Prince — 2045: Radical Man

[Spoken Intro] How can a non-musician discuss the future of music from anything other than a consumer point of view? These few people make decisions for the bulk of us, without consulting any of us Sales and distributions of our futures, uh! If this world were fair and right, they'd give up the car keys this very night Damn! Hit it! Two, three, four, five, six, seven [Verse 1] Flash forward, 2045 What did you stand for in the life of your pride When faced with the final judgment of today Who profitted from the game That you and your niggas play Radical man [Verse 2] Save the life Come on take a stand Give that money back Let's make a plan The brand new currency Taking care of one another You and me Radical man [Verse 3] Flash backwards, 1999 Backwards, 1999 In a world shot full of viruses, see Tell me How'd y'all stay alive? Everyone of y'all Depending on this so called man For everything you got comes from his hand Food, water, the clothes you wear How many of y'all niggas really care? To care To care Let's define this word, nigga Define, define Someone who stays high High Watching their life go by By, by Someone content with riding behind Ride that Nigga They come in all colors White, black, Puerto Rican Is that the main niggas we're speakin' about? Wear suits and buy and sell corporations With only one thing in mind Only one thing in mind Break it up! That is the destruction of the so-called radical man By 2045 Let's get radical [Verse 4] Watch me now! Schooled in the art of digital games When the war broke out we called your name (What's your name?) Everyone of color put on the front line Holocaust Avenue, 2009 [Verse 5] Get an education, good job who says? Say Fool with the gold rush drinkin' Alize I don't play nobody that's makin' no sense today You got your own mind, so you think it's ok (It's not ok) Telling themselves lies, Mos Def say Where you gonna stay, nigga Where you gonna stay nigga Oh my God, it's the Green Mile! [Spoken Interlude] What's up y'all? What y'all wanna do? Talkin' about a radical man Ain't nobody up in their crew no? I could really run that computer Make it flow Flow flow flow flow flow If you ain't born with it Radical man Talkin' about the two and four, hit me! Wait up What George say, all around Alright [Verse 6] We claim Miles Davis, not Michaelangelo We planted flags in the funk You better act like you know We don't care what Albert Einstein did I'd rather know, rather know What? How to build a pyramid [Verse 7] Hey! James Brown, Chuck D., and Jimi Turn me up louder now I don't think y'all hear me I don't hear ya 2045 We will stay alive 2045 Yeah, everybody now The war is on outside And the whole pop scenario is just nothin' but a dream A bad dream The day you will wake is the day you get the real cream, nigga [Breakdown] Radical man Radical man Who got the gift, who got the plan? Radical man Radical man Who got the gift, who got the plan? [Verse 8] This is the funk the industry most fears Artists getting together In a locker board of directors I don't think so Nobody's running this Let's talk about DNA, nigga The radical man [Spoken Outro] Where will you be in 2045? 30 million people right now, are being wiped off the face of the planet by disease They claim they have no cure In the matter of a blinking eye All of us right now can testify Take a stand, radical man