Source: Power 105 / Power 105
J. Prince’s presence in the rap game has been the stuff of street legends since before today’s generation was even conceived. And though they may not be familiar with the Rap-A-Lot Records founder, they’re probably aware of his reputation and stature in the game.
Having just released his personal memoir, The Art & Science of Respect, J Prince stopped by The Breakfast Club to drop gems in-between the interesting stories of his own experiences while in the rap game.
Sitting with the morning trio of Envy, Charlamagne, and Angela Yee, Prince talks about talking Drake out of releasing that response record to Pusha T, trying to convince Biggie and Puff to leave LA before Big was killed, and trying to get set up by elected officials.
Here are the 10 things we learned from J Prince on The Breakfast Club.
1. Life Changing Decision
When J Prince decided to leave the street game for the corporate game he called it a spiritual decision during a life and death situation involving a closet. He won’t get into too much details about said closet because “I’m free. I wanna stay that way.” ‘Nuff said.
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Photo: Power 105
2. Rap-A-Lot
Prince says he got into the rap industry to keep his brother Sir Rap-A-Lot off the street and have him in the studio. Unfortunately, his brother still ended in the mix and caught a 20+ year sentence.
3. Birdman
As for Birdman owing him $12 million of dollars and only giving him a million of it, Prince says that Birdman’s paid more than the rumored 1 million and that they’ve been moving along “at a respectable pace.”
4. Drake v Pusha T
Prince says he felt that Pusha T was disrespectful on his Drake diss record because he involved Drizzy’s parents and threw in 40’s health problems. And though he convinced Drake to not respond to Pusha’s record, he says what Drake had in the chamber was potentially a “career-ending situation where he’s concerned and it also could’ve damaged I think a whole lot of livelihoods where people are concerned.” That’s just gonna make people want to hear that record even more. Just sayin.’
5. Warning
Talking about the time he warned Big and Puffy to get out of LA, J says he was on his tour bus and even though they were a long ways out, he had them turn around just so he could tell them that the streets were saying it wasn’t safe for Biggie to be out there. After talking to Puff, Prince took Biggie in the bus and explained the situation to him personally. Unfortunately, no one heeded the warning J Prince provided and we lost another legend.
6. OG Ghost Writer
Responding to the rumor that the Geto Boys classic “My Mind Playing Tricks On Me” was about J Prince, the OG says “Somewhat. I had a lot to do with that.” That being said Prince admits that though he dropped a few bars here and there he never really wanted to pursue a career as a rapper.
7. Hip-Hop Special Agents
J Prince says that a few “gangsta agents” working for the Government actually harassed him and his team and actually robbed them of money and jewelry on a few occasions. He feels they were “hit men” sent to “wipe” him out. After hiring an investigator to look into the agents harassing him Prince found out one of them had racked up eight bodies already. It got to the point that JP went to DC to document that he was “in fear for my life.” Eventually, the agents had to be moved out of Houston because their superiors didn’t want anymore run-ins between them and the Rap-A-Lot family.
8. The Set Up
Addressing the rumor that he once gave then Presidential candidate Al Gore a $200,000 campaign contribution to make a drug investigation go away, J says that was part of a conspiracy to railroad him. Originally they wanted to have Prince meet Al Gore in an apparent attempt to get a picture of the two meeting and help that accusation stick, but the OG peeped game and dipped on the set up.
9. J, Suge & Irv Alliance
Prince remembers at the time he was under fire for supposedly buying off Al Gore, he was contemplating beginning the first Black-owned distribution label with Suge Knight and Irv Gotti. He found it interesting that’s when the three of them began to get investigated by the feds.
10. Tekashi 6ix9ine
Talking about Tekashi 6ix9ine taking shots at his son, J Prince Jr., Prince senior says that if he really had a problem with the Brooklyn rapper he would’ve already had the situation handled being that the people 6ix9ine hangs with in Houston are connected to him and would’ve “delivered” 6ix9ine to him. Damn.
