Arabian Prince is one of the founding member of the legendary group, N.W.A, alongside Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube. DJ Yella and MC Ren. He then went solo producing his own music as both Arabian Prince and Professor X, as well as working as a producer for other artists and acts. His passion and interest for technology and music production have never diminished, investing and developing technology companies across music, gaming and computing.
But that doesn’t mean he’s moved away from producing epic beats. Arabian Prince dropped his exclusive sample Loop Pack on BandLab, filled with his trademark sounds from the 80s and more.
With the launch of BandLab Sounds, it’s never been easier to download your favorite samples from world class producers and artists like Arabian Prince and more. All for free, and free to use whether personally or commercially.
We catch up with Arabian Prince as he talks about how he’s coping in 2020, music tech and his exclusive Loop Pack.
You can find Arabian Prince’s new Loop Pack on BandLab Sounds here.
Read more: Introducing BandLab Sounds: Royalty-free samples, unlimited and free
Tell us about Los Angeles and the music scene there.
Los Angeles is a very interesting place when it comes to music. It’s such a diverse culture and everybody comes here to be a star to get into the music industry. Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, clubs, record stores and music spots have closed down. Some may never open again but for the most part, you know the creative vibe is here and there are a lot of places where people can create music of all types in Los Angeles.
Musicians and creatives are finding it hard to survive and cope with these strange times. What did you do?
I’m doing amazing despite the pandemic, I’m a studio head so I’m always in here creating. For me, nothing really changed because every single day I’m creating something in music, technology, gaming or whatever. I’m always looking at the next thing to create.
I just started a new PC company focusing on DJ’s, musicians, creators and streamers to help them be able to stream properly because right now that’s the only way people can make an income, by streaming or going live virtually. So, that’s my main focus right now is creating a platform for people to do that.
I want people to think outside of the box. I want people to be able to create their own style, their own sound from my sounds.
Tell us about your BandLab sample pack and your production process making it?
My BandLab sample pack was something that I thought about for a while. Should I create something new or should I show how I recreate some of my hits?
The Supersonic part of the pack was something that I created back in the ‘80s and it was about how to give people those sounds and say, “Hey here’s how I did this and the sounds I used, go ahead and make something else!” Then I threw in a lot of my secret sauce like the classic 808 and other gear that I used over the years.
What do you hope people get from the sounds in the pack?
I want people to think outside of the box. I want people to be able to create their own style, their own sound from my sounds. I’ve always tried to be a little bit outside of the box and not do what everybody else has done. I think that’s the most important thing about my sound pack is using my sounds to think differently and create something special.
Has technology always been a driving factor in your music career?
When I started back in the ‘80s, creating music was all done with technology. We were electronic musicians and we used sequencers, synthesizers and drum machines. Then sampling came into play and we had to figure it out because it has never been done before.
So, yes, technology has always been a part of my career. I had some of the first computers for making music because I needed to use computers to figure out how to do sequencing and CV/GATE, SMPTE sync and all of those kinds of things. So, yeah it’s always been part of my life.
You’re also now heavily involved in music technology products too, tell us about some of the investments and business you are connected with.
I’ve been in technology for about 40 years and I just created a new product called Mclassic, it’s like a graphics card for game consoles that can up-res any game console to 4K in real-time, also I just started a new pc company that’s about to launch in the next month to help DJs and streamers to stream properly.
New music coming soon?
My homeboy Unknown DJ has finally talked me into finishing up my Professor X Album so that’ll be the next project coming soon and then I’ve got a couple of top-secret things launching after that. People can find me on BandLab at @ogarabianprincenwa and @ogarabianprince on my other socials.
Read more: Introducing BandLab Sounds: Royalty-free samples, unlimited and free
