Prince Paul

Paul Edward Huston (born April 2, 1967), better known by his stage name Prince Paul, is an American record producer, disc jockey and recording artist from Amityville, New York.

Paul began his career as a DJ for Stetsasonic.

He has worked on albums by Boogie Down Productions, Gravediggaz, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane and 3rd Bass, among others.

Paul Edward Huston was born on April 2, 1967 in Amityville, New York.

Paul was interested in music from a young age and started collecting vinyl when he was five.

According to his mother, he was mature for his age and tended to hang out with older friends.

When he was in fifth grade he started DJing, using a makeshift setup of one Lafayette turntable hooked up to another turntable set and using the balance knob as a fader.

In 1981, at age 14, Paul performed a DJ set at The Ace Center Amityville that helped him gain recognition.

He did a routine with Trouble Funk's "Pump Me Up" which he later described as his "claim to fame."

After The Ace Center performance, Paul started doing parties and tapes with Biz Markie while he was in 8th grade.

At the same time, Paul's middle school music teacher was Everett Collins, a drummer for The Isley Brothers.

Collins later introduced Paul to De La Soul member Maseo.

Prince Paul began performing with groups during his teenage years, first joining a group called Soul Brothers with his longtime friend Don Newkirk.

Paul was one of the original members of Stetsasonic.

He joined the group in 1984 after impressing Daddy-O with his routine in the "Brevoit Day Celebration" DJ battle in Brooklyn.

Daddy-O was struck by Paul's energy, saying that he performed his routine with Liquid Liquid's song "Cavern", "like he was mad at the turntables".

Paul credits Grandmaster Flash's song "Flash To The Beat" as the reason he purchased his drum machine.

Major recognition for Prince Paul came when he produced De La Soul's debut album 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), in which he pioneered new approaches to hip hop production, mixing and sampling, notably by including comedy sketches.

Prince Paul produced "The Gas Face" and "Brooklyn-Queens" on 3rd Bass' 1989 debut The Cactus Album. The original version of "The Gas Face" was recorded on 4-track cassette tape and started out as mistake.

Paul wanted to change the beat after he realized the pattern was not what he had intended, but MC Serch and Pete Nice convinced him to keep it.

The song was recorded on the 4th of July.

Paul also worked on De La Soul's first three albums, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), De La Soul Is Dead (1991), and Buhloone Mindstate (1993).

De La Soul is Dead received a five mic album review from The Source.

According to Paul, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989) had a budget of about $20,000 dollars and took a month and a half to make.

In 1990, Russell Simmons gave Prince Paul an imprint under his Def Jam label, however the only album, It Takes a Nation of Suckers to Let Us In by Resident Alien, was never officially released.

It is available as an unofficial release, which is different to a bootleg.

Along with Frukwan of Stetsasonic, Too Poetic of Brothers Grimm, and the RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Prince Paul formed the group Gravediggaz.

They recorded a demo together in 1991 and released their first album Niggamortis/6 Feet Deep in 1994 on Gee Street Records.

Before signing a deal with Gee Street, Eazy-E wanted to release the album on Ruthless Records.

Paul flew to Los Angeles to have a meeting with Eazy-E and Jerry Heller but was unimpressed with the contract and declined.

After the group signed to Gee Street, Paul estimated that it took them about six months to complete the album.

Prince Paul also contributed to several other projects during this time period.

He produced three songs for Boogie Down Productions' 1992 album Sex and Violence, though later expressed frustration that the group released the album before he had finalized and polished those tracks.

In 1995, Paul and Teo Macero collaborated to produce the solo debut from guitarist Vernon Reid, and in 1996 he appeared on the compilation album America Is Dying Slowly.

Additionally, Paul joined forces with Amityville rapper Superstar to launch a supergroup called Horror City.

Paul produced a Horror City album, but proved unable to successfully market the album to any record labels.

In 1996, during the early recording sessions for Stakes Is High, De La Soul and Prince Paul decided to part ways.

His first solo album, Psychoanalysis: What Is It?, came out in 1997, followed by a second album, A Prince Among Thieves, in 1999.

In Brian Coleman's 2007 book Check the Technique, Paul reflected on his work with De La Soul by saying, "If there was ever a sign of the existence of God, De La Soul would be that proof to me. I've never had such a perfect fit in any other production situation."

Ultimately, Paul decided to Horror City as a free download in 2010.