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Home , A Prince Among Thieves, Buhloone Mindstate, De La Soul, Prince Paul (producer), Stetsasonic, Tommy Boy Records

PrinceP aul:I was borni n Oueens,b ut my familym ovedo ut E3 PrinceP aul:A t first I thoughtS tetsasoniwc ere gonnab eat I to AmityvilleL, ongl slandw hen I was likef our or five.G row- me up. Theyg athereda roundm e and said," Yo,t hat'sh im. ing up, I was into bikes,r acingc arsa nd recordsT. hat was Fhi Thats him!" I was like "Uh-oh." Backt hen, thev wore abouti t. l've collectedr ecordss inceI was five vearso ld. spikesa nd leather", Beat Streets tyle" clothes. Peggy Houston (Paul'sm om): We used to havet o put a = Daddy-O: We used to do the GrandmasterF lasht hing: boomboxi n the babyc arriagew ith Paul.A nd hisf athera nd I : spikes,l eatherja ckets,c ollarst,h e whole nine.S o when we ' would playr ecordsa roundt he housea llt he time. approachehdi m he had this look like," What the fuck */D do :W hen I got into hip-hopi t wasn't even called -Fr they want from me?" hip-hop.l t was more B-boyt han hip-hopT. his was around =t Prince Paul: They were like, "We're looking for a DJ. '77-78.I was in the fourthg rade,a ndt hat'sw hen the whole Ctrr Wouldy ou be down with us?W e just won this Mr. Magic DJing thing came in. The recordst hey playedt hen were lHt contest at Coney lslandl ast weekend." We were initially Cameo's" lt's Serious,"" Hot Shot" by KarenY oung,C er- d goingt o geta dealw ith SugarhilTl.h enw e gott he dealw ith rone's "Look For Love" and of course "." I was C/*r Tommy Boy. going to block partiesa nd backyardp artiesi n Long lsland (presidento f Tommy'Boy Records)S: tet- and in Brooklync, os' my grandmothelri vedo ut in . =F sasonich adj ust won the Mr. Magict alentc ontesta ndt hey That'sh ow I got exposedt o differents tyles.I would sit in !'t came by the office.P aulw as the babyo f the band.H e was . front of the DJ from the time I rode mv bike to the block t: shy,q uieta nd he was alwaysd oings omethingd ifferent. -rt pafi untilt hey loadedt he equipmentb acku p.T hate nabled Prince Paul: Stetsasonicw ere thinking about making d me to figureo ut a lot of recordsb, ecausee vent hougha lot --. record,b ut I didn't know anythinga bout makingr ecords.I of DJs scratchedo ut labels,t hey weren't smart enought o #- was 16 or 17, naivea s you can be. We recorded" Just Say put the coversd own. So when got F' got I moneyf rom birthdays F Stet" as a demo.A fterw e the dealw ith TommyB oy,w e or holidaysI, went out and boughtt hoses ame records. :r re-didt he song up at Tom Silverman'st udio.I just brought Trugoy (of ):P aulw as the neighborhoodD J. # a few recordsd own and scratchedo n it. Everybodyk new abouth im. Daddy-O:W e did "Just SayS tet" in TomS ilverman'asp art- Prince Paul: I startedD Jing in the fifth grade.I had a redl € ment. Tom didn't even havea tablef or Paul'sd ecks,s o he makeshifst ystem,t his littleL afayettetu rntableth at I hooked hadt o spino n the floor.B ut Paulw as a perfectionistlf. ther,e up to this othert urntables et. I usedt he balancek noba s the = was everthe tiniestm istakew ith oneo f hiss cratchesw, e'd mixer. I didn't have dlpct drive turntablesu ntil I did "On t havet o backu p and do the songa ll overa gain. Firel'w ith StetsasonicI. the McGyvero f hip-hop! Irc? PrinceP aul:A fter "Just SayS tet" everythings tartedg oing Peggy Houston: Paul was for his age; he was f'4D reallyw ell. lf I didn'tg o with my friendso n thatv ant o Brook- alwaysw ith the olderk ids. I lyn I wouldn'tb e where I am now. Daddy-O (of )P: aul alwayst agginga long. Monica Lynch:l f you listent o Stetsasonic'fsir st record" ln -EI:tr But it wasn't like he was out of leagueo r anythingli ke eE Full Gear" you can hear the precursorst o the skits and that; he was just mature. kl weirdnesst hat laya headw ith De La Soul. : I grew up in Suffolk rnty, but I knew about j- PrinceP aul:T heg uysf rom De Laa nd I were alli n the same Paul.P aulw as nice;e veryonek that. He was aheado f # schoolt ogether.M asew as in ninthg rade,P osw as in 10th, hist ime. liE Trugoyw as in 11 tha ndI was in 12th. Paul:I did playa lot of but someD Jsw ouldn't =€ Trugoy:W e allwent to schoolw ith Paul,b utw e weren'tf or- spinb ecauseI w aspdyoung.M y breakthrougghig h ap- mallyi ntroducedu ntil1 987w hen he approachedu s one day Ace inA mi$ille in 1981.I cut upT rouble -.< at work.W e were sweepingu p at thisf leam arketc alledt he Funk's"PumpM e Uo"a ndt hat becamem v claimt o fame. *rTt BusyB ee.l t surprisedu s that Paulw ould evena pproachu s Biz Markie: Paulh ada super-humasnt yle.W hen I saw him at all; we knew him as Pault he great DJ, Pault he Stet- I was like," Yo,h e'sg onnab e oneo f my DJs."A nd he was. d; sasontcm an.

