Prince Paul Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 1)

From Stetsasonic to De La Soul and beyond, Prince Paul has made some monumental moves in the hip-hop game.

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Image via Complex Original
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For a producer who redefined the art of sampling and raised the creative stakes in modern music, Prince Paul is a remarkably humble, easygoing, and quirky guy. He may not always get proper acknowledgement for his work, which flies over many peoples’ heads, but there’s no denying the fact that hip-hop heavyweights like The RZA, 9th Wonder, and The Alchemist have all been influenced by Prince Paul’s bugged-out blueprint.

The musician from Amityville, Long Island got his start as a naïve teenage DJ spinning for the the hip-hop unit Stetsasonic, but Paul was not recognized as a force in the game until he molded one of the most groundbreaking and influential groups in the history of hip-hop.

The formation of De La Soul, and its seminal debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, redefined the possibilities of sampling in hip-hop. Digger deeper than the typical funk and Jazz records, Paul cooped up up a crazy pop-culture gumbo that included country music and TV commercials too. But his eclectic sample sources were not the only eye-opener for the genre. Paul's creative use of skits—both as a way of providing comic relief and establishing a cohesive theme throughout an album—made a profound impact on hip-hop as well. And Prince Paul’s diverse array of production credits for artists like Big Daddy Kane, 3rd Bass, and Queen Latifah earned him props during hip-hop’s golden age.

The veteran producer has managed to survive and thrive amidst the constant onslaught of competitive newcomers. Prince Paul continues to build projects that reflect his restless imagination in thought-provoking and humorous ways. He’s spent much of the past year criss-crossing America with Scion A/V as part of the documentary series “Prince Paul’s Amazing Musical Journey,” which allowed this intrepid aural explorer to keep plugged in to the current music landscape. We caught up with the legend long enough to dissect some of his classic cuts.

As told to Jaeki Cho (@JaekiCho)

Stetsasonic “Just Say Stet” (1986)

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Album: On Fire

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “What’s weird is that when the first record came out, I think I was still in high school. I was working on a demo and stuff. And I had no concept of what was going on. I can honestly say that I was just there having fun. I didn’t know what a demo was, and I didn’t know anything.

“All I know is that before I joined the group, Stetsasonic members were like, ‘Hey, we won this thing called Mr. Magic Rap Attack.’ It was some sort of a contest to get a record deal. I think it was with Sugar Hill. They won that, but apparently the deal was really bad. So they wanted to make a demo, and that’s around the time when I joined the group.


 

Making a record was just so far outside of my reality. Like the only people that were making records were Whodini, Fat Boys, and Run-DMC. So when they said they were making a record I was like, “Yeah, whatever.”


 

“They just told me to come in and put some scratches on a demo. I mean, I had a concept of what a demo was, but making a record was just so far outside of my reality. Like the only people that were making records were Whodini, Fat Boys, and Run-DMC. So when they said they were making a record I was like, “Yeah, whatever.”

“Next thing I know, I’m at Tommy Boy signing a contract. Actually, they were signing, but I wasn’t supposed to sign. I was like 17. I was naïve until the record came out. I was just like, ‘Oh, I got a record out.’ You know? I never took it seriously. So that’s how my earlier records just randomly came about.

“I think all my early records were collaborations. Whether it’s Stetasonic or De La Soul, I don’t even know. That’s a good question. I get BMI statements, and writing credits for all the songs I’ve made. And I never realized that I made hundreds of songs.

“I remember the first record getting played on the radio was “Just Say Stet.” And I was like freaking out. Like, “Mom! Check this out!” I was like 18 at the time. First record, first single, and boom it was on WHBI. I really don’t remember who played it, but I remember turning on the radio, and it was like, ‘My record’s on. Oh, my God. I have a record on the radio.’”

Stetsasonic “Sally” (1988)

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Album: In Full Gear

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “Producing and DJing went hand-in-hand. You probably have to give Grandmaster Flash due credit. Every DJ back in those days, their main goal was to have a beat box or a drum machine. Flash made that popular when he had a drum machine back in the early ’80s. And it was like, ‘Oh, what’s that? That’s not a record.’


 

The most notable one that I did, but did not get credit for, which bothers me until this day, is ‘Sally.’ Frukwan and I put that beat together. The music for ‘Sally’ was actually a remix for ‘Just Say Stet’ from the previous album. I programmed the beat, and I was like, ‘Nah, it’s not going to work. Let’s just save it for the next album.’ Then boom Daddy-O comes with the idea and he puts down the rhyme.


 

“If you were a real hip-hop DJ in New York, and if you were into collecting records, your next step was getting a drum machine. Working a drum machine meant you were programming beats for your MCs. So that automatically translated to, ‘Okay, since hip-hop is now on wax, and I’ve been programming tracks for my group, so I guess I’m a producer or a beatmaker.’ That was just the progression.

“When it came time to make the first album, I’ve been programming beats forever. So when they wanted to check out new music, I would ask, ‘Okay, what do you think about this?’ It just happened. It wasn’t like a decision where I sat down and said, ‘You know? Let me become a producer.’

