Exclusive: Prince Paul Speaks On Possiblity Of Prince Among Thieves 2

The generational gap between Hip-Hop artists is a vast one that most older acts have a hard time closing in on. Old habits die hard and sometimes, reinventing yourself is too much to grasp onto.

Veteran DJ, producer, MC–and now talk show host, Prince Paul has been fortunate to never have to compromise his character. He simply adapted to the ever-changing landscape within Hip-Hop.

His adaption has found him in front of the cameras as the host Scion AV’s “All Purpose Show.” During the YouTube segment, Prince Paul exchanges witty banter with new acts, bridging the aforementioned gap for an interesting experience.

Hip-Hop Wired recently spoke with the multi-talent, whose recent appearance on Marco Polo’s PA:2 cast him in the rapping spotlight.

Scion has shown great interest in the musical aspect of the Hip-Hop figures of yesterday who still have more to give to the game. Since 2008, they have put the likes of EPMD, Nice & Smooth and Prince Paul back into the mix and the latter submitted an idea that was so crazy it worked. “I pitched an idea to them where I would go around and just interview other artists,” he tells Hip-Hop Wired. “I was at a point where I was embroiled with music–and I’m kind of still at that point, so I wanted to just try something different. That led up to Scion approaching me and saying they have an idea for show that includes artists that they had a relationship with and that created the “All Purpose Show.”

The idea proved to be a successful where Paul and the Ill Out Crew combine humor and journalistic integrity to show artists in a different light unknown to most of the public. Past guests include Too $hort, A$AP Rocky and Curren$y (notice a trend?) but there was one goofball in particular that Prince Paul had a fond experience with.

“Riff Raff was pretty interesting. He came with the mindset that he’s going to wild out and have fun. But he don’t know my crew! We get wild too and we have more years of being wild. You have to tame yourself when you get on the “All Purpose Show,” man! We can snap jokes for jokes and all that. C’mon man, I worked with Chris Rock. It’s what I do! I think that made him fall back and focus on the interview but, yeah. [Laughs]

With the momentum behind him, a full-fledged return to music is inevitable. But would the “All Purpose Show” host be opposed to recreating the album which so many fans cherished?

“A Prince Among Thieves 2 would be nice–if I had a budget [Laughs]. Back when I made the original one it was easy to grab artists and ask them to do a record and I can pay you X amount of dollars. In 2013, you’re not likely to get a callback if you’re not paying them. And I just don’t want to work with just anybody too. So it’s possible with the right budget but next year, it is likely that I have some music coming out. I’ve been working on this Brazilian record and I’m a perfectionist so I definitely take my time with it. I can’t do quanity over quality.”

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Photo: Facebook

Prince Paul earned his stripes early as lead producer for De La Soul’s first three albums but A Prince Among Thieves was a classic he could call his own. Critics have hailed it as one of the best concept albums of any genre and lead character Tariq (played by rapper Breezly Brewin) landed a placement on Hip-Hop Wired’s 20 Greatest Fictional Rap Characters Of All-Time.

Prince Paul was appreciative of the nod and added that it was really a cathartic experience to create it. “It was nice to be on that list. When I wrote those characters, it was really healing to make it because I was going through a custody battle with my son,” he explained. “I see everything as good and bad so when I wrote the characters, I was really seeing it as me as the good guy who loses at the end.”

Given the fact a musician never really retires, Prince Paul is not only optimistic about his future but not his present situation. “It exposes me to a lot of artists that I wouldn’t have even knew existed because there’s so much stuff on the net,” in reference to his experiences thus far with the talk show. “If this my livihood, I need to be well informed. I don’t necessarily have to like all the music but I’d like to at least understand it. If there’s a movement going on, I’d like to be up on it. It definitely keeps me in tune. I like to be research to shock the artists when they come on the show. I’m freakin’ 46 years-old; old enough to be their dad!”

Very well put. You can catch Prince Paul’s “All Purpose Show” on the Scion YouTube channel and on Twitter @DJPrincePaul @ScionAv.