He'd be at a partya nd l'd get on the mic. -f...{ PrinceP aul:T heyw ere workingc leaningu p at the Busy Prince Paul: I worked JTA o with Biz Markief irst; I was in the Beea t the time. lt was likea flea marketi n Massaoeoua. z E eighth gradea t the time. We would do partiesa nd tapes It was funnyt houghb ecauseth ey were alwaysd ressing f !i together.I didn'tj oin Stetsasonicu ntil' 84. The storyo f how E realc ool. F l r-r z I met Stetsasonics till bugs me out to this day.M y friends Trugoy: We probablyw ere the only janitorsw earing - were goingo ut to Brooklynto DJ.T heyw bre fillingt he van ry, goldf ronts. o EtsI up andt hey were like," Yo,y ou wannag o?" I was like,."l PrinceP aul: z E Our musict eachera t school,M r. Collinsr,a n a don't know."S ot heys tartedp ullingo ff and I was like," Wait, ur= this smallr ecordl abela nd he had signedt his guy named wait. I wannag o." I jumpedi n the van at the lastm inute. {t/r, GangstaB . Masew as his DJ at $e time.M r.C ollinsa sked When we got there,i t turnedo ut that therew as a DJ battle me to comei na nd programa beatf or him.B ut I was like," l

E on the block. = don'tt hinkt his is reallyg ood,m an." And Mase was like, P Daddy-O:T he battlew as at this party calledt he "Brevoit "Yo, I agree." I laidd own the beat anywaya nd Mase was o DayC elebration,i"n the BrevoitP rojectsin Brooklyn. 3E like," Yo, I see you got a whole lot of ideas.I got this group fr q- F PrinceP aul: I startedb attlingd, oingt hat undert he leg mix- calledD e La Soula nd if you want to try thesei deasw ith us, F z ing, really showing off and that caught the attentiono f i--_ we'd be down." E Daddy-Oa ndt he otherS tet guys. PrinceP aul:S o De La broughta demo by my house.l t was GlF- J Daddy-O:P aul "Cavern." "Plug "This o was spinningL iquidL iquid's He a roughs ketcho f Tunin."I was like, is phat!l 've was spinningli keh e was mada t the turntablesH. e would got some ideasf or this!" I threw a littled oughi nto it and o hit the scratcha nd be like "unnngh!?"W e were looking !e we re-recordedi t up at CalliopeS tudios. I tried to get i = for a DJ for Stetsasonica nd he seemed perfectf or what == Daddy-Oin volved,b ut he saidt hey soundedt oo much like ----t 6 we needed. the Ultramagnetics.

