Prince Paul
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Originally a member of the hip hop band Stetsasonic, Prince Paul (born Paul Huston) produced De La Soul's 1989 debut album Three 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 rappers such as Big Daddy Kane and Everlast. He was also a member of the Gravediggaz.
Paul teamed up with Dan the Automator to form the Handsome Boy Modeling School; their album So... how's your girl? featured prominent names such as Sean Lennon and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien. 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".
"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 Sponge Bob movie soundtrack.
His most recent effort is the album "Itstrumental". He also produced the album "The Art of Picking Up Women" of his new group The Dix.
Prince Paul is known for having a very unorthodox, but mostly well-received sense of humor. Musically, he was one of the driving forces of what was to become known as alternative rap, by using surprising samples and quirky humour. Apart from "Politics of the Business", which was inspired by mainstream rap music, and The Dix, his music is east coast hip hop, meaning classic hip hop breaks and samples.
Discography
- 1996 Psychoanalysis [ What is It? ] (WordSound)
- 1999 A Prince Among Thieves (Tommy Boy Records)
- 2003 Politics of the Business (Razor & Tie)
- 2005 Itstrumental (Female Fun)
Note
"Psychoanalysis [ What Is It? ]" was re-issued by Tommy Boy.