SEAN PRICE

LEONARD COHEN – SONGS… REISSUE SERIES (Sony) The other Bob Dylan.

REDMAN – RED GONE WILD: THEE ALBUM (Def Jam) The simile-poppin’, joke-prescribin’ Funk Doctor will see you now.

MAXIMO PARK – OUR EARTHLY PLEASURES (Warp) New Wave Brits even stronger on second outing.

MICHAEL PENN – PALMS AND RUNES, TAROT AND TEA (Sony) Classic singer-songwriter stuff.

The Price of Fame MUSIC INTERVIEW

WBY DEMARCO WILLIAMS ANNA TALK ABOUT HIGHS? As one of the more charismatic members of the popular mid 90s hip hop ensemble The Boot Camp Click, the MC born Sean Price (who then went by Ruck as part of the twoman crew, Heltah Skeltah) grabbed a few dollars, got at a few groupies and graced a few magazine covers. Wanna talk about the lows? When the late 90s turned hip hop into this name-dropping, ass-gig gling party, the BCC’s gritty, in-your-grill style fell out of favor, leaving Ruck and his partner Rock without a whole lot of options. Price turned to the streets. He peddled a few unmentionables on street blocks. He spent a few nights behind bars. Solo rap projects bubbled but always popped in his face. That was until ’05, when his reinvigorated label, Duck Down, collaborated with the rap collective The Justus League for a three-album project. P’s part in it all was the well-received Monkey Barz. Spring ‘07’s Jesus Price Superstar is even better. INsite recently caught up with Sean, clearly on an upswing in his peak ‘n valley-filled career, to get the raspy one’s thoughts on going broke, going solo and going at this bizness for over a decade.

We first heard about you and your crew in ’96. It’s ’07 now. How were you able to stay relevant for over 10 years?

Ah, man, working. Putting that work in. Working on your craft. All of that plays a big part.

WHEN I WROTE MONKEY BARZ, I WAS ASSE D-OUT BROKE! YOU GOT JESUS? WHEN

I WROTE JESUS, I HAD SIX FIGURES IN MY ACCOUNT. disappointed. Everybody wanna get rewarded for their craft, of course. But if it never happens, I’m fine with that, too. I’ll live. I don’t do it for the accolades; I do it because I love it first. Secondly, everybody wants to work and get paid for doing something they love. If I catch a commercial or this, that and the third, sure. Why not? That’s more money so that I can feed my family. How many children do you have?

I got three kids but I only treat one of them good though. What’s wrong with the other two? They bad as hell. What was it about Justus League producers 9th Wonder and Khrysis that made you want them for Jesus Price Superstar?

On my first album [Monkey Barz], I got 9th and Khrysis on three tracks. Those are the tracks that took my album over the top. So, I went down south [to their home base of North Carolina] and 9th and Khrysis just went in. Khrysis called [another Justus League-affiliated producer] Ill Mind and said, “Yo, you need to get on this Sean P album.” Then son blessed me. You’ve gone through a lot of ups and down in your career. Things seem to be picking up for you. Aside from being in the booth with 9th and Khrysis, what sorts of things put the biggest smile on your face? When the bills come in and know ing I got the bread to pay for them. And knowing that I still have money after that. That puts a big smile on my face, to look at a bill and go, “ Oh, that’s nuthin’.” That’s the best feeling in the world. That’s a GREAT feeling! Being outta the red is a great feeling. Let’s say you’re not able to pay those bills. Is that then the best time to record, when things are bleak? Or, is it best to write when stuff is going well? That’s for you to decide. Do you got Monkey Barz? When I wrote Monkey Barz, I was assed-out broke! You got Jesus? When I wrote Jesus, I had six figures in my account.

What do you miss most about the Boot Camp’s mid 90’s heyday?

I don’t miss those times at all. I was so young and so stupid. I was just happy to be there. I don’t miss those times at all.

You don’t miss the camaraderie, the fans, nothing? Nah, I was just stupid.

But on the real, P, why didn’t the Boot Camp Click’s ’06 album Last Stand take hip hop by storm like it should have? You know what? I don’t know, but that shit don’t even discourage me because the album was tight. We’re going to do another one and it’s going to be just as good as that one. Hopefully, it won’t go on deaf ears, you know what I mean?

Y’all gonna approach it any differently? Nah, if it ain’t broke. You know the motto.

What artists outside of hip hop do you really respect?

I like Cody Chesnutt. We listened to the John Legend on the road overseas. Umm, I like Bilal. He ain’t put out nothing in a while but I like Bilal. I’m mostly an old head, man. I listen to Curtis Mayfield, Barry White and all of that.

And you can kinda hear that love streaming into your music. I love all of that David Ruffin and all of that.