Prince Paul grew up on Long Island and started DJing when he was only 11 years old with two crappy turntables. By high school he had met the guys that would eventually form the seminal hip-hop group, De La Soul. Paul went on to produce their album that probably still pays his bills, 3 Feet High and Rising. Since then he has produced more De La Soul and Chris Rock's comedy albums Roll With The New and Bigger & Blacker.
But Prince Paul shines brightest when it comes to the albums he appears on personally such as his collaboration with Dan the Automator, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and now his new album The Politics of the Business.
The Politics of the Business dissects, well, the politics of the music business. DJ Premier of Gang Starr gets his own track so he could go off on the music industry bullshit. MF Doom, hopefully wearing his trademarked Dr. Doom mask, kicks out some rhymes and comedian Dave Chappelle livens things up on two more tracks.
Check out Prince Paul's album.
Daniel Robert Epstein: How are you doing?
Prince Paul: Good, its great to have someone want to talk to me. I was saying earlier that it's better than people saying "The record is out, so what!"
DRE: I heard you've had some trouble getting this album out.
PP: Yeah it's been pretty touchy. It was supposed to be out on Tommy Boy and they lost their deal with Warner Bros which left me stranded for a while. Nobody wanted me. I was the kid that nobody wanted to adopt because I was too old [laughs]. Everyone likes the cute baby.
DRE: You think it's because some recent hip-hop and rap albums haven't been doing too well?
PP: I think that might be part of it but the bigger part of it is that when you deal with me, you have to like me and be a fan, because I'm not a guaranteed seller. It's not like I go platinum every time I come out. No one's throwing down for a Bentley with my stuff coming out.
DRE: You said that every record you've done has come from some kind of pain or hurt. What about this album?
PP: Yeah it's just getting pissed. I don't have any t-shirts or music videos. They say that's it's not in the budget so we have to find an "artistic" way of doing a video. That's a way of saying you're not going to make much money so why should we support you. That's the underlying meaning. It hurts feelings especially when you put out a lot for a particular company or person, then they don't get you back it kind of works on you a little bit. That was my feeling behind the record.
DRE: But when a listener hears your albums and this one in particular it always seems like you're having fun making them.
PP: Yeah of course. With most of my records there is always a core humor at the center. I laugh to keep from crying [laughs]. My personality is such that even at the craziest times I'm chuckling. It might be out of nervousness.
DRE: What was it like having DJ Premier going off on the music industry on the album?
PP: Yeah he's definitely saying his thing and I agree with him. My whole thing is that making records doesn't suck but dealing with the song and dance is part of it. Then there is other aspects of it is like schmoozing with people but you got to do to make the money. On the album I just wanted to make a parody of songs I hear on the radio because it's all the same thing. Someone in the beginning disses you, "Hey sucka, we're putting out a record. What you going to do punk?" [laughs] All that stuff then the song starts and it's the girl singing the hook then it's all making dollars. Its funny, I wanted to touch on that and talk about the music.
DRE: Does MF Doom wear the mask all the time?
PP: When we're recording he wasn't fortunately it might have slurred his speech a little bit. But he did rock the mask the last time I seen him. He got a new one because the old one was plastic but now he's got a serious metal joint with a thing that clicks in the back so it stays on. I love Doom, he's insane. Ever since I worked with him on [the Third Bass classic Gas Face] I've been a fan.
DRE: Why do you think hip-hop is so whack now?
PP: I don't know if I think its whack but it's not good. It's uninspiring. Not even that long ago there was stuff coming out that made you want to go out and create. But everything is so recycled and repetitive and nothing makes you want to freak out and do something new. As an artist it's hard for me to listen to a new somebody and be really into them. I have to go back and listen to stuff like The Beatles or someone to get amped on. I can't find anyone new I really want to hear, I have to go back and listen to the Beach Boys or something [laughs].
DRE: You mention something new in the liner notes, hip-pop. What's that?
