Subscribe

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.

« Previous page 1 2