SEAN PRICE HEALS HIP-HOP WITH “JESUS PRICE SUPASTAR”
By Khalid J. Strickland a.k.a. Dirty Angel
Opposing emcess are the only ones getting crucified…
For the span of his lengthy rap career, Brooklyn’s own Sean Price has been reliable when it comes to laying down some of hip-hop’s fiercest verses. As one half of the rugged rap group Heltah Skeltah, along with his longtime co-defendant Rock, Sean Price (a.k.a. Ruck) dropped razor-sharp bars on the duo’s 1996 debut album, “Nocturnal”. Heltah Skeltah also combined with their fellow Boot Camp Clik members O.G.C. to form the super-group Fab 5, releasing the hit single “Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka”. In 1998, Heltah Skeltah dropped their sophmore LP, “Magnum Force”, adding another milestone to Mr. Price’s steadily growing estate. After appearing on three albums with Boot Camp Clik as a collective and releasing the memorable “Monkey Barz”, his debut solo album in 2005, Sean Price is blessing fans of raw, true-school hip-hop with “Jesus Price Supastar”, his latest top-notch LP. “Jesus Price Supastar”, which will be in stores on January 30th, 2007, boasts the superb production talents of 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Moss and PF Cuttin, among others. With cameos from Sadat X, Buckshot, Smif-N-Wessun’s Steele and of course his main man Rock, Sean Price spits blistering heat on all fifteen of the album’s tightly-rolled tracks. Wasting no time, Sean goes directly for the jugular on the opening song, the PF-Cuttin produced “Intro (Jesus Price)”:
“N****s ask what the god is about / I’m like nothin’, meanwhile I got my manhood in ya’ mom’s mouth / I’m back in the game, smackin’ ya brain, clappin’ them thangs / active with aim, snatchin’ ya’ chain, get back on the train / traffickin’ thangs, package of ‘caine, crack is the name/Sean is a rapper but rappin’ is lame… I quit / Ya’ll n****s can’t rap at all, smack you fall / to the ground I bounce like basketball / Sean Price is the master, ya’all / Ya’all a slave to the rhythm… so after I finish rappin’ I whip ‘em”
Being a fan of Heltah Skeltah (and Boot Camp Clik in general) from way back, I welcomed the opportunity to chop it up with my fellow Brooklynite, Sean Price, for Insomniac Magazine. Ruck’s latest banger is a must-buy for those who covet hardcore, potent rap music… straight-no-chaser.
Dirty Angel: What does “Jesus Price Supastar” bring to the Sean Price catalog?
Sean Price: Just more of that real hard body hip-hop, na’mean? Just doing me… same Sean Price. It’s just like “Monkey Barz”, feel me? Just a little tougher.
Angel: No doubt. What’s the significance behind the title of your new LP? Is there a deeper meaning?
Sean: Well you know… you read the bible, brother?
Angel: At times, some things.
Sean: All right. Well I’m not well-versed in it either, but allegedly Jesus went through the town and spread the word and the word was God. You know what I mean? And Sean Price… Jesus Price… is going through the hood spreading the word and the word is good hip-hop. That’s where it started. There ain’t no pictures in there with nails on a cross, I ain’t walking no water, I ain’t turning water to wine, none of that crazy s**t.
Angel: And what do you hope to accomplish with this new album, man?
Sean: I hope to make some more money… you want to be rewarded for your craft. I hope it enables me to go on tour to make more money, na’mean? And I hope people love it. I want people to love it. But definitely I want to be rewarded for my craft and take care of my family ‘cause at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about. No, I’m not a money-hungry dude, I just need to take care of my family, you understand? I’m very humble.
Angel: Absolutely. In an industry that’s so fake how does a guy as gully as yourself remain so real and so down-to-earth?
Sean: ‘Cause I’m a rapper but I don’t f**k with that hip-hop s**t. You understand? I’m home, I take care of my family. I f**k with other kinds of n****s, I don’t f**k with no hip-hop dudes, man. That rap s**t is fake… these rap dudes is fake. Only rap dudes I hang out with is my family, Boot Camp. And there’s a few others, but there’s not that many. You know, I keep it regular, man. Like I’m a regular Joe, na’mean? Ain’t no superstars over here.
Angel: Right. You got street credentials. You did what you had to do to eat out in the streets. So many rappers play up the hustlin’ aspect of their lives… the drug dealin’, the coke s**t. They beat us over the head with it. But you seem to kind of downplay that. Why don’t you play that part of your life up a little bit more?
