"The Internet is Over"

Upon accepting the award for Best Internet Only Single for his track, “War”, in 1999, Prince uniformed his acceptance speech around cyber security awareness, enlightening those with the following statement:

"Don't be fooled by the Internet. Use the computer - don't let the computer use you. Y'all all saw The Matrix. There’s a war going on, the battlefield is in the mind and the prize is the soul so be careful. Be very careful.”

Prince has never refrained from prioritizing his beliefs & communicating these beliefs through the use of his music, interviews, and in numerous cases including this one, in the form of award acceptance speeches. While always holding strong to his beliefs, his concern for the future of technology is something Prince never gave up vocalizing throughout his career.

In 2010, Prince told UK’s Daily Mirror:

“The internet’s completely over. The internet is like MTV. At one time, MTV was hip, and suddenly, it became outdated. Anyway, all these digital gadgets are no good… They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

Throughout songs like “New World,” and “Computer Blue”, or especially so in his most recent albums such as Art Official Age, HiTnRuN Phases One & Two, as well as Welcome 2 America, the concern for citizens’ privacy and internet security is primarily the main focal points throughout these albums, portraying what the ultimate form of slavery looks like today and decades down the road.

THE SCENE

"Don't be fooled by the Internet. Use the computer - don't let the computer use you. Y'all all saw The Matrix. There’s a war going on, the battlefield is in the mind and the prize is the soul so be careful. Be very careful.”

“The internet’s completely over. The internet is like MTV. At one time, MTV was hip, and suddenly, it became outdated. Anyway, all these digital gadgets are no good… They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”