Prince Paul (Clash, 2007)

 

“Historically, I’ve never followed one path with my work,” Prince Paul admits over a telephone line from his native Long Island. “That’s because I never feel just one way. De La Soul was about innocence and happiness, where other stuff has been inspired by the feeling that everyone hates me [laughs]; about my life being over because Russell Simmons won’t pick up the phone any more [laughs even louder]. One thing I’ve learned in general is that you have to go with your gut instinct. You have to make what you like. That’s what music is: it’s personal.”

Paul’s career has been defined, more or less, by offering alternatives to dominating/dull rap paradigms. Following his early days as producer with Stetsasonic (he played a role in all three of their albums, helping to create cult hits like ‘Sally’ and ‘Talkin’ All That Jazz’), he went on to help create albums like De La Soul’s seminal Three Feet High And Rising (and others) The Gravediggaz’ Six Feet Deep, plus a range of material for rap luminaries like Boogie Down Productions, Big Daddy Kane and Queen Latifah.

The wilful diversity displayed on these projects has became a hallmark of his production style, manifesting itself more extremely on his own ambitious documents; Psychoanalysis, A Prince Amongst Thieves, Politics Of The Business and his Handsome Boy Modelling albums (created alongside Dan The Automater) - White People and So…How’s Your Girl?

Though his solo/collaborative projects have given Paul the reputation of hip hop’s ‘King Of The Concept Album’, his best known project is doubtless Three Feet High & Rising, on which he ushered in a whole new movement in rap; one that celebrated black consciousness in a good-natured way. The feel-good vibes of the album – in particular its inventive skits - underlined Paul’s famous sense of humour, which he describes as “weird, goofy…sometimes just plain stoooopid”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My humour can be traced back to my family home,” he says. “In my house people snapped on each other constantly in an ‘I’m-trying-to-hurt-your-feelings’ kind of way. You had to have a thick shell. Plus I was always a weird kid, kind of offbeat, and I think that all has somehow translated into the music. I’ve never thought of being a comedian though. Although I entertained myself, my family never found me funny. I’d be like, “Hey Ma, Pa, look at this!” and they would all be shaking their heads and looking concerned [laughs].”

Chris Rock found him funny: he commissioned Paul to produce several of his own comedy albums. Having worked with classic b-boy material, comedy, jazz (with legendary producer Teo ‘Miles Davis’ Macero and Vernon ‘Living Colour’ Reid), grandiose concepts and the abstract underground, Paul has most recently trained his creative focus to the Compilation Record, in the shape of his latest release Hip Hop Gold Dust.

“I was initially approached by DJ Yoda (Antidote Records) about doing a mix album with some influential records,” he says, “but to be honest I thought that might be a little boring. I was about to bootleg some stuff I had that hadn’t been released and after Yoda’s call had the idea of putting it out properly through his label. I’ve had most of these songs for years but had been waiting and waiting. Then I read an interview with some old well-known artist who was talking about re-releasing his own music. He said that he was re-releasing it while alive as it would probably be released when he was dead anyway, and not in the way he wanted it to be. That made me laugh but I also found a nugget of truth in that...”

So the Prince shook down his vaults, unearthing dust-covered cuts from De La Soul, Gravedigggaz, Stetsasonic, Last Emperor, May May, Resident Alien, Groove B Chill and LA Symphony; tracks that, for one reason or another, had never seen a proper release. He then threaded them together via a series of his trademark skits to create a bumpin’ anthology that ranges from heavyweight club-bangers and party-hearty block-rockers to instrumental headnods and reggae rubs.

“I was thinking about how to put it together, and I ended up doing it like I always do it. My roots are as a DJ, and that’s how I’ve always sequenced my albums, like I’m a person at a party listening to the sequence and thinking ‘would I like to hear that tune right now?’ or ‘is that too much too soon?’ I wanted to make it fun too, as it’s really an album for the heads, y’know, people into that vibe, that kind of hip hop.”

Not only is virtually every tune on the comp a killer, the concept prompts us to dwell on the notion that there’s hordes of music out there just gathering cobwebs in music vaults the globe over. Hip Hop Gold Dust represents just a small proportion of what Paul himself has in his unreleased cache, and he is already projecting plans for a follow-up. With yet another bomb project under his belt, is there anything else Prince Paul might like to attempt in the near future?

“Actually yes,” he muses. “I would like to make something with the same impact as [De La Soul’s] Three Feet High…something that can change things, really stir things up. It’s a big thing to say, but I’d like to make something that can maybe change the world, that can make people say ‘Oh my god, there is light at the end of the tunnel’. In the long-term I guess I’d like people to be able to look at my resume and say ‘Well, he did comedy, jazz, ‘horrorcore’…and maybe he didn’t really master any one thing but what he did, he did…well’.”