Sean:: That ain’t nothing to be proud of, man. I’m not going to say, like, I’m an angel. I’ve definitely did some things. I just… I don’t know… it’s kind of corny to do that sometimes, you know? I mention it a few times, but I don’t go crazy with it. I ain’t a coke rapper, na’mean? I wasn’t no big drug dealer neither, B. You know what I mean? I made enough to get fly, keep a little stack in the crib… couple of stacks in the crib. But I wasn’t crazy with it. So that s**t ain’t… I always worked for somebody. I got some other n***a rich. So it ain’t really nothing to talk about. I was a f****n’ low-class worker.
Angel: Beat Street Records, downtown Brooklyn, they just closed their doors forever. Any thoughts on the closing of such a legendary store?
Sean: I met DJ Clue there.
Angel: Word?
Sean: Yeah, man. I was going in there one day and I seen Clue. That’s when the Fab Five s**t was poppin’. He was like, “Yo, son, let me get some music.” I remember that. I remember having an autograph session there. Me, Jay-Z… (Jay) was on Priority (Records) at that time with “Reasonable Doubt”. We was all down there doing the autograph thing.
Angel: Okay. That was back in the day.
Sean: Yeah, it was real proper, man.
Angel: It seems like the internet hurt a lot of artists, at least the one’s that couldn’t adapt. How has it helped you?
Sean: I don’t know if it’s helping me or not. Right now, me and my man was just talking about the internet. Like this, that and the third… some internet sellers want to put my album out 10 days before it comes out. Like, I don’t know about that, man. I don’t know how it’s helping me or not. (Duck Down co-CEO) Dru (Ha) about to send me a summary of my sales… digital. So we gonna see. I don’t know, man. If you call me back later on tonight… (laughs) I can answer that question for you, na’mean? Like specifically. So I don’t know if it’s helping me or hurting me.
Angel: Well, I heard a lot of your music on MySpace. I know you have a lot of people that’s looking out for you. I know that doesn’t always translate into sales, but… does anybody ever offer you things as far as… “Come do this track with me” or want to give you beats or something?
Sean: Yeah, well… I make most of my money on the road and doing features. I’m on MySpace all the time, there’s always some dude like… “I love the music. What would it take for me to get a verse? How much?” And I do like, two or three of those a week, man… for the past seven or eight months. So I can make about $4,800-$6000 a week, just chillin’, you know. So I utilize that ‘cause if I had to depend on record sales I’d be f****d up.
Angel: Well your new album is tight, man. You got something on there for everybody and your lyrics are excellent as always. And you’ve stayed true to your sound for many years. Have you ever been tempted to dumb down your s**t… or grab the latest producer like The Neptunes or Lil’ Jon or whoever the hottest producer at the time is, just for sales
Sean: Nah. Number one, I can’t even afford them beats. So that’s not even an issue. I don’t have the money to pay for Lil’ Jon beats. Now, if I did have the money, would I? Probably not, yo. So that’s why I be like, f**k it, it is what it is. I make do with what I got, you know what I mean? So far, it’s been working.
Angel: One last thing, man. Do you have any thoughts on these rappers who are taking offense to the title of Nas’s new album, “Hip-Hop Is Dead”? Do you agree with the accession that Nas made?
Sean: (laughs) I know what he means. It’s not really… he’s saying hip-hop is dead because of the deejays, man. ‘Cause they keep playing that bulls**t. So if I’m a kid growing up and all I hear is this bulls**t, corny s**t that they play on the radio and on BET and all that s**t, I’d be f****d up. The good guys, the indies, the kids don’t… my son don’t get to hear MF Doom, my son don’t hear Ghostface. And when he do hear Ghostface it’s him and Nee-Yo. He don’t get the real Ghostface, na’mean? It’s crazy, man. That’s why hip-hop is dead to him, I can understand that. I ain’t take offense to it. And he’s kind of right to a certain degree. They playing all that sucker s**t on the radio and that’s all the kids hear. So of course… the hip-hop that we grew up on is dead to a certain degree. I’m trying to keep it alive though, it’s alive in the underground, but don’t nobody know about it.
Angel: Actually there’s one other thing I gotta ask. You’ve probably been asked this question a thousand times today but what’s good with Heltah Skeltah, man? Ya’ll gonna put together a full LP? I know he’s on your new album…
Sean: Yeah, of course. That’s my dude. We’re working on it right now. There’s a lot of pressure so we’re not giving no release dates, we’re just trying to get it right. It’ll be out when it’s right. Real talk. Not trying to be funny or slick. Real talk.
For more information on Sean Price and “Jesus Price Supastar”, visit www.duckdown.com , www.myspace.com/duckdownrecords and www.myspace.com/scragbite For more stories and work by Khalid Strickland a.k.a. Dirty Angel, visit www.supremearsenal.com and www.myspace.com/blackpacino