PP: That's the new movement boy. Pop records. Think about it, when you listen to records that are daytime hip-hop radio and they're whole format is a pop song. The lyrics and melodies are simple and repetitive. They're designed to go on the pop charts. I was telling someone recently that 3 Feet High and Rising was a pop record but it had no intention of being one. I had no idea what a pop chart even was back then, it just kind of snuck in. Now people are making and using formulas to make pop records. Like Nelly, he makes a good record but it's a pop record with hip-hop elements. You can't tell me that the song Nelly did with Kelly Rowland [Dilemma] wasn't a pop record. A lot of people are doing that, they're intentionally making records to crossover.
I don't think I'm the genius that came up with that phrase though. I'm sure if I did say that people would grab me and say "I said that first!"
DRE: Also the famous word you came up with Hip Hopera. They made a movie called Carmen: A Hip Hopera which Robert Townsend directed.
PP: Hey man I don't know where Hip Hopera came from; maybe I said it in passing. But conceptually I look at that and think that's it's me. The sad thing is I didn't get any money from that, which would be nice. But I wouldn't mind the credit. If it is a movement then I wouldn't mind if someone mentioned that Prince Paul helped the movement. Then my son could look in a book and say "My dad did that." But the first thing he'll see is MTV and Carmen. I'll get skipped over.
DRE: You have amazing guests on your album. I always wondered whether everyone gets paid or they do it as favors.
PP: They do have to get paid but its all within my budget. I don't cheapskate everyone and give them a sandwich [laughs]. Everyone got paid well but I couldn't afford the high powered artists like Busta Rhymes. I wanted him on the album but he never called me back, I got brushed off.
DRE: That's bullshit.
PP: You said it. I didn't.
DRE: I don't get that.
PP: I do. It's about making money. Mystikal wanted $70,000 for a verse. I thought, in that case I'll start rhyming. I'm in the wrong profession. I need to start picking up a pen and a pad.
DRE: What do you think about producers like the Neptunes who get a $100,000 just to walk into the room?
PP: I think that's dope. My fame just came at the wrong time. I should come up now as opposed to my highlight being 89-91. I was making good money then but I'd be making incredible money now. I think they deserve it. If the labels are willing to pay it, why not take it?
DRE: Was it tough recording those tracks with Dave Chappelle? Were you cracking up the whole time?
PP: He's crazy man. I was nervous because I scripted out everything he said. Working with Chris [Rock] we know each other's humor. But with Dave I don't have as much a rapport with him so when I showed it to him I was scared he would say it wasn't funny. He worked with it and adlibbed some stuff too. He's so laid back but everything he says is so funny.
DRE: Why is it so important to you to mix humor into your albums?
PP: This time I intentionally tried to do some funny stuff. But other times not so much. Hip-hop is just funny itself. Rappers take themselves so seriously that they end up making a mockery of it. It's like wrestling in that sense, "I'm the Junkyard Dog rrrr." Rappers are the same way "I'm Burberry Man and I got burberry drawers. My skin is tattooed burberry." They go to an extreme, they're so serious about it and people take it so seriously. This outrageousness is so accepted now and people look at me like I'm a fool for laughing at it.
DRE: What's the first thing you do when you sit down to do a new track?
PP: Usually pray its going to come out good [laughs]. It all depends on my approach. A lot of times I feel anxiety because I'm so excited about getting to the finished product. I just sit down, try to relax and let what happens happen. Whether I program the beat first or think about how the MC would say this.
DRE: What made you decide to name the Handsome Boy Modeling School album after something from an episode of Get a Life [with Chris Elliott]?
PP: I love that shit. I remember when that show came on I only had one other friend who likes it, my man The Beast. He was like my best friend. We thought it was so funny and everyone else thought it was dumb. When I met Dan [the Automator] and I noticed he had Chris Elliott on the Octagon record. Dan was like yeah that's Cabin Boy. That started a whole conversation about Get a Life, remember the episode when? It was a good bonding point.
DRE: Did you ever talk to Chris Elliott about it?
PP: I know the people at the label had discussed it with him. We sampled some stuff for the album so he had to know about. We wanted to get him in a video but apparently we couldn't get a video done. We had to make our own video. There's no love man, that's Prince Paul.