“The most notable one that I did, but did not get credit for, which bothers me until this day, is ‘Sally.’ Frukwan and I put that beat together. The music for ‘Sally’ was actually a remix for ‘Just Say Stet’ from the previous album. I programmed the beat, and I was like, ‘Nah, it’s not going to work. Let’s just save it for the next album.’ Then boom Daddy-O comes with the idea and he puts down the rhyme.

“It’s funny because we weren’t really understanding what’s going on, and I’m like, ‘Yo, Frukwan and I did that. How come we didn’t get credit for that? How come we didn’t get any writing credit either?’

“I didn’t know writing music meant that you’re a writer. I always thought physically writing the words meant that you were the writer of the song. That’s how I got jerked out of ‘Talkin’ All That Jazz,’ ‘Sally,’ I mean there were a lot of records that I’d have my hands in those days, and I just didn’t know.


 

Kids these days have it so organized because you have all the information at your fingertips. You can read about both good and bad things. There’s no reason for you to really get jerked in 2011 because you have so much information.


 

“If you weren’t going to get that much money off of that, why didn’t you even tell me? Dudes knew, but I was kind of privy to that information. I was a teenager. I was having fun. It was a costly lesson. That was a big record.

“Kids these days have it so organized because you have all the information at your fingertips. You can read about both good and bad things. There’s no reason for you to really get jerked in 2011 because you have so much information.

“Back then, I didn’t know what a songwriter was and I got jerked out of writing credits. On the first album I didn’t know what a producer was…I didn’t know anything. All I knew was scratching, programming beats, holding a party, and getting couple hundred dollars and get happy like, ‘Two hundred dollars? Thanks!’ [Laughs.] It was just that.

“You loved the music, and you just did it. We didn’t realize that money could be made until we went on tour with LL Cool J, and we were like, ‘Whoa! Look what he has. How come I don’t have anything close to that?’ That’s when the question marks started to pop up.”

Stetsasonic “Talkin All That Jazz” (1988)

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Album: In Full Gear

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul:“That was inspired when Daddy-O and MC Delite were listening to Mtume, who made ‘Juicy Fruit,’ which in turn was used for the Biggie record. [Mtume] was kind of disrespecting hip-hop. I might stand corrected on this, but he was dissing hip-hop saying that it’s not original and it’s not really an art form. It kind of ticked Daddy-O off, and he came up with this idea responding to that situation.


 

People these days don’t realize that it was an ongoing battle. Now, even pop artists sample, but back then it was like, ‘What? You do what?’ They’d just say, ‘You’re not original!’ And they’d just diss.


 

“I remember going into the studio laying down the beat. It’s funny I never got credited for this but I was laying down the beat, and I had my man Newkirk, who was my ride-or-die partner from back in the day. He came in and played all the keyboard parts in the bass line, and Daddy-O wrote the lyrics. Now who would’ve thought that it would become that big of a record?

“Sampling back then was kind of like a gray area. It was a new art form and people were just starting to get creative with it. Anybody who was outside of hip-hop really did not want to have anything dealing with sampling, or any type of urban hip-hop culture.

“People these days don’t realize that it was an ongoing battle. Now, even pop artists sample, but back then it was like, ‘What? You do what?’ They’d just say, ‘You’re not original!’ And they’d just diss it. It’s something that a lot of guys from my era don’t really talk about, but it existed, and it was a fight.

“Back then we just did it. Laws later dictated what were the repercussions. Since it was in a gray area there really wasn’t a guideline. It wasn’t like, ‘Don’t do this, or don’t do that.’ You just got as creative as you possibly could, and people just didn’t know. It wasn’t until a few lawsuits down the line, and they tried to make a guideline on how to sample, what costs you, what’s the legal amount of time to sample, etc.


 

When all these dudes are complaining about, ‘Man, hip-hop ain’t real like back in the golden age,’ they’re probably the ones affecting that. Now you’re going to either get a keyboard, or a loop that’s really chopped up, synthesized, twisted, and you’re not going to get a lot of what that music offers.


 

“It still hasn’t been resolved, and nobody really knows. It varies from case to case. And that’s basically what it was. You just did it, and then randomly years later you go, ‘I got sued for what?’ [Laughs.] It’s crazy, and it definitely affects how you make records nowadays.

“It’s not really friendly to sample stuff. If you’re going to sample, and really want to get busy, you have to get that out for free. If you put it out, you have all these guys online that are like, ‘I’m going to expose all these producers. And I’m going to tell-a-tale on every loop they used.’ Yeah, they know something other people might not know that’s cool, but they’re also affecting the way music is getting made. Because now hip-hop producers like myself are going to say, ‘I’m going to stay away from sampling.’

“So when all these dudes are complaining about, ‘Man, hip-hop ain’t real like back in the golden age,’ they’re probably the ones affecting that. Now you’re going to either get a keyboard, or a loop that’s really chopped up, synthesized, twisted, and you’re not going to get a lot of what that music offers.

