Saturday, June 14, 2008

Rap Treats #21: Resident Alien/Prince Paul (1991)


The Resident Alien story goes like this. Hot off his success with De La Soul and 3rd Bass, Prince Paul was given a label deal by Russell Simmons (Rush Associated Labels/Columbia Records) which resulted in Dew Doo Man Records. Paul decided to grab 3 friends who didn't really rap and create a group called Resident Alien. Resident Alien released one 12inch which was well recieved by Hip-Hop heads, but not by mainstream heads. Frustrated at the fact Rush wasn't pushing their single, Paul decided he would raise his concerns with the label. Russell and Lyor wanted hits and Paul wanted to make a concept album so the result of that meeting was the Resident Alien album and the Dew Doo Man record label being scrapped altogether. So the label lasted one year and this album never seen the light of day. "Ohh The Dew Doo Man" was my shit back in the day. This might be Prince Paul's first concept album if you don't count 3 Feet High & Rising.

Resident Alien

1. Intro
2. The Resident Alien
3. I Yam What I Yam
4. The Ox Tail, The Burger & Chic
5. Miss Lee
6. Shakey Ground
7. Ardicle Don
8. Horrorscope
9. Midtro
10. Ooh The Dew Doo Man
11. Mr. Boops
12. Alone
13. State Of Emergency
14. Are You Ready
15. We Na Play
16. Wanna Be (Russell)
17. Mother's Day
18. Third World
19. Extro
20. Welcome To America