Released: March 24, 2009

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Spoken Intro]
I want to talk about it
Colonized mind

[Verse 1]
Upload: the evolution principal
See a rock on the shore and say
"it's always been there"
Download: no responsibility
Do what you want, nobody cares

Upload: the master race idea
Genetically disposed to rule the world
Download: a future full of isolated
Full of isolated boys and girls

Upload: a two party system
The lesser of two dangers
Illusion of choice
Download: a veiled form of fascism
Nothing really ever changes
You never had a voice

[Ad lib]
Listen to me one time

[Chorus]
If you look, your sure going to find
Throughout mankind's history
A colonized mind
The one in power makes law
Under which the colonized fall
But without God it's just the blind leading the blind

[Verse 2]
Upload: a joint venture record deal
It's just another way for the man to steal
While he's sticking you with the bill
Download: the temporary acquisition of fleeting fame and fortune
Nothing to leave in your will
(hey hey hey hey)

Wait a minute

Upload: a child with no father
Download: no respect for authority
Upload: a child with no mother
Download: a hard time showing love

[Chorus]
If you look, your sure going to find
Through mankind's history
A colonized mind
The one in power makes laws
Under which the colonized fall
But without god
It's just the blind leading the blind

Prince

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.