“In regards to the essence of sampling, I would say whatever the song dictates it to be. I can’t say Alchemist and Premier are right for the way they flip stuff, and what Puffy did were wrong. Now money helps. Man, if I had Puffy’s budget, I’ll be taking straight out flat songs, too. I’ll be like, ‘Yeah! Clear it! How much they want? Yeah, whatever. Song sounds right. Take that! Let’s make it happen.’


 

Money helps. Man, if I had Puffy’s budget, I’ll be taking straight out flat songs, too. I’ll be like, ‘Yeah! Clear it! How much they want? Yeah, whatever. Song sounds right. Take that!’


 

“But if you’re dealing with the label, and they go, ‘Okay, we have $50,000 to make the song.’ And somebody says the sample you want to use is $49,000; you have to get extra creative. You might have a loop that you don’t want to chop it or do anything, but now you’re stuck with these crazy costs. So money definitely affects how you create.

“If I have a crazy budget to use whatever sample, and do whatever I want to do? I’ll have the most insane record coming out next year for anybody. I would quote this and say I’ll blow anybody out the box if I have free range to sample and do stuff. I can pay different keyboard players, but money dictates how to be creative or how your music is presented. Look at EPMD in the early days. They were using nothing but loops. So it’s really hard to say. You know?”

Stetsasonic “In Full Gear” (1988)

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Album: In Full Gear

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “All I remember was that I made a bunch of beats. And I just gave them to Daddy-O and the group, asking, “Well, what do you think?” [Laughs.] And they just kind of picked out stuff.

“There was a song called ‘Shifting Gears,’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, let’s just use that.’ But what’s funny is that when I listen to those songs, if I could redo them, I would. Because they’re not not exactly how I would’ve done them. It’s difficult to explain.


 

When I listen to those songs, if I could redo them, I would. Because they’re not not exactly how I would’ve done them.


 

“When you’re kind of just there, you’re going with the flow. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I would just step back, and let everybody take over.

It’s like you basically draw a stick figure, and all of a sudden everybody added hats to it, and you look back like, ‘I wouldn’t have made it like that! Them shoes are wack. Them gloves are wack.’

“So that’s how I would look at a lot of that music, but you know I was just happy to be here. Everything that I’m credited on that album, I would say for the most part it was a similar case. Even when I talk about the song ‘Sally.’ I made the beat, but it was the same thing. I’d make it, and I’d just sit back.”

De La Soul “Plug Tunin'” (1988)

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Album: 3 Feet High and Rising

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul:3 Feet High and Rising was important to me because it gave me the opportunity to do all the things I would have done. Having control and being that dude, which with Stetsasonic I couldn’t have done, or wasn’t positioned to do. Or maybe not even having the knowledge of doing.

“When I had De La Soul that was just my pet project. Like I can do anything on that and they look up to me. I was the man in their situation. It just made the creative process, and taking control a lot different.


 

There was a music teacher where I went to junior high school in Amityville, who was putting out a record with this artist. So the music teacher asked me to come in to lay down a beat. When I went to lay the beat down, Maseo was there as the artist’s DJ. By the way, the artist’s name was Gangsta B. [Laughs.]


 

“The De La guys and I all went to school together. We were all in grade order. I would be in the 12th, Dave or Trugoy was in the 11th, Pos would be in the 10th, and Maseo would be in the 9th. And I was kind of known as the DJ in our high school.

“I kind of became that dude because I was always battling back then. I don’t do it now, but I was cutting with all the tricks and stuff. I kind of built up a rep. When I joined Stetsasonic, I became that dude from a small town in Long Island like, ‘Yo, he’s that dude who made a record.’

“With that being said, there was a music teacher where I went to junior high school in Amityville, who was putting out a record with this artist. So the music teacher asked me to come in to lay down a beat. When I went to lay the beat down, Maseo was there as the artist’s DJ. By the way, the artist’s name was Gangsta B. [Laughs.]

“So I was there programming the beat, and I was like, ‘Man, this is wack. I wouldn’t do it like this.’ And the music teacher was like, ‘This is great!’ And Maseo and I were looking at each other like, ‘Oh, my God. This is horrible.’ And later Maseo approached me, and said, ‘Yo, I got a group I think you might like. It’s called De La Soul. I’ll bring the tape by your house later.’

“He brought a tape, and it was a rough of ‘Plug Tunin’.’ It blew my mind. So I was like, ‘Yo, come back tomorrow with the rest of your group. I’m going to flip this demo.’ So I took it, overdubbed it, added other samples, and rearranged it. I played it for them and they were like, ‘Oh, that’s crazy.’


 

It’s such an odd record, nothing predated that, and it sounds like throwing whatever in the wind. You didn’t know where it was going to land. For touchy radio world back then to play that record is when I knew I won.


