Prince’s ‘Can I Play With U?’, featuring Miles Davis on trumpet, never made it onto Sign o' the Times, one of his classic albums. Fans had to wait until the deluxe version (Super Deluxe, no less), released in 2020. The original album was mostly recorded in 1986, the same year as Miles’s Tutu was recorded and released. ‘Can I Play With U?’ was originally mooted for Miles’s album.

Sign o' the Times wasn’t short of unpredictable changes of pace, melodies, transitions or sounds. Even still, ‘Can I Play With U?’ would have been one of the more unpredictable tracks. There’s the guitar feedback intro, more like the end of a song than a beginning, then the first chord is pitch-bent until the circus-esque, deranged sounding synth riff that takes us to the first verse, half a minute in. In the background there’s wailing guitar, protesting against the idea of a song format.

The verses are drum- and bass-led, with Prince’s punchy syllables contrasting with his soft voice. Miles’s trumpet then heightens the tension in the first bridge section as the drums drop out. Then that wild circus riff returns. Later, from 3:38, a sombre, more jazzish section led by Miles sounds like a party that’s come crashing down to Earth. The bass now drops out, and the rhythm comes from Prince’s Linn LM-1 drum machine. When Prince’s vocal returns, his “Can I play with you?” sounds less confident than ever. In fact, the vocal and music throughout the song is a wild mismatch with the title and lyrics like “Get up on the dance floor”.

While Miles’s trumpet tone distinctly resembles his Tutu period, his most intriguing playing here may be where his horn acts more as a percussive instrument. In that first bridge section from 0:47 (anticipated by a brilliantly fidgety three-note trumpet phrase), Miles plays minimally, not dissimilarly to the short blasts by James Brown’s horns. He uses the space left by the (other) rhythm instruments; his short phrases heighten the anticipation of the One when the circus riff and the drums kick back in. Even the melodic instrument that shaped jazz three or four times over could act as a drum once in a while. 

Miles saw Prince as the future of music. Prince’s saxophone player, Eric Leeds, recalled that Miles and Prince were never in a studio together (though they did play in concert together). Leeds was unsure about ‘Can I Play With U?’ – an understandable reaction a song that sounds unsure of itself. Every turn is like a new song. Though the emphasis is on rhythm, Prince wanted more tension, chord changes, and unresolved melodies than in James Brown’s prototypical funk. It’s not an easy ride, but if you let it carry you, it’s a fun time.