139 Daddy-O:Y eah,I thoughtt hey sounded liket he Ultramag_ MG Serch: I reallyw anted to be on '.Buddy,,b ut I never netics.B ut "PlugT unin"'w as dope. Thatw as mv shit. I made it. Paulg ave me two tracks insteadw hich became didn'tt hinkt he rest of the demow as as strong.I thought "GasF ace"a nd "BrooklynO ueens.,, thata llt hats hitc ouldh aveb eena s dope ,,plug as Tunin,.r, Trugoy: 3 Feet Higha nd Rr'srnwg as like learningt o a :W hen I firsth eard, ,plug Tunin,,I, didn't bike. There were no boundariesW. e could be foolish, know what the hell it was. lf someone had askedm e to angry hostilew hatever.T herew ere no lirriitg paulw duld_ uset hatt rackI would'veb eenl ike,, ,you,re buggin,l,,B ut n't stop us from doinga nything.lf you made a joke he I endedu p paul ,,lt,s workingw ith on A Big DaddyT hing., would say," Go and record "Ain't that!" Thats how a lot of the and No Stoppin'UsN ow.,,l thought paul had a skitsb egan. whole different,u niques tyle. He,d take a samplet hat PrinceP aul: Everybodys ayst hat I was the first persont o . somebodye lse would use-and turn it into somethino put skitsi ntoh ip-hopre cordsl.t went liket his,t hough:We elsec ompletelv. ,,yo, finishedd oing3 FeetH igha nd I was like, it,sm issing Prince Paul: lronically. ?.a when the De La demo was done I ffsomething.W e need somethingt o link the recordt ogeth_ askedD addy-Oto shopi t for me. And he was getting more er." lsaid, "Let'sd o a game show so peoplec an get to buzzo n my .tapet han his own artists. Thats when he # know the groupb etter". We hado ur engineerp layt he host becamei nterested in the group. ande verybodym adeu p ill questions. Danfe Ross (veteranm usic industry talent scout): I was Trugoy; Paul always instigatedt he skits, but everybody workingf or RushM anagemenatt thet ime. = ,,How Me andD addv_ had a handi n them. All that dumb shit like. manv O were realg ood friendsa nd he introduced paul. me to I fibersa re intertwinedi n a shreddedw heat biscuit?,,L ook_ thoughtD e La Soulw ere the best thing l,d heards ince & ing backI just go, "What the hellw ere we thinking?H ow SlickR ick.M onica Lynchw as thinkinga boList igningth em. didw e come up with thats hit?" Monica Lynch: Daddy-Oa nd paul = came bVt he officew ith PrinceP aul:P eoplew ould actuallva nswert he a tape of De La Soul's" plug Tunin,.,, The best word to andc uto utt he proofo f purchaseo n the backo f thea lbum describet hat song is a word that was in the hip_hopp ar_ G I rememberw ith the shreddedw heatq uestion. lanceo f the day-"dusted." lt was abstract, so different wrote: "Oh, it's a trick question,T he fibersa ren,ti nter from the viscerall,i terakl indo f hip-hop thatw as dominant # twined, they're interwoven."A ll the mail went to Dante back then. lt was arty shit. lt was one of those things Ross-here was a big box of mail at Tommy wherey ou "This -riH Boy called thought, is eitherg oingt o be a.l andmark "DanteT he ScrubM ail." or it won't evenm akea dent in the consciousness.,, =E : I usedt o calle veryone" scrub.,,O ne oay we Prince Paul: We had offers from profile, Geffen and were doing a show down in Texasw ith Sir Mix_A_Lotlt. Tommy Boy. De La went with Tommy prr Boy becauset hev was like1 00d egreesa ndI was tryingt o get De Lat o jump felt that it was the most personabllea bel.p rofile F= ,,Damn, andG ef_ r{ii-= in the pool.T heyw ouldn'te veng et in. I was like, fen were offeringa lot more money, but we went with Glra you can't get Black people to go in the water! y,all Tommy Boy. are scrubsl"S ot heyc alledm e "DanteT heS crub,i,n revenge. Daddy-O:I shoppedt he De La Soulr ecord paul. ...