 

“So I said, ‘Let’s get together, get some money, get into a real studio, and record a professional demo.’ So the actual record you hear on the album, is the demo we made of ‘Plug Tunin’. There was a song called ‘Freedom of Speak’ that we did, which was the B-side. That’s how it started.

“I was super happy when I heard ‘Plug Tunin’ on the radio. I mean with Stetsasonic we also had ‘Go Stetsa I,’ which was a big song, especially at clubs in New York. It received some plays on WBLS, but I was extra happy when I heard ‘Plug Tunin’ on the radio, and receiving a little bit of daytime run on the main stations in New York.”

“It’s such an odd record, nothing predated that, and it sounds like throwing whatever in the wind. You didn’t know where it was going to land. For touchy radio world back then to play that record is when I knew I won.”

De La Soul “Eye Know” (1989)

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Album: 3 Feet High and Rising

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul:“What’s crazy is that was one song that out of the whole album I wasn’t around because I went on the road with Stetsasonic to do one or two dates. When I came back, Pos had looped that [Steely Dan sample] up. And then we just took it, and I helped to create the piece together. Let’s take it, flip, EQ it, but it was initially Pos’ idea. And I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s crazy. That’s nuts.’


 

I’m not trying to diss the guys on Stetsasonic, because that’s my first group, and there are fond memories there. But on the business side and the creative side there were a lot of things that just didn’t happen. With De La, it was a matter of wanting everybody to participate. There wasn’t an idea that I shot down.


 

“I’m not trying to diss the guys on Stetsasonic, because that’s my first group, and there are fond memories there. But on the business side and the creative side there were a lot of things that just didn’t happen.

“With De La, it was a matter of wanting everybody to participate. I wanted everybody to try whatever ideas there were. There wasn’t an idea that I shot down. As far as music, adding a scratch or whatever.

“I was like, ‘Yo, I’m going to try everything. I’m not going to allow you to say something, and make you feel bad about it.’ We’re going to make this into an even group effort. And that’s the magic of the album.

“I’m kind of being the conductor and standing them along with their ideas. Nobody at that time could’ve produced them better, and no other group would’ve been ideal for me except them. It was just a weird circumstance, now that I’m looking back on it.”

“The production for the album was done collectively. It was one of those things where guys would have ideas, and I was the one who put it together, making it happen. So Pos would say, ‘I’ve got an idea using three is a magic number.’ And I would suggest how we’re going to put it together.


 

The production for the album was done collectively. It was one of those things where guys would have ideas, and I was the one who put it together, making it happen. 


 

“If I said, ‘We need a better drum behind this.’ Maseo would come up with another drum pattern. And then I’ll arrange the pieces together. So it was more like taking and manipulating whatever ideas they had, and during the process they’ve learned the procedures. I was teaching them how to use different equipment.

“The thing for me was this: Whatever I did not learn from Stetsasonic, which I kind of resented for a long time, I’m going to teach these guys. Whatever I know. From working the equipment to arranging and everything, which wasn’t even much then.

“But it was more than what the De La guys knew. So that’s how we did things. We worked on [3 Feet High and Rising] together. That was my tutorial for De La on the music business and production.”

De La Soul “Say No Go” (1989)

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Album: 3 Feet High and Rising

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “I knew Pos and Dave wanted to talk about the crack epidemic during that period and I had this record that we use [for] the main loop. As far as the beats are concerned, I flipped that whole thing together. I remember the guys said, ‘We want to use the hook from Hall & Oates’ ‘Say No Go.’’ And this is probably a question regarding the concept, so you’d have to ask them.

“I was just like, ‘Cool.’ My thing was just like, ‘I’m going to take your idea, and I’m going to make it just that.’ I guess it’s like taking a hooker, and you’re like, ‘I’m going to dress you up, put something to your hair, have you some heels, make up, your hair, and then boom!’ If it was something that’s wack, I would say, ‘Nah, let’s try a different style.’ Lyrical content I wouldn’t jump in.


 

We had an offer from Profile for a lot more money. I remember when we had a meeting with them they had just made ‘It Takes Two’ by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. It wasn’t released yet, but they were telling us that it was the next record they were putting out. And Geffen gave us a bigger deal than Profile, but the De La guys felt more comfortable with Tommy Boy.


 

“Honestly, I didn’t want to sign De La Soul to Tommy Boy because there was so many things going on with Stetsasonic and Tommy Boy. But there was a gentleman who worked at Tommy Boy named Rod Houston, who never gets the credit.

“He’s the one, when I was mixing down the De La’s demo, who said, ‘Yo, take them to Tommy Boy.’ And I was like, ‘Tommy Boy? I ain’t taking them there.’ And he was like, ‘No, no. Really. I think Monica Lynch would like them.’

“We had an offer from Profile for a lot more money. I remember when we had a meeting with them they had just made ‘It Takes Two’ by Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. It wasn’t released yet, but they were just telling us that it was the next record they were putting out. And you know Geffen gave us a bigger deal than Profile, but the De La guys felt more comfortable with Tommy Boy.

