Hip-Hop Albums of the Year

03 October, 2023

Arabian Prince — Brother Arab


Kim "Arabian Prince" Nazel was born in Compton, Los Angeles. Nazel took the name DJ Prince, sold mixtapes at school, and made a name for himself by DJing at parties, growing up with The Egyptian Lover and changing his moniker to Arabian Prince. The owner of the pet store where he worked financed his first single, "Strange Life", released on Rapsur Records, a subsidiary of Macola.

Around the same time, he began collaborating with the label's top artists, Bobby Jimmy & the Critters, and later produced the hit by the up-and-coming group JJ Fad, "Supersonic".

In 1987, he became a founding member of NWA, helping produce songs and appearing on one of the group's early cuts, "Panic Zone", later included on "NWA and the Posse". He also appeared on NWA's debut album the following year, "Straight Outta Compton", with a solo track, "Something 2 Dance 2". Realizing that he wasn't getting any money for his work with the group, Arabian Prince left NWA shortly before the album's release, and his track was removed from subsequent reissues. In 1989, he signed with New York label Orpheus Records and released his debut solo album. Self-produced with Tim "That Guy" Reid, the effort featured no guests.

His funky rhythms are pretty decent, in the first part, mediocre-bad in the second one, the lyrics aren't too different from those of the rest of the game, personally I can't digest his spoken and/or rapped very-slowly delivery. There's some decent sample here and there, but nothing savable. Released by Orpheus and Capitol Records, distributed by EMI, the record is supported by three singles ("She's Got a Big Posse", "Situation Critical", "Gettin' Down / Dope Thang"), peaking in the Billboard 200 and #55 among rnb albums. After this flop, the guy tries again a few years later as Brother Rab (without the "A") with a gangster / g-funk CD released as independent and a cover who pays homage to Ice-T, the result of which convinces him to abandon the industry. 3/10.

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