James Prince was born on James A Smith; October 31,1965 and is an American record executive, music promoter and talent manager.
35 Facts About James Prince
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James Prince founded the Houston-based Southern hip-hop record label Rap-A-Lot Records in 1986, which has discovered or signed artists including the groups Geto Boys, Do or Die, UGK, the respective solo careers of Scarface, Bun B and Pimp C, as well as rappers Devin the Dude, Z-Ro, and Trae tha Truth.
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James Prince was born to 16 year old mother Sharon Johnson with an older sister Zenia and younger half-brother Thelton.
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James Prince's sister died from getting hit by a train while walking home from school.
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Amongst other turbulence, friends and family were going to jail while James Prince was rotating from school to school and between different homes.
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James Prince played football at Kashmere High School, from which he graduated in 1982.
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James Prince was working as a bank teller in 1985 in the fault department, then getting laid off at the age of 20.
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James Prince co-founded Rap-A-Lot Records with Cliff Blodget, a Seattleite, in 1987.
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James Prince used his last bit of funds to invest into the label.
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James Prince was inspired by Russell Simmons and the label he co-founded Def Jam Recordings.
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James Prince moved the company in 1988 to New York City with Blodget.
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James Prince found members Bushwick Bill when he was performing as a dancer at a club, Willie D through the recommendation of his barber, and Scarface in the parking lot of a club he owned playing demos to a DJ who worked there.
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James Prince's brother was a member but then was replaced at Prince's discretion with Scarface.
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James Prince did not follow through as a result of his business partner Blodget feeling that the artist lacked talent.
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James Prince signed a deal with Priority Records in 1991 for distribution, releasing the Geto Boys third album We Can't Be Stopped.
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In 1995 James Prince signed the next distribution deal with Noo Trybe Records and Virgin Records.
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On February 13,2015, James Prince uploaded a spoken word diss track entitled Courtesy Call as a response to Sean Combs for a conflict he had involving Young Money artist Drake.
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In 2021 James Prince helped revive Drake and Kanye West's relationship with the goal of all three coming together to help Larry Hoover by raising awareness on incarceration in the United States.
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In March 2022 James Prince boycotted the Grammy Awards over Kanye West having been banned from attending.
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In November 2022, after the death of rapper Takeoff in Houston, James Prince issued condolences and set up a memorial at the site of the incident.
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James Prince was an avid fan of boxing growing up, being an amateur fighter and a fan of promoter Don King.
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James Prince became a manager for boxers as a way to get into that industry.
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James Prince opened a boxing gym in Fifth Ward, Houston around 1999 known as JPrince Boxing which later became part of the multi-million dollar Prince Boxing Complex, under the umbrella of Prince Boxing Enterprises.
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James Prince managed Andre Ward after the 2004 Summer Olympics, in 2002 James Prince called Ward after hearing he was about to quit boxing due to the passing of his father but convinced him to continue his career.
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James Prince has supervised the careers of 15 other boxers, leading some of them to their biggest victories, including Winky Wright, Jared Anderson, Roy Jones Jr.
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In 2006 James Prince founded condom company Strapped, after a close friend contracted HIV drastically going from 300 pounds to 75 pounds, passing away afterwards.
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James Prince had the idea for the company since 2002.
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For over two decades James Prince has operated a 1200-acre ranch for raising black angus cattle and hay.
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The recognition came after a recreation center James Prince built in Houston's 5th Ward.
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In December 2007 James Prince donated $100,000 to Bread of Life's Meals that Heal program in Houston.
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In June 2010, J James Prince was honored alongside Master P, Jermaine Dupri, Timbaland, and Slick Rick at the VH1 7th annual Hip Hop Honors Awards for both his creative contributions and his philanthropic ventures.
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In 2019 James Prince received an honorary doctorate degree in the form of a doctorate of humane letters from Texas Southern University.
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James Prince has 7 children, including 3 sons, J James Prince Jr.
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James Prince has been married to his wife since the late 1980s.
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James Prince has an island in Belize known as the James Prince Island.