PRINCE PAUL & PFORREAL ARE NEGROES ON ICE 12/22 & 12/23 – 8PM BOTH NIGHTS UCB THEATER 307 WEST 26TH STREET NYC
Theater is a powerful drug. A drug that can be likened to Crystal Meth—or what they call “Ice” in Hawaii.
Hip hop is also powerful drug. Hip hop can take you to great plateaus in your mind. Hip hop can also inspire you shake your butt. Grammy award-winning producer Paul “Prince Paul” Huston, however, uses hip hop keep the volatile relationship between he and his 19 year old son, Paul Jr.–AKA rapper P Forreal–in check. Together, the pair have produced a magnificent concept album called Negroes On Ice, and now, the father and son crew have teamed up with hip hop brain trust ego trip and famed concert promoter Peter Oasis to take these sights and sounds to the stage at New York’s acclaimed Upright Citizens Brigade Theater on December 22nd and 23rd. Word to your mother.
Negroes On Ice is a curious name for an LP and live production, but PForreal actually wanted to roll with something else. “I really wanted to go with ‘Tampons On Fire’ but the name was already taken” says the charismatic rapper with a suave snort, while dipping his crinkle-cut French fries into a barrel-sized vat of mayonnaise. “I wanted a title that lived up to my superior mind and I believe we found just that,” he adds in between bites.
“The idea for Negroes On Ice came together by way of us trying to figure out a name for our DJ group,” says Prince Paul, who produced all of the music and triggers the sounds live, while the guy who came to be via his sperm, Paul Jr., raps his heart out in-between acting his heart out on stage.“We wanted a name that would make Richard Nixon roll over in his grave. We threw a bunch of wacky names out there, and when we landed on NOI I looked my son in his eye with a conviction I’ve never felt before in my life…” Paul Sr. pauses, then adds, “ a single tear rolled down my cheek that, once it struck my chin, turned into a butterfly. I knew we were onto something then.”
The simple quest for a hip hop name morphed into a complex, sprawling hip hop odyssey that brings father and son together in ways we haven’t seen since thespian Lorenzo Lamas and his dad (famed thespian) Fernando. We’re all very lucky things turned out the way they did. “I was inspired by the father/son relationship of Martin and Charlie Sheen– not Emilo Estevez, because he didn’t take on the Sheen name” says Paul Sr. “The Sheen name reminds me of afros—you know, as in Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen cosmetics. Which works perfectly for NOI’s black motif.”
Although Negroes On ice doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with figure skating, the production has done much to spare PForreal some serious flair-ups with his dad. “Negroes On Ice is a project that shows that generation gaps can be smashed, that hip hop can bring families together. Which is good because teenage sons can be a real problem.” Paul Sr. gets a little misty-eyed, then adds, “I’ve wanted to beat the crap out of my son for acting the fool so many times, but hip hop has soothed my inner savage beast. Which is amazing because I have the temperament of a Silver Back gorilla.”
PForreal says the narrative is “basically me running around town, blowing ish up, chasing cars and MAYHEM,” but the expert rapper goes on to say that the core of the piece is “a deep reaction to the Sarah Palin movement. Because she gets me hot and bothered on multiple levels. She makes me hot, and I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Come to the test run of Negroes On Ice at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater. Learn about hip hop, father/son relationships and the kind of senseless violence that is so senseless that it’s funny. Again, word to your mother.