Prince

Released: February 14, 1997

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Don't play me
I'm over 30 and I don't smoke weed
I put my ass away
And the music I play
Ain’t the type of stereo you're trying to feed
Don't play me

[Verse 2]
Don't play me
I use proper English and I'm straight
I'm in the news again
For paying dues my friend
And not the ganda you propping my way
Don't play me

[Verse 2]
I've been to the mountaintop and it ain’t what you say
Don't play me

[Verse 3]
Don't play me
I'm the wrong color and I play guitar
My only competition is, well, me in the past
If time, time, time existed moving ever so fast
Don't play me

[Verse 4]
You couldn't play enough of me now
To make me feel like a star
Don't play me I already do in my car
Don't play me

[Verse 5]
Don't be mad at me
The curtain puller in the game
Maybe all how you call us niggas ain't the same
It's all good when you know the only fame
Is the light that comes from God and the joy you get to say His name
Don't play me

[Verse 6]
Don't play me
I've seen the mountaintop and it ain't what you say
Don't play me
I already got laid

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.

more tracks from the album

The Truth

From the album

The Truth (1998)

Prince popular songs

Don’t Play MePrince

Prince

The Truth