DRE: What's it like working with Dan the Automator?
PP: He's a crazy dude despite his mild mannered exterior. He's goofy and very sarcastic. If you don't really know him I can see you wanting to beat him up. But I know him so I think he's funny.
DRE: Even though you get no respect from labels. Other artists must respect you to no end. Is that true?
PP: Didn't I just mention Busta Rhymes? [laughs] It's more underground cats who are into me. Maybe some mainstream people. It's a weird type of respect. They respect me for taking risks. People really expect dollars. I can walk in and be the most creative guy in the world but then you get Little John and the Eastside Boys. People look at him with the pimp outfit and the glasses and see all his money. Then they won't look at me. That's just the society we live and I have to learn to accept it. I used to get my feelings hurt because morally that's not right. But that's the way it is. It keeps me humble.
DRE: How is it working with Razor & Tie?
PP: So far they've been great. I haven't had any problems with them. I just hope they don't drop me.
DRE: I don't think they expect new gold teeth because of you.
PP: [laughs] You never know man. I always say that jokingly but I still want to put out my next record. I've already started on it.
DRE: What else is coming up?
PP: We've got a new Handsome Boy record coming out from Elektra [Records] maybe by the middle of next year.
DRE: What made you go from producing to your own albums?
PP: I was kind of forced. That was prompted by not working with De La Soul anymore. I always looked forward to making their albums but when we weren't doing them anymore it was weird because that's all I was identified with. It scared me into making my own identity so I could keep making the records I wanted to make. It was a good thing.
DRE: What's your favorite pornography?
PP: You mean like animals or lesbianism.
DRE: If you like animals I don't want to hear it.
PP: [laughs] I like all girls except for gay male porn and animals of the like. I don't discriminate on my porn as long as it's well lit and it doesn't have cheesy music. I want to do porn music. That'd be great. I should just get a video camera, some willing girls and shoot my own porn movie.
DRE: What's your favorite out of the Goth emo or punk girls?
PP: How about anyone that would want to be with me. I'll default to that.
by Daniel Robert Epstein.
But Prince Paul shines brightest when it comes to the albums he appears on personally such as his collaboration with Dan the Automator, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and now his new album The Politics of the Business.
The Politics of the Business dissects, well, the politics of the music business. DJ Premier of Gang Starr gets his own track so he could go off on the music industry bullshit. MF Doom, hopefully wearing his trademarked Dr. Doom mask, kicks out some rhymes and comedian Dave Chappelle livens things up on two more tracks.
Check out Prince Paul's album.
Daniel Robert Epstein: How are you doing?
Prince Paul: Good, its great to have someone want to talk to me. I was saying earlier that it's better than people saying "The record is out, so what!"
DRE: I heard you've had some trouble getting this album out.
PP: Yeah it's been pretty touchy. It was supposed to be out on Tommy Boy and they lost their deal with Warner Bros which left me stranded for a while. Nobody wanted me. I was the kid that nobody wanted to adopt because I was too old [laughs]. Everyone likes the cute baby.
DRE: You think it's because some recent hip-hop and rap albums haven't been doing too well?
PP: I think that might be part of it but the bigger part of it is that when you deal with me, you have to like me and be a fan, because I'm not a guaranteed seller. It's not like I go platinum every time I come out. No one's throwing down for a Bentley with my stuff coming out.
DRE: You said that every record you've done has come from some kind of pain or hurt. What about this album?
PP: Yeah it's just getting pissed. I don't have any t-shirts or music videos. They say that's it's not in the budget so we have to find an "artistic" way of doing a video. That's a way of saying you're not going to make much money so why should we support you. That's the underlying meaning. It hurts feelings especially when you put out a lot for a particular company or person, then they don't get you back it kind of works on you a little bit. That was my feeling behind the record.
DRE: But when a listener hears your albums and this one in particular it always seems like you're having fun making them.
PP: Yeah of course. With most of my records there is always a core humor at the center. I laugh to keep from crying [laughs]. My personality is such that even at the craziest times I'm chuckling. It might be out of nervousness.
