Hip-Hop History Month #15

I know I promised the next one was "going to be on the ladies", that is, before I deleted that post (it was on boogalooing and pop-locking). I knew there was going to get push back because of something (turned out to be dates), so I am going to wait until I speak to an actual member of Electric Boogaloo before I repost it. But anyway, before I get into The First Ladies of the west coast, I HAVE to acknowledge the homie. So sit back, and relax as we get into Hip-Hop History Month, story #15. Let's get it!

Arabian Prince (also known as "Professor X"), was born in Compton, California to the son of Joseph "Skippy" Nazel Jr., a prominent African-American author and radio talk show host. His musical background came from his mother, a piano teacher and classical musician. His family tried its best to shelter him, sending him to a Catholic school and keeping him busy with football to keep him away from the gangs. Arabian Prince got his first experience with making music at the radio station his father hosted his talk show on; Arabian Prince used the radio station's equipment to put together mixtapes that he would sell at school. Arabian Prince went on to graduate from Junípero Serra High School in nearby Gardena.

He took the stage name of DJ Prince and started selling mixtapes at school. While working at a luggage store at the Del Amo Mall, its owner Sam Nassif asked him to DJ a party at a community center. He kept performing there for several weekends and the success persuaded Arabian Prince to invest even more in the place, renaming it "The Cave", where he would continue to host for over three years and even after his N.W.A. days. Arabian Prince also funded DJ Prince's first record, "Strange Life".

He changed his stage name when he was 15 years old at the Skateland USA, the same skating venue credited for launching the NWA a few years later, due to a fan's suggestion. He said about his name:

He called himself "DJ Prince" at first; back in the day, he would always dress like Prince. That was the thing in the early '80s — either you dressed like Prince or you dressed like Michael Jackson. He used to wear the tight parachute pants, and had the trim moustache, the whole thing. One day he was DJing at a skating rink. He was with Egyptian Lover, who he remains close to to this day. This girl comes up to them and asked them their names. Egypt said, "I'm Egyptian Lover." And Arabian Prince said, "I'm DJ Prince." She looks at him and said, "I always see you two together. You should call yourself Arabian Prince." And the name stuck.

Arabian Prince started working with Bobby Jimmy & the Critters in 1984, and was also a founding member of N.W.A, but soon after fellow member Ice Cube came back from the Phoenix Institute of Technology in 1988, Arabian Prince left over royalty and contract disagreements. The same thing Cube, and Dre left for later. "I started off as a solo artist", he said, "so I was aware of what a royalty statement was. I knew that when these many records were sold, there is a quarterly statement. When you look at it, you can see how much money was paid and then share it. This was not the case. We were also never paid for touring." Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren remained as the main performers, DJ Yella was the turntablist and Dr. Dre was the main producer.

I won't be doing a history on NWA specifically, because that is a history we all know. I will, however, touch on some of the acts signed to Ruthless.

Anyway, after leaving N.W.A, Arabian Prince began a solo career. His first album, Brother Arab, was released in 1989 with the single "She's Got A Big Posse"; Where's My Bytches followed in 1993.

In the mid-2000s, he started releasing music again, with his Professor X project on the Dutch label Clone Records. "I could not release the record under Arabian Prince", he said, "because I already had a single out, so I called myself Professor X on that record."

In 2007, he performed as a DJ on the 2K Sports Holiday Bounce Tour with artists from the Stones Throw label. In 2008, Stones Throw released a compilation of his electro-rap material from the 1980s.

One of his songs was included on the 2007 video game, College Hoops 2K8.
In 2015, a biopic about N.W.A. titled Straight Outta Compton was released; however, Arabian Prince was not portrayed in the film, and his role was omitted completely. The following year, N.W.A. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but again, Arabian Prince was not included nor mentioned.
In 2018, Arabian Prince appeared on the AmeriKKKant album of industrial-metal band Ministry. He made a second appearance on Ministry's 2021 album Moral Hygiene.

You can now find him Djing for JJ Fad and working behind the scenes.
He is most certainly an unsung pioneer who contributed greatly to the culture. Never really getting his just due, the man named Kim Renard Nazel, a.k.a. Arabian Prince, should be recognized as a staple in this culture, and deserves his flowers.