Prince - 2045: Radical Man Lyrics

How can a non-musician discuss the future of music from anything other than a consumer point of view?
These few people make decisions for the bulk of us, without consulting any of us
Sales and distributions of our futures, uh!
If this world were fair and right, they'd give up the car keys this very night
Damn!
Hit it!
Two, three, four, five, six, seven

Flash forward, 2045
What did you stand for in the life of your pride
When faced with the final judgment of today
Who profitted from the game
That you and your niggas play
Radical man

Save the life
Come on take a stand
Give that money back
Let's make a plan
The brand new currency
Taking care of one another
You and me
Radical man

Flash backwards, 1999
Backwards, 1999
In a world shot full of viruses, see
Tell me
How'd y'all stay alive?
Everyone of y'all
Depending on this so called man
For everything you got comes from his hand
Food, water, the clothes you wear
How many of y'all niggas really care?
To care
To care
Let's define this word, nigga
Define, define
Someone who stays high
High
Watching their life go by
By, by
Someone content with riding behind
Ride that
Nigga
They come in all colors
White, black, Puerto Rican
Is that the main niggas we're speakin' about?
Wear suits and buy and sell corporations
With only one thing in mind
Only one thing in mind
Break it up!
That is the destruction of the so-called radical man
By 2045

Let's get radical

Watch me now!
School's in the yard, digital games
When the war broke out we called your name
(What's your name?)
Everyone of color put on the front line
Holocaust Avenue, 2009

Get an education, good job who says?
Say
Fool with the gold rush drinkin' Alize
I don't play nobody that's makin' no sense today
You got your own mind, so you think it's ok (It's not ok)
Telling themselves lies, Mos Def say
Where you gonna stay, nigga
Where you gonna stay nigga
Oh my God, it's the Green Mile!

What's up y'all?
What y'all wanna do?
Talkin' about a radical man
Ain't nobody up in their crew no?
I could really run that computer
Make it flow
Flow flow flow flow flow
If you ain't born with it
Radical man
Talkin' about the two and four, hit me!
Wait up
What George say, all around
Alright

We claim Miles Davis, not Michaelangelo
We planted flags in the funk
You better act like you know
We don't care what Albert Einstein did
I'd rather know, rather know
What?
How to build a pyramid

Hey!
James Brown, Chuck D., and Jimi
Turn me up louder now
I don't think y'all hear me
I don't hear ya
2045
We will stay alive
2045
Yeah, everybody now
The war is on outside
And the whole pop scenario is just nothin' but a dream
A bad dream
The day you will wake is the day you get the real cream, nigga

Radical man
Radical man
Who got the gift, who got the plan?
Radical man
Radical man
Who got the gift, who got the plan?

This is the funk the industry most fears
Artists getting together
In a locker board of directors
I don't think so
Nobody's running this
Let's talk about DNA, nigga
The radical man

Where will you be in 2045?
30 million people right now, are being wiped off the face of the planet by disease
They claim they have no cure
In the matter of a blinking eye
All of us right now can testify
Take a stand, radical man