Published: Monday - May 7, 2007
Words by Joi Rogers
Baby Boy Da Prince (Photo: Universal Republic)
He rises through the ashes like the phoenix. Well, not exactly... more like the opposite of ashes. Blah! You know what we mean. Baby Boy Da Prince's story is themed like a coming of age novel. He hit the bottom only to find that it was just a beginning.
First, crushed by Katrina, he lived and suffered in the confines of a small trailer. He traveled 50 miles just to record music. He woke up with a tune in his head that landed on the radio. He promoted himself at local clubs -- and voila! Presto! Abracadabra! Universal put an APB out on him until he was theirs.
Baby Boy fought for a career in music for six years, and there is something about the way he lives, that is so fascinating, he peaked at no. 21 on Billboard's Top 100. He perseveres through it all, unscathed, and still manages a wild sense of humor. He left our BallerStatus in stitches. No, really. We couldn't stop laughing.
Join us both as we talk about life, love and the pursuit of music.
Ballerstatus.com: Tell me the story behind your name.
Baby Boy Da Prince: Baby Boy Da Prince, I used to always call myself Prince, and then my manager came to me and was like, "What you think about Baby Boy?" And I was like, "Man, I love it, I love it, I love it," nah mean? I'm like, "Nah mean, Baby Boy fit right wit me." I just put it all together, Baby Boy Da Prince, nah mean?
Ballerstatus.com: What music did your parents listen to when you were growing up?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Old school, Marvin Gaye, Al Green...
(silence)
Ballerstatus.com: [giggles] What else? That's it?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Uh, James Brown...
Ballerstatus.com: Did they dress you up an make you dance for company?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Hell no -- they didn't make me do nothin' ... I used to like dancing like Michael Jackson. (Laughs)
Ballerstatus.com: (Laughs) Did you have a jacket to match?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Yeah, I had the genuine jacket.
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs)
Baby Boy Da Prince: (laughs)
Ballerstatus.com: How did you come up with "The Way I Live?"
Baby Boy Da Prince: I came up with "The Way I Live" -- actually the tune came first, then the lyrics, 'cause I woke up with the tune in my head, then came the lyrics like right after the tune came. I wrote it down, out my sleep. Like I just woke up out my sleep, with the tune, and I just put the words to the tune. After that I just went to my producer... chemistry after that, ya nah mean?
Ballerstatus.com: How do you feel about the New Orleans rap scene?
Baby Boy Da Prince: I'm lovin' it! We got Bizzy, we got Currency, we got Mac Mane, we got the Chopper City Boys. We got so, so many new people coming out of New Orleans who I'm really feeling right now.
Ballerstatus.com: How did you land your record deal with Universal Republic?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Well actually, they added my song on a local radio station, and it blew the hell up, and the record label called. I mean Universal called the radio station and hey... there it was. They got in touch with me, and here I am, on the road riding by big motherf---in' mountains...
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs)
Baby Boy Da Prince: (laughs) Looking at big mountains in this sh-- right now, in Cali, or hills or whatever you call this big sh-- with these big ass trees.
Ballerstatus.com: Do you feel like there is a lot of pressure to succeed as your career follows such great rap acts from New Orleans?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Yeah, whole lot of pressure. Pressure coming from every which way.
Ballerstatus.com: And how do you release your stress?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Ohh, I was about to say something nasty...
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs)
Baby Boy Da Prince: (laughs) The way I release my stress man, is by me... me what I do is, I give a number out to my fans and I talk to my fans. Like when I'm not doing nothing, and I laugh, I clown a lot, so by me, you know, by me clowning a lot and laughin a lot, that takes away... I don't have time to think about the stressful things in my life.
Ballerstatus.com: What do you think about All-Star Weekend being in your home city next year?
Baby Boy Da Prince: It's gon' be crazy.
Ballerstatus.com: You got something big planned?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Yeah man. I ain't got nothing big planned yet, but we working on things right now. We putting the master brains together -- me, my CEO and my manager. We the master brains. We get together and we gon' put something together, and it gon' be official toilet tissue...
Ballerstatus.com: Where were you the first time you heard your song on the radio?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Well, my first song ever, I was in my homeboy, Michael Pike's house. I was in the house and they played the song, on somethin' called Slam It or Jam It on Q93. It one of my first songs ever played on the radio. Man I heard that sh-- and ran out the house (laughs) 'cause I ran out the house and jumped in a big pile of mud they had there in the front of the umm... apartment complex...
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs) Are you serious?
Baby Boy Da Prince: Head first!
Ballerstatus.com: Are there any pictures of that?
Baby Boy Da Prince: I wish I did, 'cause that would show it.
Ballerstatus.com: What was your goal with Across The Water, and what story does it tell?
Baby Boy Da Prince: My goal is to make every [fan] go out and grab my album... and to make my city a thousand times better. Everybody thinks that it has something to do with Katrina, you know? I try to not talk about that a lot. I'm getting over the pain now, about the Katrina situation, so I can talk about it.
Across The Water means I want you to come on the West Bank of New Orleans, to see how I live. It's just divided. New Orleans is divided into West Bank New Orleans and East Bank New Orleans. I'm from the West Bank of New Orleans, so what it is, all the rappers you hear that's from New Orleans, none of them is from the West Bank, I'm the only one. So, I'm telling everybody to come 'cross the water to see how I live.
Ballerstatus.com: What subjects have you touched on your music that are unlike any anyone else has put out?
Baby Boy Da Prince: I got a song that's called "The Proposal Song," it's called "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday," and you know, I'm touching in the area like, it's just gonna be the proposal anthem. N----s is really gonna propose to they girls off this song. That's one song, and I got another song called "Good Jug," to let these females know that I got that good jug.
Ballerstatus.com: I heard that one earlier today.
Baby Boy Da Prince: (laughs) You like that one?
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs) I don't think that that one's a hard one to figure out what it means.
Baby Boy Da Prince: Ah, nah, you like that?
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs) I don't know if I should.
Baby Boy Da Prince: (laughs) Yeah, "Good Jug" is I mean, you gotta, like, what we call "jug" is like, if you get stabbed, we call that "jug," somebody is juggin' you... but a "Good Jug" is the pleasure of jug -- somebody stabs you in a pleasure way.
Ballerstatus.com: (laughs)
Baby Boy Da Prince: (laughs) It's like stabbing, but in a good way. It's like a "Good Jug," so you figure it out.
Ballerstatus.com: Speakin' of "nah mean," what made you pick "Naw Meen" as the second single?
Baby Boy Da Prince: It's the hottest song on the album besides "The Way I Live." I had so many hot songs, but I felt like that had to be next.
Ballerstatus.com: What artists would you love to collaborate with in the future, aside from Mystikal?
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