“I think because they generally liked Monica Lynch and the energy over there. I was thinking money. Like, ‘You crazy?’ It was almost like Tommy Boy gave us three grand, Profile gave us ten grand, and Geffen offered us 40 grand. And you know as fate has it, they went with Tommy Boy, and in hindsight it was probably the best decision.”

De La Soul f/ Q-Tip & The Jungle Brothers “Buddy” (1989)

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Album: 3 Feet High and Rising

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “That was a remix to the original ‘Buddy,’ which was on 3 Feet High and Rising. That was when we were more or less building stronger alliances with the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest. That’s before Quest even got a deal. It was just all like-minded guys.


 

That was when we were more or less building stronger alliances with the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest. That’s before Quest even got a deal. It was just all like-minded guys.


 

“For the video they asked me to do the intro because I did the intro for ‘Me, Myself and I.’ It was sort of a running theme for the rest of the album.

“Those days were a lot of fun because at random times you can have an MC Lyte or DJ Red Alert come into the studio. We could just tell them, ‘Yo, do a background vocal!’ Or like, ‘Yo, come and get in the booth.’ We would just all hover around the mic, and do dumb stuff. It was fun for me because I was able to conduct all that.

“I was able to tell Red Alert or Lyte, or even Q-Tip what to do. And they were all willing. Plus, everybody was smiling and having fun. I don’t think I’d be able to do that now, but it was a nice feeling though.”

De La Soul “Me Myself and I” (1989)

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Album: 3 Feet High and Rising

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “Well, ‘Me Myself and I’ was the last record on the album. And that was kind of egged on by Tom Silverman, who was the CEO of Tommy Boy. Because we made this album and he was like, ‘Ah, I have no record to take to the radio.’ And I was like, ‘Radio? Man, come on, man.’

“Now, Maseo and I are big Funkadelic fans. So as we reluctantly sat around to come up with a radio single, we were listening to some Funkadelic records. And then I just said, ‘Yo, ‘Knee Deep.’’ And Maseo was like, ‘Yeah, ‘Knee Deep.’’ We were like, ‘Bet! Let’s use the Funkadelic record.’


 

That was just something that we did to please Tommy Boy. And it was the last song that we made, which became the biggest song. That was just our attempt to make a radio record.


 

We took it, put the beat behind it, we showed Dave and Pos, and they wrote to it. That was just something that we did to please Tommy Boy. And it was the last song that we made, which became the biggest song. That was just our attempt to make a radio record.

“There was no such thing as a hip-hop classic at the time. So all you wanted to do was make something different and better. That was your main concept. I didn’t want to bite because biting was a crime back then, which now is not really a crime. But back then you didn’t want to be labeled as a biter.

“I would tell the guys like, ‘Yo, we’re going to go gold.’ Just to keep their morale up, but did I know? No, man. [Laughs.] I never had a gold record before that. [Laughs.] I didn’t know what it took.

“I liked the album, I thought it was great, it really embodied by personality. I thought it was fun. It was something I controlled. The label definitely didn’t know. As soon as the record came out, and it went out of control, the guys, myself, and the label were all like, ‘Whoa, really?’ I never complained about that.”

De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising Skits (1989)

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De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising Skits (1989)

De La Soul "Intro"

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul:“The concept of skits came about after we were done making the record. It was literally at the end, we were sequencing and putting the album together.


 

The problem what I have with MCs is you don’t know their names; you don’t know their personalities, unless you really know the group, or they have a lot of publicity. So I was like, ‘Yo, why don’t we play a game show?’


 

“The problem what I have with MCs is you don’t know their names; you don’t know their personalities, unless you really know the group, or they have a lot of publicity. So I was like, ‘Yo, why don’t we play a game show?’

“Back in those days, in game shows people would go on and say, ‘Hi, my name is something, and I like to do this and that.’ So I said, ‘This will give you guys the opportunity to say your names, and tell people know who is who when they first listen to the album. And it gives them an idea of what your personality’s like.’

“So we kept the theme throughout the album. We’ll have little answers to the questions for the game show, and we just found the pieces together on the spot. Our engineer was the game show host. He was a white guy with the perfect voice.

His name was Alan, and he was at the studio. [Laughs.] It was super spontaneous. We had no idea that it would have any type of impact ever. It was just a way of piecing the record together.


 

Dante the Scrub, that’s Dante Ross. We called him that because he was someone from the label to come spy on us.


 

“I would say the blessing of signing with Tommy Boy was that we had a lot of freedom to make things. I think Tommy Boy believed in us, but didn’t believe in us. So that meant low budget to begin with. So they were just like, ‘Ah, go ahead.’ And that’s what we did, and they didn’t say anything.

“As far as those bits about Dante Ross, I have nothing bad to say about the man. If I knew how cool Dante was we probably wouldn’t have gone so negatively about him in the album. Yeah, Dante the Scrub, that’s Dante Ross. [Laughs.]

“We called him that because he was someone from the label to come and spy on us. Good dude. Now, I’m super cool with Dante. But at the time we just felt like he was part of the establishment, someone who was out to get us. Like, ‘Eh, you’re with the label.’”