-T=L- aroundf or But I got Maseo back.I calledh im Baby Huey and the Tommy Boy signedt hem quickert han I ry ,,Dante could sav fuck. names tuck.I neverl ookeda t the TheS crub,m, ail. Monica moved so quickly she had the contracts readv But I do knowt hat no one everh adt he righta nswers. beforeI even knew they were being -q drawn. Prince Paul: Evers incet hen everybodyw ants to Monica jumped do skits" Lynch:Y eah,w e to sign De La Soul. What's wack about ,,This skits now is that peoplef eel like they Dante Ross:M onicah iredm e from Rusha nd said, F needt hem to makea n .S omebodvc ameu p ro me is the firsta cty ou'reg onnaw ork with.,, fr! recentlya nds aid," Yo,m y album'sa lmostd one,m an.A ll I PrinceP aul:D e Law as my pet project., ,plug Tunin,,,was =- gotta do is put the skits on it." That,sr eallvc ornv. doingr eallyg ood.l t got playo n the radio.[ t was bumoin, PrinceP aul:3 FeetH ighw orkedb ecausei t was at the iust about Latin Ouarters.T he next songs we recordedw ere havingf un and not "Potholes H beingr eallyp ressuredb y salls or anv- In My Lawn" and "Jenifa.,, et thingl iket hat.W hen we finishedt he albumw e handedi t Trugoy: The first time we went into paul the studiow ith -- in minus "Me, Myselfa nd 1." But the labelm aoe us go litl just blew me away.T he scene was amazing;D addy_O backa nd recordi t becauset hey felt likew e didn,t was pacing navea nv up and down the placeo n the phone,m usrc hit recordso n there. was biaringa, ndp eoplew ere just clowning. lfl -E Monica Lynch: De La Soulw as embracedb v a very lnrer_ Prince Paul: After those initials essions, :'F We did 3 Feet estingm ix of kids:B lack,w hite, Latino.'Andth ev were so High and Rising andt hat just 4', took off. We had a budget of popularin collegesa crosst he country. like$ 20,000fo r the recordl;t tooka bouta month anda half Trugoy: lt was a goldena ge backt henl,gg-,ggw as oure to make,W e worked so well together F becauset hev were dFl to me. lt was like," Wow! Hip-hopis finallyh ere.A lbums opena nd I was open. dE were just blowings hit out of the water.A rtists tnat were Dante Ross:T he De La guys ran throughm y records.T he theret hen are stillh eren ow. l.m proudt o have part 3 Feet beena Hrghs essionsr eallyi nspiredm e to make mv own ilF of that era. beats.T hoses essionsw ere so fun you,d havep eople like Daddy-O:l t was a goldena gef or hip-hopr ecords,n ot hip_ O-lip and Mike G runningt hrough, guys =g and the from hop itself.E veni f you weren't Run-DMCo r The Beasties, UpstairsR ecordsw ouldb e bringing =* us beats. you coulde at. Now if you're notJ ay-L,y ou,res tarvtng. Prince Paul: After every studio session,I would write e'G ,'you Prince Paul:W hat made that era so good was that every_ out a homeworka ssignment: must have C}|I' rnvmes =t-l body strivedt o be unique.l t was importantt o havev our donef orthis song." lwould write it intot heirb ooka nd ilE own identity.T hatfsw hy public Enemy was so different they would have it done. I respected them and thev from De La; De La was different from Ultramagnelcs; respectedm e. 3 il Ultramagneticwsa s differenftr om EricB and Rakim...and 14O THE SOUFCE APRIL,1999

. so on. lt probablyw on't be liket hat ever again. Peoplea re so into being each otherr ightn ow and beinga ccepteda nd scaredo f likeb reakingth e mold. Dante Ross:A nd you could pretty much samplea nythingb ackt hen andc atsh ad- n't runt houghm ost of the recordsy et. /--fft6niCa-ty1c!\ Sampling was an enor- ,/ mousg raya rea'bactkh en.T herew as an / elemento f riskt o all this. But as a labet / we were at the forefronto f establishing the ground rules of sampling.3 Feet High would be unimaginablen ow cost- for us as a label. PrinceP aul:F orD e La'ss econda lbum. I rememberI just wanted to do some- thing similarl o 3 Feet High.Y ou know, havef un and.Jaugha nd do something reallyc razy.EutD e La Soula nd hip-hop ed a lot-thev didn't want to be pigeonholeads a zanyg roup. Trugoy: Paulf elt excluded.l t was sad, but Paulk new that we were just han- dlingo ur businessO. ne day Paulc alled me and he was like, "Damn, l'm not doing this De La Soul album. I don't know what l'm goingt o do." Prince Paul: lt was