[rock the dub Interview]: P.A.

P.A. (aka Prince Ali) represents Toronto, and is on the verge of blowin' up. He's already been featured on my site, from the Swaggie Piffin' Boys mixtape to a recent banger that featured none other than Kool G Rap, "Hoodfellaz". P.A. brings that raw, gritty feel of real life to his rhymes, while still trying to stay positive and appeal to the everyday cat. I got a chance to hit him with some questions about his friendship with KL (RIP), how he got started and his outlook on the game.

khal: What’s good P.A.? Tell us a lil’ bit about yourself – where you grew up, how you first got into Hip-Hop, and how that turned into you being a young rhyme scriber…

P.A.: What's good fam, I'm chillin’. Long story short, I grew up in Toronto and our family consistently moved around from place to place. Hip-Hop has always been present in my life, it wasn't like I got into it because it was cool. I was listening to Hip-Hop, literally, since I was born, since my cousins and siblings were into it heavy. When you grow up listening to Hip-Hop, you indirectly develop a flow and understanding for the art without any focused energy. As far as when I stared penning lyrics, it was a bout a few years ago, but while I always knew I could flow and write, I only started writing a few years ago.

khal: What was it like growing up in Toronto, for those who have never been? Do you ever catch flack from people who don’t believe that people in Canada might have grown up just as rough as others?

P.A.: It's not a matter of where you come from. It's a matter of THE trials one goes through as individual. Some people have good luck in life and some have it harder than others. If you come from the hardest area that won't necessarily mean your "hard", but people always think Toronto is this and that; once they visit Toronto, they realize that it's is really real out here. We got the biggest multicultural city in the world. Toronto is the only place you will see a crew that consists of: Jamicans, Indians, Latins, etc., all in the same crew. Toronto is diverse, man. You got people from all walks of life. It's just like any hood. Toronto is cool, man. I grew up here.

khal: Now, you’re 21 years old, and have already been linked to guys like Tragedy Khadafi, Kool G Rap and Screwball’s KL (RIP). How does it feel to be linked to cats that are quite possibly MCs who you grew up listening to?

P.A.: It's weird, because you were once 8-10 yrs of age and sitting in the crib, rewinding and dubbing tapes with these legends, and later in the teen years smoking and driving to get their joints but, when you actually record with them, for some reason it's not anything out of the ordinary, because you’re just an artist, making music like they are. Don't get me wrong, I give them the utmost respect and present myself as a fan always because I'm a fan of music, I'm not a fan of people. They’re just regular people and we’re all trying to put that work in and do what we love.

khal: Speaking of KL, I hear you guys were close, and you actually spoke to him the day before he passed. Was there anything in particular about the conversation that stands out for you? How did his passing affect you? Do you have any unheard material with KL that will see the light of day?

P.A.: That came about with my dude Nut Rageous & Cuban, I got on the remix of “What’s Poppin’” with them. It got a good reaction and KL was really feeling the joint, it caught some light on some mixtapes and sites like HipHopGame, HipHopDX, etc. He really respected my grind and style, and my dude Cuban gave me the co-sign, so I started building with KL. He was really starting to get heavy back into the game. He had an album in the works and it will still come out soon. We spoke the day he shot the video with NYG'z and Poet. KL made a cameo in the video. KL was a stand up dude, man; he actually was supposed to send me a joint with him and Blaq Poet on it and he told me “you got the third verse”; keep in mind we aren't that tight, but he took it upon himself to show love and do his part as an old G in the game. It was real disturbing. Music is cool, but he's got a family and anytime something like this happens it breaks your heart. Fuck music in those cases, someone just lost a family member. Much prayers to his family and friends. R.I.P. KL.

khal: Street Hop Magazine has recently called you one of the top MCs to look out for, and you’ve also gotten love from MTV (in Germany), XXL, All Hip-Hop, HipHopDX and other outlets (including spins on Sirius’ Hip Hop Nation). What’s the best accolade you’ve received so far?

P.A.: Accolades don't mean anything, but the sad thing is, that's what the game’s built on. The best accolade is when someone tells you they were vibing to your music and it touched them. You’re contributing to some type of positive vibe in the world even if it's just music.

khal: How would you describe your style?

P.A.: My style is like different moods. Sometimes you’re happy, depressed, pissed off, and whatever else. I'm never one sided.

khal: I see that you look at Hip-Hop as a form of therapy for you – where do you think you’d be without Hip-Hop?

P.A.: Hopefully still positive and maintaining, but Hip-Hop is what it is. It definitely helps you zone out for a bit. It doesn't remove your problems but it's like you always got someone to vent to.

khal: Talk to us about your recently-released mixtape, Pyrex Prophecy. Was there a set theme you guys were trying to get across? What kind of feedback have you gotten from it?

P.A.: I had the theme Pyrex Prophecy basically to show balance. Positive and Negative at the same time, but the negative in essence is positive to because it has a positive intention intended. I don't know if I lost you with that (lol), but the feedback has been great. Everyone is feeling the mixtape, and reviews are great as well. Shout out to Big Chew from Rapmullet.com who showed some love on the review. The streets are feeling the tape. It was something I put together as an appetizer.

khal: Word is you also have an album coming? Can you give the people some info on how that’s coming, what we can expect, and when can we get it?

P.A.: One thing I learned is an album has got to come together on all levels, creativity, business, and everything in between, which is one of the reasons some albums take a long time to come out, because you gotta make sure everything is right.

khal: Do you tour regularly?

P.A.: Regularly isn't the case. Part of the grind is grinding your music so that you can say you tour regularly and make money because nobody is generating any revenue with selling music right now.

khal: When do you think you’ll hang up the mic and call it a day?

P.A.: No such thing as hanging a mic up. It's not a trend or a fad. I may not be able to record at times due to life, but I constantly got rhymes in my head. It's like a natural reaction.

khal: What do you get into, outside of Hip-Hop?

P.A.: I'm just into myself man, trying to live the best way I can and provide, just like anyone else.

khal: Do you have any shoutouts/final thoughts?

P.A.: Much love to Rock The Dub and everyone contributing to the grind. Peace and Love.

Shouts to Write Just Media for setting this one up. Be sure to visit P.A.'s MySpace page, so you can stay up on all of his future goings-on. You can grab his previously released mixtape, Pyrex Prophecy, here.

P.A. "Rap Author" / "On Our Way" video:

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