Prince

Released: September 7, 2015

Songwriter: Joshua Welton Prince

Producer: Prince Joshua Welton

[Intro]
We came to shut this down
We came to shut this down

[Verse 1]
Everybody knows this is how it goes
Ain't no playing around
Just keep your eyes on me if you wanna get pleased
I'm 'bout to shut this down
My hand is money, my ice is cold
Whatever you holdin', you better fold
'Cause when we drop this, it's gonna make a sound
All around the world when we come to town

[Refrain]
We come to shut this down
Uh, down
We come to shut this down

[Verse 2]
You looking at me but you never see
How I got so funky, it's a mystery
Must be genetics, my DNA
Electromagnaticsim, you can't get away
I get you, baby, all sweaty and hot
I'm gonna get you where you never get got, baby

[Refrain]
We come to shut this down
Down
We came to shut this down

[Outro]
Whatchu waiting for
{Down}
Get out on the floor
(Down)
Move your body round
(We come to shut this down)
Y'all know how we do
(Down)
This the old school
(Down)
Straight purple mack, baby
We come to shut this down
(We come to shut this down)
Boy, if you don't sit your -- down
Sit down!
You see grown folks workin'!
We didn't ask you anything!
And I told you I was gon' buy you a whistle too!

An American singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and actor that produced 22 RIAA-platinum albums during his 40-year career, Prince may be known for one of many different things – his turn as “The Kid” in the iconic film/album/8 ½ minute ballad “Purple Rain”, being the writer behind the acclaimed anthem “Kiss,” rivaling Michael Jackson at the pinnacle of his career, being the inspiration behind censorship laws, or being the artist addressed as an unpronounceable symbol throughout the 1990s—but while many know of Prince, most don’t fully understand the impact his legacy left on this world.

Going by many aliases throughout his life, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7, 1958 with his father’s (John L. Nelson) stage name as his own given one. Growing up, Prince suffered from serious epileptic seizures at a very young age, but he had wrote his first composition of many by age seven, and outside of his love for basketball, he wanted music to be his purpose in life. His tumultuous childhood, witnessing alcoholism and abuse, caused him to find refuge in neighbor André Cymone’s home in his teens, where the two competed in local band competitions, leading to Prince’s introduction to Morris Day alongside music with his cousin’s band 94 East, leading him to be courted by record labels and ultimately signed to Warner Bros. Records with complete creative control; at 19, his debut album, For You (1978) was released – Prince played all 19 instruments on the record.

Influenced by the likes of Miles Davis, Rick James, and James Brown, Prince desired to form a music dynasty and after the success of his next albums – the platinum-selling Prince (1979), the sexually-charged Dirty Mind (1980), and politically-motivated Controversy (1981) – he negotiated for the ability to form his own label and manage artists of his own. Prince’s trademark sexual/religious rhetoric within pop-and-dance, funk-rock sound gained him a following, but his opening slates for Rick James and The Rolling Stones were both negatively received and facing bankruptcy, the young artist began to reach for mainstream popularity. Cashing on the drug-influenced doomsday mania of the times, 1982’s 1999 easily achieved that mainstream appeal, landing him on MTV, music charts, and radio stations across the world.

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