The latest project from illustrious hip-hop producer Prince Paul tries to incorporate the shaky logic of reverse psychology, an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach to making records. Paul, the mastermind behind De La Soul, Stetsasonic and many others, has a legitimate grudge against the plague that he calls “hip pop.” But despite its good intentions, The Politics of the Business fails.
Conceptually, the album is quite brave, with smart, scathing commentary about the evils of the music business, and sage advice from Ice-T and Chuck D on the title sketch. But Politics slowly self-destructs with each empty, mechanized thump, with each track that can’t be saved by MCs as capable as Guru, The Beatnuts and Dave from De La Soul. When compared the organic, operatic beauty of Paul’s 1999 masterpiece A Prince Among Thieves, Politics is an unwelcome shock to the system.
It’s obvious that Prince Paul’s anger towards the industry has gotten the best of him this time. His bitterness drips from each monotonous, P-Diddified backing track, and when he actually lets loose and produces, the difference is striking. The glistening, vibrato-laden guitar of “What I Need” shows that Paul hasn’t lost his touch. So why has this exuberant, creative musician purposefully made a crappy record? It hurts me to say, but it really seems that he no longer sees the point in trying.
Politics disappointed me in the same way as the film Adaptation. Both are boring, tedious works of art that are trying to pass as ingenious ironic statements about their respective industries. In the end, I respect Prince Paul and his spot-on opinions, but I don’t care why he recorded an album full of bad songs. The Politics of the Business is incredibly ironic, and ultimately worthless.
Appeared in the July 10, 2003, issue of Artvoice.