Released: July 9, 1996

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Uh huh
NPG to the maximum
All the time world wide
96 sound better
Legendary tune

[Chorus 1]
I rock (I rock) therefore I am (therefore I am)
I don't need you to tell me I'm in the band (please)
I rock (I rock) therefore I am (therefore I am)
Right or wrong I sing my song the best I can

[Chorus 2]
I don't need you to tell me what clothes to wear
I don't want suggestions about my hair
If the whole world buys your bullshit I don't care
I'd rather put on something that you won't dare

[Verse 2]
I rock (legendary to the maximum) (I rock)
Therefore I am (therefore I am)
I don't need you to tell me I'm in the band (I don't need it) (no)
I rock

Legendary to the maximum
NPG for now and forever

Welcome to mendacity, sign your name
See the world so pretty, wealth and fame
They can put you on the field (yeah)
But you won't get in the game (whoa no)
How many suckers knew that before they came (whoo yeah)
Now you know

[Chorus 1]
I rock (I rock) therefore I am (therefore I am)
I don't need you to tell me I'm in the band (please)
I rock (I rock) therefore I am (therefore I am)
Right or wrong I sing my song the best I can

Therefore I am

[Verse 3]
All you mean to NPG to the maximum want you to understand something-asta
[Come/When] me say [no/love] me say unto another
Watch them attack each and every vulture
Or do you wants forget that P-R-O starts via pro
Teaching things in life you'll never know
What for they dabble they don't understand
They caught me coming from the other Minnesota
My flavour will burn their ears
A-when it comes to music this sir is no stranger

Is the same kids you compliment
The same ones that you were meant
To rob an education from
In a private school as opposed to one
That yearly spits out another group of fools
Into a system designed to fail
Wait a minute, I just got some e-mail
Somebody selling 12 CDs for a dollar
Make me wanna holler (yeah)
Alright to the maximum

[Chorus 2]
I don't need you to tell me what clothes to wear
I don't want suggestions about my hair
If the whole world buys your bullshit I don't care
I'd rather put on something that the world wouldn't dare

[Verse 4]
I rock (NPG to the maximum) (I rock)
Therefore I am (therefore I am) (Legendary)
(I don't need) I don't need you to tell me I'm in the band
I rock (I rock) therefore I am (therefore I am)
(Right or wrong) Right or wrong, I sing my song
(Singing my song the best I can) The best I can

I rock (I rock) therefore I am (therefore I am)
I don't need you to tell me (I don't need)
I'm in the band (I'm in the band)
I rock (years and years)
Therefore I am (original)
Right or wrong, I sing my song
(Singing my song the best I can) The best I can
Clap your hands

All I mean original for years, mon (I rock)
NPG natural, yes
[All I mean sho man]
Rock ([...]) Rock Rock
God have us mercy (I rock)
[...] mon hit 'em

(Rock) Come follow me, come follow me, come follow me, come follow
H'here we come follow me, come follow me, come follow me, come follow
(I rock) H'here we come follow me, come follow me, come follow me, come follow
H'here we come follow me, come follow me, come follow me, come follow
(I rock) H'here we come follow me, come follow me, come follow me, come follow
(Therefore I am)
H'here we come follow me, come follow me, come follow me
Watch out mon (I rock), gangsta
NPG in the original pro nation
Hear me though

Yeah
(Rock) Make some noise if you're ready
NPG rocks the city
Rugged and raw lift up your bra
Show me your titties
Don't be a dumb son
Grab your condoms and Bacardi
Here's car keys, let's party

You fake players walking streets in mean mug
I be making records getting (mmmh) in the hot tub
(Rock) In this Minneapolis snow I'm felling
Ready set to blow up like Mt. Saint Helen
On your cord snoring your flow boring
Sort of like channel 5 at 4 in the morning
(Rock) Adult [made under / [...] on the par] give up hope
Grab the devil by the throat
Make him play the scapegoat

(Rock) In the running with the bucket of cuttings
Wishing I had duckets to live like Kirby Puckett
(Rock) Here comes the rumors I'm down with NPG
I sign the contract, I'm doing the LP
But woe, what a minute bro' go slow
Ten dollars for the blow, no dollars for the ho
(Rock) In the club trick holding
Looking for a black magic [woman gang] strong [with/is] dick holding

[Chorus 1]
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am

I rock (rock rock) therefore I am
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am
I rock (rock rock) therefore I am

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.