflect the pictograph in the published title) is a song by
Prince from his 1995
album The Gold Experience. The track was the lead single in support of the album, released on September 12, 1995. "I Hate U" was nearly a solo effort from Prince, although he credited
Minneapolis musician Ricky Peterson with co-production and arranging, as well as providing additional keyboards.
Beginning with crashing
drums, the "NPG Operator" welcomes the listener to "The Hate Experience" (which Prince would later entitle the song's
maxi-single), before leading into the first verse where Prince sings in delicate
falsetto about a cheating woman, whom he hates "like a day without sunshine". A church-like
organ moves the song along, while a musical segment borrowed from "Baby" (a track from his 1978 album
For You) provides breaks throughout the track. After the second verse and chorus, the song enters a lengthy middle section which is sung/spoken in Prince's normal voice. This section is a "courtroom drama" where Prince submits his evidence of his cheating lover to a judge. When he asks the woman to state her name for the court, he interrupts her with a vocal...
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