"? 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. Carmen Electra says Prince told her it was about her:
Song description
Beginning with crashing drums, the "NPG Operator" welcomes the listener to "The Hate Experience", 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" 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 reference from the album's previous track—"Billy Jack Bitch". Toward the end of the drama, he states that being without her is killing him emotionally and that he actually still loves her. After a final chorus, again using an impassioned falsetto, Prince launches into a brief but effective guitar solo which climaxes and ends the song.
Music video
There was an unreleased video circulating among Prince collectors of this single. It featured Prince's then-fiancée Mayte Garcia, dancing in some shots and Prince telling Mayte off in the courtroom, and Michael Bland as the judge. On January 26, 2018, the music video was finally revealed to the public on the official Prince YouTube Channel.
Chart performance
"? Hate U" was Prince's last original single to reach the US Top 40.. "? Hate U" was very successful on the charts. It peaked within the top 10 of the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rhythmic charts and it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Unlike the last two Prince singles, "? Hate U" was less successful on Mainstream/Top 40 radio, as it did not chart on the BillboardTop 40 Mainstream chart. It did however receive minor Mainstream/Top 40 airplay as it did chart it the lower regions of the top 40 of the Mediabase / Radio+Records CHR/Pop Airplay chart. In the UK, "? Hate U" peaked at number 20.
B-sides/remixes
The single's B-side was an instrumental "Quiet Night Mix" of "? Hate U" featuring long-time collaborator Eric Leeds on saxophone. A maxi single on CD and vinyl included several remixes of the track. The most notable was an extended remix which omitted the "courtroom drama" and featured Prince delivering much more personal lyrics. A rumor at the time was that the lyrics of this version referred to Carmen Electra after it was discovered that she "gave her body to" N.P.G. member Tony M. "in the name of fun". Electra has confirmed that the song was written about her. Other versions of the song were various edits. The JapaneseCD single was unique in that it included the album version of "Endorphinmachine" as an extra track.
