"A Prince Among Thieves" Tommy Boy Records Our opinion: ****

It is time Prince Paul gets credit for being the genius that he truly is. "A Prince Among Thieves" is proof enough to give him the credit.

"A Prince Among Thieves" is a concept disc along the lines of The Who's "Tommy". It is a rap opera, perhaps the first ever made. The story follows Tariq, an up and coming rapper with a problem. He needs money to record his demo, which causes him to sell drugs. The story ends in an epic shoot-out. The tale goes along with a yet to be made movie which would be released to theaters.

The story alone is run of the mill. What made it so great was the vast number of musicians who play the characters. It is a who's who of the rap business. Everyone from Chris Rock, to Big Daddy Kane are featured.

This disc and the results are amazing. Everlast plays a crooked cop and turns in a great performance on "The Men in Blue".

Some of the stretches aren't to far off from characters the rappers had played before. Rock brings out his classic crackhead role for a skit. The always odd Kool Keith plays a wacky gun dealer. The casting is one of the discs biggest pluses. Each person fit their roles almost perfectly.

The collaborating between underground superstars Sadat X, Xzidit and Kid Creole on "Handle Your Time" is a classic. This track alone is reason to add this disc to your collection.

by Ken Dunkin