Pitchfork

Maintaining the hip-hop production equivalent of basketball's "hot hand" isn't easy. Producers are here today, gone tomorrow. Even the illest sometimes fall or fade away. It's been at least a month since Pharrell has had a song in the top 10, Kanye's probably just a flash in the pan, and does anyone even remember the name Lil' Jon?

It takes longevity to gauge a producer's worth, and I'm talking at least a decade. One who ranks up there in terms of longevity and quality, with the likes of DJ Premier, Erick Sermon, and the RZA, is Prince Paul. Besides practically inventing the hip-hop skit (for better or worse) on De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising Paul has made a huge mark on rap and pop music in general through his work with Stetsasonic, Gravediggaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, and his own concept albums (Psychoanalysis, A Prince Among Thieves, The Politics of Business). Most recently, Paul released the second Handsome Boy album, White People, and Hip-Hop Gold Dust, a collection of unreleased and largely unheard tracks from his long and storied career. Paul recently took the time to speak with Pitchfork about his current projects, the future of Handsome Boy, and his relationship with De La Soul, among other things.

Don't expect any more collaborations with Dan the Automator in the near future, as according to Paul, Handsome Boy Modeling School has run its course due to some business problems between the two. "We were having some internal conflicts," Paul said. "I guess it is major. It was major enough for me to retire, hang up my moustache and suit. It's done, that's it. It was business things. Things that needed to be addressed weren't addressed."

And the split hasn't exactly been amicable, as Paul claims to have not even discussed the matter with Automator. "When I announced my retirement, that was it. He didn't call me, his manager didn't call me, the Handsome Boy manager didn't call. Either they hate my guts, or it just didn't work out." Looks like it'll be a cold day in hell before Father Guido Sarducci appears on another hip-hop record.

Fortunately, Paul is working on other ventures, although a reunion with former cohorts De La Soul may not be in the stars. "I've been chasing those guys down for the last four or five years, saying, 'Let's make another album. One album together, just us, no other outside producers,'" said Paul. "And I've been getting 'yeahed' - 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.' I don't know if it's to shut me up, but I'm giving it two more years and then I'm gonna stop asking. You feel like an idiot after a while."

Nevertheless, the drive seems to be there, even if the reciprocation is not. "I wanna do another album and I think it's important for us to do another because that was us at our peak, in our prime, when we worked together."

But just because De La and Automator aren't showing him any love, don't count Paul down and out for the count. He's currently working on a project with former Parliament organ player Bernie Worrell, producing and arranging with the legendary musician. "He's an accomplished musician and I'm some B-boy cat," said Paul. But that formula doesn't necessarily equal your typical hip-hop plus jazz formula. "I don't want people to think it's like some hip-hop beats over him playing. We're trying to invent something." It's undecided as of yet whether or not there will be guest MCs on the album, but the most important element for Paul seems to be showcasing Worrell's immense talents.

Paul also tells us that he's currently working on scoring a pilot for a cartoon, the name of which he can't reveal due to a confidentiality agreement. While he talks of retirement sometime in the near future, he also still has his dream collaborations in mind: "Prince and Prince Paul. That's what I'd really like to do. I had a chance to meet him briefly, years and years ago. He probably wouldn't remember," Paul humbly admitted.

In what is perhaps a more likely prospect, Paul would also love to do some work with the extra prolific MF Doom. "Oh, man, I love Doom. I would have to take him in a direction that nobody had done before."

As for retirement, Paul had this to say: "I don't think the Prince Paul records are needed. If they made an impact, if someone said, 'You changed my life,' besides the crazy kid who... I take that back because that means a lot too. If I think it made an impact on a bigger scale on the music or the culture or people at large, I would do more records, but I don't wanna waste my time. People always look at me like I'm stupid half the time. I don't understand it. Then I wind up scratching my head, thinking I'm crazy."