Kind of a rare 12 inch today. Well, not rare since I had no problem finding it, but certainly obscure. Most people in the know credit Awesome Dre with being the first to emerge from Detroit, and that would be right, but right around the same time another Detroit artist was making music as well. Prince Vince didn't release a full album, but did release this single on Money Making Records first in 1988, then the major label Mercury in 1989.
I'm not going to pretend that I know a lot about Prince Vince & The Hip Hop Force, because I know next to nothing. We can thank Warner and his Awesome Dre interview for reminding me about Vince. The only other time I had heard about him was from a friend who is originally from the Detroit area and asked me about him. I then checked into him a bit and learned that he was another original Detroit artist that came out shortly after Awesome Dre. That's about as far as it goes.
The single contains two tracks, with three versions on each side. The first side is "Gangster Funk", which is featured here as a 12" version, an instrumental, and a 7" version, which is only a shortened version of the original. The track is nothing mind blowing by any means, but with it's very familiar "Flashlight" sample, it should be like wearing an old comfortable shirt. While the beat isn't anything new, especially in this day of age, Prince Vince does a very nice job on the mic. He's no Rakim, but he has a nice vocal tone, an effortless flow and a point on delivery. The topic at hand is nothing more than your typical 80's bragging, but for the hip hop purist, this shouldn't be too much of a problem
The B-Side features the track "May The Force Be With You", which is uses another familiar sample, Isaac Hayes' "No Name Bar" (Thanks Has). It was used by Dr. Dre on Eazy's "Eazier Said Than Done" track from Straight Outta Compton as well as former Geto Boy Raheem for his "Death In The Arena" track. You can see shades of Awesome Dre in his music, or maybe it was vice versa. I know the two were conected, but don't know to what extent.
Prince Vince & The Hip Hop Force - Gangster Funk b/w May The Force Be With You (Mercury, 1989)
| A1 | Gangster Funk (12" Version) | |
| A2 | Gangster Funk (Instrumental) | |
| A3 | Gangster Funk (7" Version) | |
| B1 | May The Force Be With You (12" Version) | |
| B2 | May The Force Be With You (Dub) | |
| B3 | May The Force Be With You (7" Version) |
5 comments:
yep! Another unknown one to me. [great name tho', cheesetastic...]
Cheers Trav!
Yeah, propz for posting the 12"!
I got this one in my vinyl-collection as well and still lookin' out for the Money Making-Release with "Changes" on the b-side.
The sample in "May The Force Be With You" isn't "No Name Bar" by Isaaq Hayes - it's "The Breakdown" by Rufus Thomas!
Yes, Prince Vince was down with Awesome Dre, but had Beef back in the days with Detroit's Most Wanted, as far as i know.
He tooks shots against DMW back then and DMW came out in '89 with the single "Save My Words For Wax" and dissed him back.
Prince Vince now lives in Atlanta and is doin' pretty good.
Damn, there was so much goin' on in Detroit/Michigan back then...they had a good rap-scene:
Robert S. (the very first rapper out of Michigan with a major deal in 1986)
Awesome Dre
DMW
Smiley
Esham
B-Boy Krush
K-Stony Jamm
Ameer Stein (Merciless Ameer)
A.W.O.L.
Kaos & Mystro
E.Z.B. & DJ Los
Eddie "D"
The Fresh Boys
KMC Kru
Dice
X-Change
ICP
Danny K.
...etc.
~Pe@cE~
Marko, thanks man for filling in the blanks. I've been meaning to dig a bit deeper into the Detroit history since a lot of it isn't out there for the masses. Never realized Vince had beef with DMW, I'm going to have to pull my DMW stuff out and give it some listens.
Are you sure about that sample, sounds like Isaac Hayes to me, click that link I left, those first five seconds.....
Thanks again for dropping the knowledge, always much appreciated
@ Travis:
No prob, dude!
Just take a listen to DMW's "Save My Words For Wax" (for exsample: MC Lee has made a reference to a battle with B-Def, which Prince Vince has lost)and the 2nd version of that song on their "Tricks Of The Trade".
In the 2nd version Motsi Ski shoots against him with the following line:
"...you put a twelf inch out that was already 2 years old..."
And on the song "The Money Is Made" in 1992 they dissin' Prince Vince again.
"...you wanna battle Motsi with some four track basement-shit..."
I don't know, what was the deal behind the beef...but back in the days everybody in Detroit was doin' his own thing.
Ever heard Rap Mafia's song "King Of The City" (1990)? If you listen close, you can hear them dissin' the Hard Core Committee (Awesome Dre), Kaos & Mystro and Merciless Ameer.
"...the Committee was shitty and Mystro got dropped"
"Merciless Ameer/can you hear/you're a punk ass-rapper/better disappear..."
That's what i've understood...
Don't got a clue, why they dissed them, but it's a fresh track though.
Yes, it's a sample off Rufus Thomas' The Breakdown...it stands on the record together with the credits for that song.
Here you can give it a listen:
http://www.lastfm.de/music/Rufus+Thomas/_/The+Breakdown+(part+1)
~Pe@cE~
check out "tanner 88" its a robert altman mini series that was on HBO in 1988,Prince Vince is featured in one episode,including a rap that is palyed over the intire episode,I had never heard of him until watching it..I like his flow,remind me of schooly d..
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