Big Daddy Kane “It’s a Big Daddy Thing” (1989)

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Album: It’s a Big Daddy Thing

Label: Cold Chillin’

Prince Paul: “After 3 Feet High and Rising, I just got a flood of interest from both pop people and other hip-hop artists. So that led me to Kane, to 3rd Bass, MC Lyte to Queens Latifah, and doing remixes for Fine Young Cannibals. It was all over the place. It was weird for me because things started to happen so quickly.


 

Back then, I was making about 25 songs a month. I was just making music non-stop. Now were they all good? No. But I had so many different beats.


 

“Working with Kane was an honor. I met Kane in the Latin Quarters during my Stet days. Nobody’s really nice to the DJ, especially when rappers became more prominent than the DJ. Kane was always nice to me. Like, [imitates a gruff voice] ‘Yo, what’s up, man?’ He was just real nice.

“From then to when I finally made something big, it was easy for him to reach out to me because we already had somewhat of a relationship. I was a super big Kane fan, and I was just like, ‘Can’t get iller than Kane.’

“Back then, I was making about 25 songs a month. I was just making music non-stop. Now were they all good? No. But I had so many different beats. So when Kane gave me a call, I said, ‘I have an idea for you.’ I’m not giving him a beat CD, well a tape back then, I just said, ‘Yo, this one’s going to work.’ And that’s kind of how we rocked. He liked what he heard, and he was cool. It was a good time to make music.”

3rd Bass “The Gas Face” (1989)

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Album: The Cactus Album

Label: Def Jam

Prince Paul: “Stetasonic was managed by Russell Simmons’ company Rush Management. I was at the Rush office hanging out and I met Serch. 3rd Bass either just signed with Rush or they were about to. I remember Serch coming up to me and asking, ‘Yo, can you make a song like ‘Buddy’?’ And I was like, ‘What? I’m not redoing a song.’

“You know before I get to work with someone, I like to go out with them, grab dinner, talk to them, and really figure them out before I hit up the lab with them. I don’t believe in just doing work without actually getting to know the person.


 

‘The Gas Face’ was the result of me trying to make something like ‘Buddy,’ which didn’t sound anything like that. [Laughs.]


 

If you don’t know the person, as a producer it’s difficult to tell them what to do when you’re in the studio. If you don’t feel comfortable, the respect for one another is not the same.”

“So we get in the studio, and Serch and them were really cool dudes. They were funny. At the time everything was just real fun. We were all laughing and cracking jokes. It wasn’t like now, where you see guys on video saying, ‘Yo, I’m with so and so in the studio…’ We were all young at the time. So we were just trying to make each other laugh. The relationship was good.”

“We got around to do “The Gas Face,” which was a record that we made to introduce KMD with 3rd Bass. It’s fascinating to see a lot of kids saying, ‘Doom, Doom,’ and really idolizing him. And I’m here thinking, ‘Yo, I made the first official Doom record.’ ‘The Gas Face’ was the result of me trying to make something like ‘Buddy,’ which didn’t sound anything like that. [Laughs.]”

Queen Latifah “Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children” (1989)

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Album: Mama Gave Birth to the Soul Children

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul:“45 King produced the album, but even before she got signed, when I heard her demo, I was like, ‘Yo, she’s really dope. Y’all should definitely sign her.’


 

Dante Ross signed her, and at the time the label thought she just had a similar vibe as De La Soul. Like, ‘Eh, you guys talk about similar things, wear similar outfits—why don’t you guys do a song together?’


 

“Dante Ross signed her, and at the time the label thought she just had a similar vibe as De La Soul. Like, ‘Eh, you guys talk about similar things, wear similar outfits—why don’t you guys do a song together?’ [Laughs.]

“She was a sweet woman. Well, actually, she was a girl at the time. And we were in the studio together. And it was really dope, man. They had us do the song together, if we thought she was wack we would’ve been like, ‘Eh, we’ll see about that.’ But she was really dope.”

“As far as production, I was going super experimental with that beat. I had this weird-ass beat that was super left field for me. And the chemistry was great. And it worked well for her overall debut.”

3rd Bass “Derelicts of Dialect” (1991)

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Album: Derelicts of Dialect

Label: Def Jam

Prince Paul: “By the time we did the second album things were a little different. I wouldn’t say they were cocky, but they were more confident. Serch and them asked me if I could send them a beat tape. I was like, ‘A beat tape? Why don’t I send you guys what I think would work.’ They said, ‘Nah, don’t worry about that. We know what works for us.’

“They had more experience, and they knew more about the game, and they weren’t as down with me offering them ideas on a creative stance. But I didn’t want to jeopardize my opportunity to work with them, plus it was a good check [Laughs.], so we ended up working together again.”

De La Soul “Saturday” (1991)

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Album: De La Soul Is Dead

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “At first, I didn’t want to do the second album. But when it was time to do the second album, the guys from De La came up to me and said, ‘Yo, we’re going to work on the second album.’ I replied, ‘Word. Good luck!’ But they were like, ‘Yo, we want you to be down. You’re part of the team.’