sad; it was the hard- est decisionI ever had to make in mV career.B ut when I listent o the album now it soundsr eallyg ood.T o be-honest with you, I think De La Sould id a lot betterw ithout my presence. startingo n hiss econda lbumn ow.A nd I justf inishedth e music Trugoy:W e didw ell without Paul,n ot better. Ior A PrinceA mong Thievesa s well. PrinceP aul:T hatw hole exoeriencew ith De La led me to do Breeze( of the undergroundg roupJ uggaknots)l:'v e been of Psychoanalysiwe hich was my farewellt o makingr ecords.A nd fan of everything Paul's ever done, from Stet to the then my relationshiwp ith RushM anagemenfte ll apart.l t was Gravediggaszo, I was blowna wayw hen he calledm e in to do like 1992-93.S o ljust calledi n everybodyw ho lfelt got A PrinceA mong ThievesJ. ust runningi nto all the differentc ats jerked-that's how the Gravediggazg ot started. I got Fruitk- who were wor(ingo n the recordl ikeB ig DaddyK anea nd Don wan, 'cos he got kickedo ut of Stet after the seconda lbum; Newkirkw as amazing. Poeticw, ho was homelessa t the time;a ndR ZA,w ho was hus- PrinceP aul:W hen we startedt he record,B reezew as at the tling. So I pulledt ogethere verybodyw ho was in the same pointw here he was thinkinga boutq Lrittintgh e businesst,o o, m,indseltw as in. lwas like," Yo!W e gonnag et em allb ack." so it made me feel good to use him. PrinceP auli s for the Trugoy:W hen'Paugl ot intot he Gravediggaltzh ought," Damn, underdog-anybodyw ho's beenk ickedd own, spit on, dissed. he'sg onnad o somes hitt hat'sg onnab lowu s out of the water". That'sw ho l'm down with, brothersw ho are reallyd ope but PrinceP aul:T heva ll camet o the housea ndw e did a demo.I don'tg et the recognitlonA. nd that'sw hy I got Breeze. thoughtI hadt he phattestd emo in the world.W e shoppedi t Breeze:P auli s wild cool,b ut he'sa lsop rofessionaHl. e wants and NOBODYw as feelingi t. Just as everybodyh add ecidedt o you to respectp roductions chedulesb, ut he's mad funny.l t quit, Gee Streetp ickedu s up. But the albumw as totallym is- was a blessingto work with him. construedi;t was basedo n liftingy ourselfu p, but everybody DanteR oss:P rinceP auli s an irreverenrtu leb reakerH. e is anti- thoughti t was a gimmick.W hat toppedi t off was that labels machoi n the face of retardednessH. e is the funniestg uy this who hadr ejectedu s were now signingg roupst hat had ripped sideo f the BeastiesA. nd he'sa gearheadt,o o. He canp ut any us off. In the end,t he albumd id reallvw ell, but it didn'td o as machineto gether. t well as I had hoped it would. So I got reallyd epressed.I Daddy-O:P ault ruly createdT he NativeT onguesH. e hadt hat thoughtI hadt he dopestr ecord,b ut peopled idn'tu nderstand vibe goingw ay beforet he Tribea nd De La recordsh appened. it. Which I should'vee xpectedb ecausep eoplen ever under- In fact,h e wouldt ry and get Stetsasoniicn tot hat shit. standw hat I do. Nobodvr eallvu nderstandws hat I do. MG Serch:U nderstandinPga ul'sc ontributionto hip-hopis like Trugoy: Paulw as depressedb, ut I knew he wasn't finished. asking," What'sa tree'sc ontributionto oxygen?"l f you don't He re-inventsh imselfo vera ndo vera gain. put him in the top 10 producerso f allt ime,t hen you ares mok- PrinceP aul:T wo Vearsl ater,C hrisR ockc alledm e out of the inga rock.l f Paulw as to do a greatesth itsa lbumh e'd havet o blue.H e was like," lwant you to producem y record."H e was selli t in monthlyi nstallmentfsr om K-Tel. a big fan. He said, "Comedians love Biz'Markie: PrinceP aul'sc ontributionto hip-hopi s that you BuhlooneM indstate.T hat'st he comedian'sa lbum. I love that couldu se records.thawt eren'tb y JamesB rowno r just break- album." We met up and we clickedr eallyw ell. And Chrls's beats.A nd Paul,r ememberth oser ecordsI borrowedw hen we albumw on a Grammy,w hich I wasn't reallye xpectingW. e're first startedo ut together?Y oua in'tg etting'e m back. O