Prince Paul Shares Unreleased De La Soul Music That Stands With Their Best Work (Audio)
Last month, Prince Paul dropped a knocking alternate mix of “Chubb Rock Please Pay Paul His $2200 You Owe Him (People, Places, and Things),” a 14-year-old album cut featuring DOOM, Chubb Rock, and Wordsworth. The Grammy Award-winning member of Stetsasonic, Gravediggaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and BROOKZILL is not done. Paul had also been holding onto a De La Soul collaboration, “I Don’t Care.”
Paul was a mentor to his Long Island neighbors, linking with them when Posdnuos, Dave, and Maseo were teens in school. A minor when he joined Stet’, Paul brought the act to Tommy Boy Records, and remained at the helm for De La’s first three, highly-acclaimed albums. Each of those efforts is praised for innovative sampling, skits, Jazz fusion, and fully executed album concepts in a time when none of it was prevalent in the Hip-Hop genre.
By the mid-1990s, De La transitioned its sound and direction. The trio began producing itself, along with recruiting J Dilla (as Jay Dee), Rockwilder, and Supa Dave West, among others. On Paul’s projects, De La made several appearances, including new and archival material. “I Don’t Care” did not make Politics Of Business (if ever intended), but arrives in time for the LP’s “Redux” edition, dropping Friday (October 13).
With a drum and vocal sample, the trio basks in apathy–while showing great care for the craft of rapping. Paul spoke to HipHopDX, but did not say when “I Don’t Care” was recorded. The lyrics include a Bill Clinton trial reference, suggesting late ’90s at the earliest.
As recently as June, De La has released new visuals from the group’s 2016 LP, …and the Anonymous Nobody.