Prince Paul's A PRINCE AMONG THIEVES
mandrew
2,720 Posts
i listen to this cd once every year or two when i go on roadtrips. having just taken one... heres my thoughts. i like it. the album works as far as it accomplishes what i believe PrincePaul was trying to make. he created a rap record that derived from everything else that came before, and brought the storytelling game to a whole new level. other rappers touch on all the same themes that "tariq" raps about but this concept - even though its a little corny at times - makes it much more personal.besides that, the beats are nice, raps are decent, there are some funny moments, and the guest stars/casting is excellent.i personally like the idea of an album with a narrative and think it would be interesting if more rappers gave it a try. whatchu think?
Comments
Yeah I had problems with some of the rapping on it - though it's admirable that he tried something different there aren't that many tracks that hold up on their own outside the overall context.
Great album IMO.
i dont know, i wouldnt necessarily say thats a BAD thing...
Word, I think it would be interesting if ONE rapper gave it a try. Prince Paul came up with the concept for that entire album. On top of that, he had the album completely arranged before the MCs even dropped their vocals. Basically he would tell Brewin, Kane or wheoever "OK - drop a verse right here, this is the scenerio..."
And building on your idea of rappers putting forth more effort into creating an album as one cohesive body of work - which is what I think you're implying - them days is long gone. LONG gone.
Honestly, I don't even buy new shit with that in mind. I'm so far removed from that idea of being able to enjoy an entire record that I'm extatic to hear two good songs from one album. When I wanna listen to a hip-hop album that's great from start to finish, I'll listen to Illmatic.
Fuck this new shit.
werd. the De La track lifts Extra T's 'Cornflakes', a favorite miami electro joint of mine. The everlast shit is kinda ill cos its sorta the opposite of 'fuck the police'...a rap from the police officer's veiwpoint about how the 'police dept, is like a crew / we do whatever we want to do'. I interviewed Paul around the time this album dropped and he really gave Kool Keith respect, he told him about what he wanted, and Kool Keith came to the session with 'Guns and Ammo', 'Soldier of Fortune' and a bunch of other magazines to get lines and guns from for the rhyme.
I also dig the guitar line from that track 'Steady Slobbin'...average white band?
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i wouldn't say "men in blue" is the opposite of fuck the police - more like a reinforcement of it. its the viewpoint of a crooked bastard cop "planting evidence on any black resident"
steady slobbin takes the beat from cubes steady mobbin. i don't know what to say about the fact that the best two beats on the album - that and 'what u got' recycle beats - what u got takes the ill young gifted black beat. i also think the song where tariq's talking to his girl on the phone was done very well. de la' song wasn't bad or anything but honestly kind of disappointing. i think paul gave that song the most freedom creatively - make a song from the perspective of addicts - and the final product wasn't what it could have been.
classic in my book. i loved that album when it first came out and i still do.
i like the gramma; "better start politicking"
good points.
Also, as far as I know, there never was a full length movie, no budget for it. Maybe if the album did better. What might have been on ebay was a short (3-5min) video they put together that summerizes the story.
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Lemme stick my neck out and say that the movie wasn't ever actually made. There's a VHS promo that I've seen, which is video clips for a lot of their songs, but not a full movie, it is only 20 minutes or so. That's probably what was on ebay a while back. I think an idea was to finance a movie with album sales. But of course that album didn't sell much.
Someone dropkick knowledge if I'm wrong.
Nevertheless, anyone seen this? Anyone have a rip of this even?
I have it, er, somewhere. Don't have a ton of VHS tapes but they could be a wee more organized. I really don't remember it being 20min...maybe 10? Its like a REALLY long trailer, with bits of the songs and people acting in character, Everlast is a cop with shades that are a little TOO cool, Sadat X is rhyming from the prison (Handle Your Time), cameo of Chubb Rock is in there, and it ends in a shootout. 'Tariq' isn't the one wearing a bulletproof vest, however. The last shot (and the 1st as well, I believe) is him in the ambulance, rushing to the hospital.
Here's an interview with Paul from around that time. The questions come off a bit square, but Adam (the interviewer) is knowledgable, and good peepholes, used to see him around NYC all the time.
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