“It was one of those moments that I felt sentimental. Like, ‘Oh, man—You really think so?’ [Laughs.] But I didn’t want to have the entire control. I said, ‘I’ll teach you guys how to run certain equipment, but you guys should go ahead and do it on your own.’

“If I remember correctly, a lot of the records started off with me and Pos having a conversation. It usually goes: ‘Yo, I got this idea.’ ‘Yeah, what is it?’ ‘Yo, I want to, uh, write this song about, uh, roller skating, and uh, I want to use, uh, the Chicago record ‘Saturdays.’


 

There was a bunch of hidden jokes in that record that I can’t say. [Laughs.] A lot of them were directly poking fun at certain artists. I just can’t say. It doesn’t matter if it was 20 years ago, man. People are sensitive. [Laughs.] I’ll let Pos answer those questions.


 

“He had like a rough sketch of what he wanted to do. And the next thing you know, we got Russell Simmons to come in and do the intro. It’s amazing when you’re really riding high, what people would do for you. It was no problem getting Russell Simmons in the studio. He was like, ‘What? I’m going to be on a De La record?’ And he does the introduction, which was funny.

“The first album was strictly family, and people who were just down for the cause. Then the caliber of the people changed when we did the second album. Q-Tip came in—who he was part of the original crew anyway—he did his rhyme. It was crazy.

“I remember the other loops that we used when Dave rhymed. We had to figure out how to bring it in. And I was just like, ‘Yo, let’s bring it in on Dave’s part.’ We had like piano riffs and stuff. So it was cool. Even though the album as a whole had a darker tone, this record was a cheerful record, and the creation process was still a lot of fun.

“There was a bunch of hidden jokes in that record that I can’t say. [Laughs.] A lot of them were directly poking fun at certain artists. I just can’t say. It doesn’t matter if it was 20 years ago, man. People are sensitive. [Laughs.] I’ll let Pos answer those questions.”

De La Soul “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” (1991)

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Album: De La Soul Is Dead

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “We received a lot of praise for that song. That was a beat I made, which was personal. I’m a big Funkadelic fan. I loved the song, and played it for the guys, and they came back with the concept. The subject matter for me was just really intense.

“The first album was more innocent, pleasant, happy-go-lucky, the second album was a lot more cynical. I think the skill of music and creativity never left, but I just think the tone of the album was different.


 

This was after [De La] went on tour, and then you stop by the label, staffs are extra congenial like, ‘Hey, come on in!’ When they were never like that before. They basically saw the ugly parts of the industry.


 

“This was after [De La] went on tour, and then you stop by the label, staffs are extra congenial like, ‘Hey, come on in!’ When they were never like that before. They basically saw the ugly parts of the industry.

“I guess knowing how fickle people can be, and how they always like their artists on certain records to remain the same way, we knew they were going to diss De La Soul is Dead. De La Soul went into the pop zone. Not saying that we made pop records, but I guess that the pop community appreciated it. Or I should rather say the alternative community.

“Just knowing that, I knew it wasn’t going to make those fan bases as excited that the album’s gear slightly shifted. And I think it was Pos who said it as a joke, ‘We should just do an album called De La Soul is Dead,’ and I said, ‘Yo, do an album like that! Because it’s funny.’ And that’s how that album title came about.”

De La Soul “Ring, Ring, Ring” (1991)

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Album: De La Soul Is Dead

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul: “You know what’s crazy? And it’s weird because Heavy D just passed. When I did ‘Ring, Ring, Ring,’ it was when I made like a dozen beats per day. I remember having a meeting with Puffy at Uptown. It was about a month before I started the second De La album.

“Puffy wanted to meet up with me because they just signed Father MC, and they were working on a new Heavy D album. So I gave him a tape and I never heard anything back. We started the De La record, and the first song we recorded was ‘Ring, Ring, Ring’ since I had the beat and everything.


 

Heavy D was just like, ‘Oh, come on, man!’ And he just went on and on about me not giving him that beat. De La’s my family and they come first. I told Puff, ‘Yo, I haven’t heard from you for more than a month.’ So ironically, Heavy D used that same beat mad years later. He just would not get denied.


 

“Next day I get a call, and it’s Puffy on the line, and Heavy D in the background. I hear the beat for ‘Ring, Ring, Ring’ in the background and I hear Puff saying, ‘Yo, Paul! Heavy wants this beat.’ And then Heavy gets on the phone like, ‘Yo, Paul. What’s up, man? What’s up with this beat?’ And I was like, ‘Yo, man. I’m sorry, man. I’m using it for the De La record.’

“Heavy was just like, ‘Oh, come on, man!’ And he just went on and on about me not giving him that beat. De La’s my family and they come first. I told Puff, ‘Yo, I haven’t heard from you for more than a month.’ So ironically, Heavy D used that same beat mad years later. He made a beat out of the same loop, and did a song with it. He just would not get denied.

