Prince Paul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Prince Paul | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Paul Huston |
| Born | April 2, 1967 |
| Origin | New York City, New York |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer and DJ |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Label(s) | Tommy Boy Records |
| Associated acts | Stetsasonic, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gravediggaz, De La Soul, Kool Keith |
Paul Huston (born April 2, 1967), better known by the stage name Prince Paul, is an American disc jockey and hip hop record producer.
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[edit] Biography
Originally a member of Stetsasonic, he produced tracks on hip-hop albums such as 3rd Bass' 1989 debut album The Cactus Album and De La Soul's 1989 debut album 3 Feet High and Rising. After two more albums, he left them, putting together two solo projects: Psychoanalysis: What is It? and the hip hop opera A Prince Among Thieves featuring Big Daddy Kane, Xzibit and Everlast. He, along with Frukwan of Stetsasonic, Too Poetic of Brothers Grimm and the RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, made up the Gravediggaz. In the liner notes of De La Soul's 1993 album, Buhloone Mindstate, Paul hinted at his future projects with the Gravediggaz: "I would like to thank all my friends and business cohorts who dissed me, played me, and jerked me when times were hard. For you made me wiser, stronger, crazier and most of all a gravedigga!"
Alongside Teo Macero, Prince Paul co-produced guitarist Vernon Reid's solo debut in 1995.
Paul teamed up with Dan the Automator to form Handsome Boy Modeling School; their album So... How's Your Girl? featured diverse names from Sean Lennon and Del tha Funkee Homosapien to Alec Empire and Don Novello. In the year 2000, Paul produced I Hope I Sell A Lot Of Records At Christmastime by Princess Superstar as well as MC Paul Barman's début EP It's Very Stimulating. White People continued Handsome Boy's tradition of strange skits and an odd mix of guests over Paul- and Automator-produced beats, including RZA, Linkin Park, Tim Meadows, and John Oates.
Politics of the Business (2003) is a look at present-day hip hop, again featuring many guests, from Chuck D and Ice T to the Beatnuts and Wordsworth. The latter also collaborated on a track Paul composed for the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack. The response to POTB was lackluster; Paul's intention of ridiculing the sterile beats of the day either missed or fell flat.
His most recent release is the album Itstrumental, a return to Paul's more conservative or more daring previous work, depending on how one saw POTB. Itstrumental contained a range of genres, relying heavily on past samples, especially those from A Prince Among Thieves, and tying it together with several lighthearted skits about his apparently real depression. He also produced the album The Art of Picking Up Women of imaginary rockers The Dix, who bring rap's misogyny and boasting to 19'60s-style R&B.
Paul nabbed a deal with satellite radio company XM and currently runs "The Ill Out Show" on the company's The Rhyme 65 channel. The show is hosted with members of "The Ill Out Crew", various staple partners Paul has worked with throughout his career such as Don Newkirk (supposedly the game show host of 3 Feet High and Rising fame, although the host is elsewhere identified as Al Watts). Al Watts was the engineer on 3 Feet High and Rising and did play the part of the game show host. The studio was Island Media formerly of West Babylon, New York. The show is a hip-hop fan favorite, airing news, classic songs, and interviews with various hip-hop artists. What may become one of the show's most famed episodes was a "Love Joint" show in July 2006, featuring love/relationship-oriented Hip-Hop songs programmed in an unorthodox fashion through an in-depth interview with R.A. the Rugged Man. Paul is also scheduled to produce the original musical score for an upcoming Frank Henenlotter film.
Paul's latest project is Baby Elephant, a collaboration with Parliament/Talking Heads keyboardist Bernie Worrell and longtime Paul associate Don Newkirk. Released September 11th, 2007, Turn My Teeth Up!, features George Clinton, Shock G, Yellowman, Reggie Watts, Nona Hendryx, David Byrne and Gabby La La.
On October 30, 2006, it was reported on the official Hieroglyphics blog that Prince Paul was in the studio doing production work on upcoming album of the Souls of Mischief.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 1996 Psychoanalysis: What is it? (WordSound Records, later reissued by Tommy Boy Records in 1997 with bonus cuts)
- 1999 A Prince Among Thieves (Tommy Boy Records)
- 2003 Politics of the Business (Razor & Tie)
- 2005 Itstrumental (Female Fun Records)
- 2005 Hip Hop Gold Dust (Antidote)
[edit] Production
- On Fire by Stetsasonic (1986)
- In Full Gear by Stetsasonic (1988)
- The Cactus Album by 3rd Bass (1989)
- 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul (1989)
- It's a Big Daddy Thing by Big Daddy Kane (1989)
- De La Soul Is Dead by De La Soul (1991)
- Blood, Sweat & No Tears by Stetsasonic (1991)
- Buhloone Mindstate by De La Soul (1993)
- My Field Trip to Planet 9 by Justin Warfield (1993)
- 6 Feet Deep by the Gravediggaz (1994)
- Roll With the New by Chris Rock (1997)
- The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel by the Gravediggaz (1997)
- I Hope I Sell a Lot of Records at Christmastime by Princess Superstar (1999)
- So... How's Your Girl? by Handsome Boy Modeling School (1999)
- Bigger & Blacker by Chris Rock (1999)
- It's Very Stimulating by MC Paul Barman (2000)
- Both Sides of the Brain by Del tha Funkee Homosapien (2000)
- The Best Part by J-Live (2001)
- Paullelujah! by MC Paul Barman (2002)
- Palace of the Pretender by Last Emperor (2003)
- White People by Handsome Boy Modeling School (2004)
- The Art of Picking Up Women by The Dix (2005)
- Turn My Teeth Up! by Baby Elephant (2007)
- Baby Loves Hip Hop Presents The Dino 5 by Dino 5 (2008)
[edit] External links
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