"7" is a song by Prince and The New Power Generation, from the 1992 Love Symbol Album. It was released in late 1992 as the third single from the album, and became the most successful in the United States. It features a sample of the 1967 Otis Redding and Carla Thomas duet, "Tramp". "7" is composed of heavy drums and bass in an acoustic style. It has a distinct Middle Eastern style of music, and a Hindu reincarnation theme, and an opera-like chorus which features Prince's multi-tracked vocals. The lyrics have religious and apocalyptic themes. The song is ambiguous and can be interpreted in many ways, as the "7" mentioned in the chorus of the song refers to the Seven Deadly Sins. The song received positive reviews and peaked within the top forty of many of its major markets.
Music video
The video was shot on February 27, 1992. It begins with Mayte whispering "imagine" in Prince's ear, in the position they are in on the single cover. A scene from 3 Chains o' Gold is shown as well. It features Mayte belly-dancing. The video set is pictured on the album cover, along with a still shot from the video. In the video, Prince symbolically "kills" incarnations of himself who are trapped inside glass chambers. There are little girls wearing yellow belly-dancing outfits almost identical to Mayte's and little boys wearing black outfits and eyebands identical to Prince's. Throughout the performance, the girls dance with Mayte and the boys dance with Prince. This video is also notable for Mayte dancing with a sword on her head, which she would later do in live performances; the video featured her playing the role she played in 3 Chains o' Gold as an Egyptian princess who befriends Prince and enlists his help to find the men who assassinated her father. The video, directed by Sotera Tschetter, was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video.
Chart performance
The most successful single from the album in the US, "7" was most successful on the Top 40 Pop/Mainstream chart, where it earned a No. 3 placement and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It performed respectably on the Rhythmic charts. However, it was less popular with R&B/Hip Hop radio, stalling at No. 61. On the Canadian RPM chart the song peaked at No. 12. The single reached No. 27 in the UK, falling short of the success of the previous two releases, "Sexy MF" and "My Name is Prince", which had become top 10 hits.