DRE: What was it like having DJ Premier going off on the music industry on the album?
PP: Yeah he's definitely saying his thing and I agree with him. My whole thing is that making records doesn't suck but dealing with the song and dance is part of it. Then there is other aspects of it is like schmoozing with people but you got to do to make the money. On the album I just wanted to make a parody of songs I hear on the radio because it's all the same thing. Someone in the beginning disses you, "Hey sucka, we're putting out a record. What you going to do punk?" [laughs] All that stuff then the song starts and it's the girl singing the hook then it's all making dollars. Its funny, I wanted to touch on that and talk about the music.
DRE: Does MF Doom wear the mask all the time?
PP: When we're recording he wasn't fortunately it might have slurred his speech a little bit. But he did rock the mask the last time I seen him. He got a new one because the old one was plastic but now he's got a serious metal joint with a thing that clicks in the back so it stays on. I love Doom, he's insane. Ever since I worked with him on [the Third Bass classic Gas Face] I've been a fan.
DRE: Why do you think hip-hop is so whack now?
PP: I don't know if I think its whack but it's not good. It's uninspiring. Not even that long ago there was stuff coming out that made you want to go out and create. But everything is so recycled and repetitive and nothing makes you want to freak out and do something new. As an artist it's hard for me to listen to a new somebody and be really into them. I have to go back and listen to stuff like The Beatles or someone to get amped on. I can't find anyone new I really want to hear, I have to go back and listen to the Beach Boys or something [laughs].
DRE: You mention something new in the liner notes, hip-pop. What's that?
PP: That's the new movement boy. Pop records. Think about it, when you listen to records that are daytime hip-hop radio and they're whole format is a pop song. The lyrics and melodies are simple and repetitive. They're designed to go on the pop charts. I was telling someone recently that 3 Feet High and Rising was a pop record but it had no intention of being one. I had no idea what a pop chart even was back then, it just kind of snuck in. Now people are making and using formulas to make pop records. Like Nelly, he makes a good record but it's a pop record with hip-hop elements. You can't tell me that the song Nelly did with Kelly Rowland [Dilemma] wasn't a pop record. A lot of people are doing that, they're intentionally making records to crossover.
I don't think I'm the genius that came up with that phrase though. I'm sure if I did say that people would grab me and say "I said that first!"
DRE: Also the famous word you came up with Hip Hopera. They made a movie called Carmen: A Hip Hopera which Robert Townsend directed.
PP: Hey man I don't know where Hip Hopera came from; maybe I said it in passing. But conceptually I look at that and think that's it's me. The sad thing is I didn't get any money from that, which would be nice. But I wouldn't mind the credit. If it is a movement then I wouldn't mind if someone mentioned that Prince Paul helped the movement. Then my son could look in a book and say "My dad did that." But the first thing he'll see is MTV and Carmen. I'll get skipped over.
DRE: You have amazing guests on your album. I always wondered whether everyone gets paid or they do it as favors.
PP: They do have to get paid but its all within my budget. I don't cheapskate everyone and give them a sandwich [laughs]. Everyone got paid well but I couldn't afford the high powered artists like Busta Rhymes. I wanted him on the album but he never called me back, I got brushed off.
DRE: That's bullshit.
PP: You said it. I didn't.
DRE: I don't get that.
PP: I do. It's about making money. Mystikal wanted $70,000 for a verse. I thought, in that case I'll start rhyming. I'm in the wrong profession. I need to start picking up a pen and a pad.
DRE: What do you think about producers like the Neptunes who get a $100,000 just to walk into the room?
PP: I think that's dope. My fame just came at the wrong time. I should come up now as opposed to my highlight being 89-91. I was making good money then but I'd be making incredible money now. I think they deserve it. If the labels are willing to pay it, why not take it?
DRE: Was it tough recording those tracks with Dave Chappelle? Were you cracking up the whole time?
PP: He's crazy man. I was nervous because I scripted out everything he said. Working with Chris [Rock] we know each other's humor. But with Dave I don't have as much a rapport with him so when I showed it to him I was scared he would say it wasn't funny. He worked with it and adlibbed some stuff too. He's so laid back but everything he says is so funny.
