A Prince Among Thieves

Prince Paul

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 1999)
• Original Release Date: February 23, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Ada
• ASIN: B00000HZVC
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #99,981 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The concept album has a long history in rock & roll , with the Who's Tommy being by far the most successful (by virtue of its turns on the big screen and Broadway, respectively). Hip-hop has had a few interesting (Kool Keith's Sex Style) and not-so-interesting (RZA's Bobby Digital in Stereo) goes at the form, but not until Prince Paul's A Prince Among Thieves has the genre had a true epic of its own to claim. The album, a cynical story of two friends that turn into rivals over a record deal, is solid on every level, with a full story, great music, and a strong cast. The disc is populated by a bevy of characters, many played by solid veterans--Chris Rock and De La Soul as junkies, Everlast as a crooked cop, Biz Markie and Special Ed as enforcers for Chubb Rock's gangsta don, and Big Daddy Kane as a pimp--but features a pair of talented newcomers (Sha and Breeze) as the leads. Sha and Breeze are dynamic, and they show up some of the bigger stars here--though only a couple of the characters disappoint (most surprising of which is Kool Keith's Crazy Lou). Ultimately, it's a hell of a record, with Breeze, Chubb Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Heroine, De La Soul, Xzibit, Brand Nubian's Sadat X, and Kid Creole taking best advantage of the killer tracks Paul serves up for them. --Randy Silver

Spin
A Prince Among Thieves could be heard as the renaissance of hip-hop's psychedelic edge.... [T]his cartoon panoply of sound never loses a powerful sense of cumulative derangement.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NIce concept makes a nice album, November 30, 1999

By	Masir (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

People have to realize that not all hip-hop CD's are meant to be bumped in the ride or played daily on radio stations. Prince Paul exemplifies this brilliantly with his newest version of the concept album. I will be the first to say that i don't like skits all over albums. They usually stop the flow of the album and lose their thrill after a couple of listens or so. But with Prince Among Thieves, skits are the string that holds this record together. More of a work of art than an actual hip-hop album, Prince Among Thieves lacks the sonic power to compete with other 1999 standouts such as Things Fall Apart and Black on Both Sides. But after a few mind turning listens, you realize that it's originality stands out above even those two albums. But this hip-hopera does have music and some standout tracks to boast. In particular, Kool Keith comes with his usual compex style on Weapon World. Big Daddy Kane is as smooth as he comes on Count Macula. Sha and Breeze, the two leading characters, also make worthy contributions throughout. Prince Paul masters something that he help break in but is rarely seen in hip-hop; expression. With Chris Rock recently purhcasing the rights for the movie, Prince Among Thieves may become a classic sleeper that cements his legendary status.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Concept Album Ever, June 16, 2004

By	J. McQueen "part man/part machine, all scientist" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I put it out there.
This has got to be the great and most complex and complete concept album ever. It is a album that could be made into a movie easily and somewhat is if you ever saw the music video for the album.
The ablum tells the story of Tariq, who is trying to get a record contract and needs to make some money to finish up his tracks and ...well, I don't want to give it away.

This album also has great appearances by: Sadat X, De La Soul, Kool Keith, Xzibit, Big Daddy Kane, Chubb Rock, Everlast, Biz Markie, Chris Rock, and Rza.

And as always Prince Paul put several skits throughout the album.
(Check out Tariq's mom the end of track #3 -- it's hilarious). Chris Rock also does a funny skit as a crack head.
There also is a great remake of the Ice Cube song "Steady Mobbin'" (off the Death Certificate) called "Steady Slobbin'"

This is a true classic hiphop album.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC HIP-HOP, March 22, 2001

By	Wade D. Haynes "postmodern_pundit" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anyone who knows even a little about hip-hop knows that storytelling has been central to hip hop music almost since its inception. Hip-hop fans will also recognize that concept albums are nothing new to the world of hip-hop (Ice Cube's "Death Certificate" immediately comes to mind, though there are countless others that lay claim to the status of concept album). It should also be noted that the use of skits on hip-hop albums is commonplace, if not ubiquitous. This being said, Prince Paul's "A Prince Among Thieves" is not only a bonafide hip-hop album that fits neatly into the tradition, it also redefined the genre. The thing that sets Prince Paul's masterpiece apart from the rest is its consistency in theme, tone and character. Over the course of this album, we see the main character travel through the flipside of the American Dream - the ghetto. As the album chronicles the main character's struggles to garner enough money to present a demo for a record deal, we see Prince Paul production technique in constant flux, embracing a different genre of hip-hop with every turn. From hardcore gangsta posturing to laid-back player/pimp macking to old school freestyle flava, the music fits the storyline flawlessly. The beats are fresh, the story is compelling and the rhymes are simply second to none. With a little help from several of underground hip-hop's luminaries (both past and present) Prince Paul has produced a hip-hop masterpiece on par with the Who's "Tommy." "Prince Among Thieves" tells the story of youth at a crossroads, of a culture on the brink, of life at its most crucial moment. It's patchwork of genre and subject-matter flows effortlessly together into a narrative so strong that only the most detached listener will not be able to relate to the struggles of the main character. In today's culture of shrinking attention spans, this album may be a challenge to most, but a careful listen reveals some insights that we all can learn from. I'll tell you one thing - after listening to the final, self-titled track, I will never listen to a "Dead Homies" song the same way even again. Never. Buy this one. It's a true classic.