HeRBaN LyRiX: ARaBiaN PRiNCe`s "BRoTHeR ARaB"...

Sunday, September 08, 2013

ARaBiaN PRiNCe`s "BRoTHeR ARaB"...

Goin` back to 1989 with this post for y`all. I was fortunate (or unfortunate depending on how ya look at things) to grab this CD for a mere $3 at a good ol` pawn shop a few weeks ago. The album that I am talkin` about comes from N.W.A.`s black sheep the Arabian Prince & is titled "Brother Arab", it`s his first solo album after leaving N.W.A. Some may not know but he is an original member of N.W.A. & is featured on the album cover (between DJ Yella & Ice Cube) of their "Straight Outta Compton" album. His only feature on that album is "Somethin` 2 Dance 2", which is also the only Electro-Funk styled track. Many fans consider the song to be the weakest track on the entire album, but to each his own. Anyways I don`t know much about him, but I shall share with ya what I do know about the Arabian Prince...

He was raised in Inglewood, California & was first introduced to music production when he visited his father at the local Funk & Soul radio station KACE. As a young buck while still in high school he would make mixtapes that he did while visiting his dad at the radio station. From there he started DJing high school events around Gardena & eventually he went from the schools to the clubs in L.A., gaining some notoriety in the local Electro & Hip Hop scene. He first started out on the Electro tip which was big in L.A. at the time & ended up joining Uncle Jamms Army, a mad famous crew known for their party appearances. Then around 1983-84 he met up with Russ Parr a.k.a. Bobby Jimmy & he later joined him as part of Bobby Jimmy & The Critters...

For those that aren`t up on Bobby Jimmy he was basically doing the same thing as Weird Al Yankovic with the parodies of more famous songs. After working with Bobby Jimmy on the production tip for a few years he was able to release a couple singles ("Strange Life" & "It Ain`t Tough") of his own thru Russ Parr`s Rapsur Records label. While workin` the Electro scene with Bobby J & The Critters Arabian Prince eventually started to become friends with Dr. Dre who was also workin` the scene with the World Class Wreckin` Cru. As time progressed both groups` lime light started to fade, but the two stayed in contact with each. That`s when Dr. Dre started talking to the Arabian Prince about a Rap group that he & former drug dealer Eazy-E were in the midst of starting. The group would later be known as the now famous N.W.A. & once Dr. Dre & DJ Yella left the World Class Wreckin` Cru things really started getting serious for the new group, Prince joined shortly after...

Then I believe that it was in 1987, Dre & Eazy-E gathered up a bunch of their homies for the compilation album titled "N.W.A. & The Posse". It featured such artists as the Fila Fresh Crew (Doc T a.k.a. D.O.C., Fresh K & Dr. Rock), Ron-De-Vu, Rappinstine, Eazy-E & of course N.W.A. The compilation itself was used to help create a buzz for N.W.A. & it did so with such singles as "Boyz-N-The-Hood", "8 Ball", "Dopeman" & "Panic Zone" (even though it`s credited as N.W.A. it`s more of a Arabian Prince solo cut). Something to note about "Panic Zone", it was apparently co~written by Krazy Dee (a Mexican rapper), he originally had the song titled "Hispanic Zone" but Dr. Dre switched it up to "Panic Zone" because he felt that having 'Hispanic' in it`s title would have them lose out on sales...

Shortly after the release of the compilation in 1988 N.W.A. released the grand~daddy of all 'Gangsta Rap' albums, "Straight Outta Compton" & with the group`s growing popularity Eazy-E picked up Jerry Heller to help coordinate the group`s future plans. Arabian Prince however left the group just a few weeks before "Straight Outta Compton" was released due to management problems. Soon after going solo, Arabian started to work on the album titled "Brother Arab", released in 1989 through Orpheus Records. Compared to his former group`s album "Brother Arab" was much more on the party tip with it`s Electro~Rap & Funk samples...

With that lil` run~down that brings us to the album that I copped for a whole $3, "Brother Arab". I believe that this version is actually the clean version of the album, I say this because on "It`s Time To Bone" there`s a record scratch where Arabian Prince would`ve said 'shit'.....LoL, aside from that though I didn`t really notice much else. Still I would like to hear the unedited version of the album, so if anyone has it hook a homie up! Anyways go had & check it out, "She`s Got A Big Posse" & "Situation Critical" are my favorite tracks on here. While "Sound Check" features the same sample that Above The Law would later use for the track "Menace To Society", just a lil` somethin` interesting to note...