DRE: Why is it so important to you to mix humor into your albums?
PP: This time I intentionally tried to do some funny stuff. But other times not so much. Hip-hop is just funny itself. Rappers take themselves so seriously that they end up making a mockery of it. It's like wrestling in that sense, "I'm the Junkyard Dog rrrr." Rappers are the same way "I'm Burberry Man and I got burberry drawers. My skin is tattooed burberry." They go to an extreme, they're so serious about it and people take it so seriously. This outrageousness is so accepted now and people look at me like I'm a fool for laughing at it.
DRE: What's the first thing you do when you sit down to do a new track?
PP: Usually pray its going to come out good [laughs]. It all depends on my approach. A lot of times I feel anxiety because I'm so excited about getting to the finished product. I just sit down, try to relax and let what happens happen. Whether I program the beat first or think about how the MC would say this.
DRE: What made you decide to name the Handsome Boy Modeling School album after something from an episode of Get a Life [with Chris Elliott]?
PP: I love that shit. I remember when that show came on I only had one other friend who likes it, my man The Beast. He was like my best friend. We thought it was so funny and everyone else thought it was dumb. When I met Dan [the Automator] and I noticed he had Chris Elliott on the Octagon record. Dan was like yeah that's Cabin Boy. That started a whole conversation about Get a Life, remember the episode when? It was a good bonding point.
DRE: Did you ever talk to Chris Elliott about it?
PP: I know the people at the label had discussed it with him. We sampled some stuff for the album so he had to know about. We wanted to get him in a video but apparently we couldn't get a video done. We had to make our own video. There's no love man, that's Prince Paul.
DRE: What's it like working with Dan the Automator?
PP: He's a crazy dude despite his mild mannered exterior. He's goofy and very sarcastic. If you don't really know him I can see you wanting to beat him up. But I know him so I think he's funny.
DRE: Even though you get no respect from labels. Other artists must respect you to no end. Is that true?
PP: Didn't I just mention Busta Rhymes? [laughs] It's more underground cats who are into me. Maybe some mainstream people. It's a weird type of respect. They respect me for taking risks. People really expect dollars. I can walk in and be the most creative guy in the world but then you get Little John and the Eastside Boys. People look at him with the pimp outfit and the glasses and see all his money. Then they won't look at me. That's just the society we live and I have to learn to accept it. I used to get my feelings hurt because morally that's not right. But that's the way it is. It keeps me humble.
DRE: How is it working with Razor & Tie?
PP: So far they've been great. I haven't had any problems with them. I just hope they don't drop me.
DRE: I don't think they expect new gold teeth because of you.
PP: [laughs] You never know man. I always say that jokingly but I still want to put out my next record. I've already started on it.
DRE: What else is coming up?
PP: We've got a new Handsome Boy record coming out from Elektra [Records] maybe by the middle of next year.
DRE: What made you go from producing to your own albums?
PP: I was kind of forced. That was prompted by not working with De La Soul anymore. I always looked forward to making their albums but when we weren't doing them anymore it was weird because that's all I was identified with. It scared me into making my own identity so I could keep making the records I wanted to make. It was a good thing.
DRE: What's your favorite pornography?
PP: You mean like animals or lesbianism.
DRE: If you like animals I don't want to hear it.
PP: [laughs] I like all girls except for gay male porn and animals of the like. I don't discriminate on my porn as long as it's well lit and it doesn't have cheesy music. I want to do porn music. That'd be great. I should just get a video camera, some willing girls and shoot my own porn movie.
DRE: What's your favorite out of the Goth emo or punk girls?
PP: How about anyone that would want to be with me. I'll default to that.
by Daniel Robert Epstein.
VIEW 16 of 16 COMMENTS
he is right about the direction of "hip hop".. but its been a beaten horse for more then a decade anyways.. at least in the mainstream sense..
funny he mentioned mystikal.. well maybe sad if he really was inquiring his presence on some of his work..
ack