Released: March 24, 2009

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Intro]
Ooh, this my song
Huh
Ooh, this my song
Alright, look here, y'all
Flop hats, hot pants and gold medallions
Fake grills, huh, to the side
Look out

[Chorus]
Every once in a while you need some old school company
Somebody that appreciates a sexy groove and an old school melody
When God, His son, and the love of family ruled in the community
The songs you sing lift you up to Heaven, a Heaven we can believe in

[Verse 1]
Everybody's talking about hard times like it just started yesterday
People I know, they've been struggling at least it seems that way
Fat cats on Wall Street, they got a bailout
But why somebody else got to wait?
700 billion but my old neighborhood, ain't nothin' changed but the date

[Chorus]
Listen
Every once in a while you need some old school company
Somebody that appreciates a sexy groove and an old school melody
Dig
When God, His son, and the love of family ruled in the community
The songs you sing lift you up to Heaven, a Heaven we can believe in

[Verse 2]
Ain't nothing ever came from complaining except a bitter heart, that's true
Follow along and you going to want to do something before the next chorus is through
The songs we sang, they used to mean something
Now every other one's just mean
Rather than reminisce, I'm telling you this: it's time for a brand new scene

[Chorus]
Oh
Every once in a while you need some old school company
Somebody that appreciates a sexy groove and an old school melody
(Old school melody)
When God, His son, and the love of family ruled in the community
(it ruled, it ruled)
The songs we used to sang lift you up to Heaven, a Heaven we can believe in

[Verse 3]
Everybody's sinking in the quicksand created by the keepers of time
Cast aside by using ancient tricks that changing your state of mind
They got you catering the whims of the flesh before
Before you get your paper right
Call me old-fashioned, but back in the day wasn't no shorties in sight

[Chorus]
'Cause every day need some, ooh, we need it
(Old school company)
Sexy groove
(Old school melody)
While we were pleadin'
Ruled in the community
Lift you up, a heaven we can believe in
(Believe me, baby)

[Verse 4]
First come job, then come marriage
Before shorty come out with the baby carriage
Call me old-fashioned, just clap your hands, just clap your hands
Radio used to be local, untouched by, untouched by the man
Songs we used to sang used to mean something
Now they just bland, like the drummer

[Chorus]
(Old school company)
Where's the real drummer?
(Old school melody)
Where's the real drummer?
Michael B., Mint Condition, Morris Day
(Ruled in the community)
And Jellybean wishing Sheila E. and brother John
(Life you up)
Sometimes me until the dawn

[Interlude]
If the white house is black, we got to take the radio back
Power to the people
Power to the people

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 5]
New world hippies say we don't care
Make the party strip to their underwear
Turn the lights off so they don't stare
Somebody blindfold old Billy, he's so square
Christina Milian playin' "Truth or Dare?"
Maxwell and CeeLo, they gonna end up there
Pickin' out the number, nickel, dime, don't care
As long as she havin' fun, nobody scared

[Chorus]
I got a pocket full of, I got a pocket full of plenty good time
(Old school company)
Whoa Lord, and Nicole's on the line
(The old school melody)
No baby, you can't get in, uh, Lord
And neither can your man
(Ruled n the community)
You see, we got this girl with this abusive thing goin' on
I'm just a bad mamajama, and y'all can't understand
Oh! Hit it

[Interlude]
The new Minneapolis sound
Honey collected, drop the needle down
(Old school company)
(The old school melody)
Well, how do you do?
See, there ain't another like me up in this chocolate box
You gotta dance for me, baby, if you wanna see me rock
Call the government man, tell him we got to be free
Valentina, tonight? Huh, I'm busy
So tell your mama 77 Beverly Park gets better with time, mm
We got the old school company, y'all, dancin' in the dark
I don't mind, I say I don't mind
Put this thing on repeat
Go back to one and just move your feet and
Tell your friends Prince and the Minneapolis sound
We can't be beat, suckas!

[Outro]
Old school company
The old school melody
Ruled in the community
Lift you up, a heaven we can believe in

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.