Prince Paul

Prince Paul (born Paul Huston) is a legendary DJ and hip hop producer. 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. Originally a member of Stetsasonic, he produced De La Soul's 1989 debut album 3 Feet High and Rising (It was on this album that Prince Paul invented the hip hop skit which has a long-standing and pervasive tradition on Hip hop albums to this day). 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 (along with Frukwan of Stetsasonic, Too Poetic of Brothers Grimm and the RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan) made up the Gravediggaz. With jazz legend 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 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 debut 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 being either missed or falling flat. His most recent effort 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 variety of genres, relying heavily on past samples, especially those from Prince of 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 misognyny and boasting to 60's-style R&B.