“It was just a beat I had around. De La liked the original song, which is where the hook came from. And they were singing that song to the melody of the loop. At the time we played jokes on each other.

“We used to rate the popularity of De La by acting as if we’re working for a record label. So we would get demo tapes from different people, and the joke was like, ‘Yo, here’s Paul’s number, I’m sure he can hook you up.’

“We would just pass each other’s numbers off, which was hilarious, but after a while it became annoying. Because random dudes just called me, and said, ‘Yo, I just spoke to Maseo, and he said that you can hook me up.’ That was the running joke in the song. It’s like everybody passing on the buck to somebody else in the group.

“The second album was probably a lot longer than the first one. Matter of fact, it was actually longer than most hip-hop albums in general. On the first album we did this thing giving everything names.


 

We would get demo tapes from different people, and the joke was like, ‘Yo, here’s Paul’s number, I’m sure he can hook you up.’


 

“Run-DMC and Beastie Boys came out and they had 12 records on their albums. To me that was a lot of songs, because at the time your typical album had only eight or 10 songs. They were oftentimes instrumentals of the songs. They weren’t even full albums.

“When Run-DMC and Beastie Boys came out with their records, it was mind blowing, like, ‘Yo, more bang for the buck.’ So when we did the De La record I said, ‘Yo, we’re going to name everything. So when people see the list of the album they can go, ‘Yo, that’s crazy. Look how many songs I’ve got.’ And it was a marketing thing I had in my head.

“And nobody had done that at the time. That was probably the first rap record that had a ton of records listed on the back. And what’s weird is that people followed suit after that, but not getting what I did. They were just thinking a ton of records are cool.

“We didn’t have a super long record. It wasn’t like front to back, three hours long. It was just a lot of small things in between. So that kind of set the trend. And then in the second album we just recorded a lot. And it had bonus tracks and extra things. But when we got down to Buhloone Mindstate, we snapped back to reality, and just recorded typical length albums.”

De La Soul De La Soul Is Dead Skits (1991)

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De La Soul ""WRMS' Dedication to the Bitty"

Label: Tommy Boy

Prince Paul:“A lot of those albums and songs are done as jokes. I knew that people were going to diss the second album. So we were like, ‘Yo, let’s just get someone to diss it before the fans or critics do.’


 

I knew that people were going to diss the second album. So we were like, ‘Yo, let’s just get someone to diss it before the fans or critics do.’


 

“That’s when Mista Lawnge from Black Sheep came into the picture. He was talking reckless in those skits before Black Sheep was Black Sheep. He as an individual was already a black sheep. If you ever talk to the man, do it. He’ll diss anything and he makes it super funny.

“We first met Mr. Lawnge when De La was introduced to Dres. All I know is that Mr. Lawnge was introduced to me in the studio while we were making the record. And they were real cool guys, both of them. Dres is very laid back but Mr. Lawnge is laid back in an extremely sarcastic and cynical way.

“That’s why I got along really well with them because he was just really funny and honest. He acted as if he made triple-platinum records for the last five years, but hasn’t had a single record come out.


 

Mr. Lawnge is laid back in an extremely sarcastic and cynical way. He acted as if he made triple-platinum records for the last five years, but hasn’t had a single record come out. He would just diss everybody.


 

“He would just diss everybody. He talked so much good game, man. It’s almost like he willed himself to make those records with Black Sheep because he pops so much junk that he always seemed bigger than life.

“And I appreciate what he did on those skits. I didn’t tell them to say those things, I just painted the picture, and he ran with it. That’s just his personality. I haven’t really sat down and spoke to him in a while so I don’t know if he changed or if he’s the same. But back then he was beautifully reckless, man. He was the best person to talk to.

“If you listen to the skits, he dissed MC Shan. We thought that was hilarious. Not that Shan was the king MC or anything, but Lawnge would be like, ‘Eh, I don’t like it. It sounds like MC Shan.’ We were just like, ‘Oh! How could he say that? What a blatant diss! But, we’re going to put it on the record. Perfect.’

“I think the decline of using skits are cool. I think that they’re only as good as the material. Skits are nice when they’re good. But I remember at one point people were going, ‘Yeah, my album’s done. I just need skits.’ Like it became a staple, when you didn’t really need it.


 

I think the decline of using skits are cool. You know those phone skits that have no meaning in them? You can probably just do a whole article on bad skits.


 

“I did it to push the record along, and to let people know the group. And then skits just became something that was meant to have on an album without any reasoning behind them. And that’s when it became really bad. And if a record didn’t have them, I was like, ‘Oh, yes. No skits.’

“I’ve had people come up to me like, ‘Oh, man. See what you’ve started, man.’ And you know I didn’t do it for people to bite. I can’t control the quality of what people make. There’s something that’s really good. That’s great. And there’s something that’s just like, ‘Oh, God.’ You know those phone skits that have no meaning in them? You can probably just do a whole article on bad skits.”

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