Between 1991 and 1998, Organized Konfusion joined Gang Starr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth and Showbiz & A.G. as one of the premier rap duos of the ’90s. Prince Po and Pharoahe Monch released three critically-acclaimed albums, spawning hits such as “Fudge Pudge,” “Stray Bullet” [click to read] and “Who Stole The Last Piece of Chicken?,” and prompted two successful solo careers.
Tuesday night, Prince Po spoke exclusively to HipHopDX and revealed that after some turmoil with former partner a few years ago, Organized Konfusion may follow The Pharcyde [click to read] as the next classic ’90s Hip Hop outfit to reunite. “Me and Monch [have] been talking, and we actually have a new song. I have an album called Saga of the Simian Samurai, I did it with a producer out of the Bay area named TomC3 that I met through doing a Kool Keith project,” said Prince Po. “Pretty much, we did a song called ‘Now and Then,’ and it’s mentioning a lot of stuff like jelly slippers and Sunkist sodas and pumpkin seeds and banana Now & Laters. And Monch
heard the song and said it was the most funnest songs he heard done. He
said it was the first song he heard in a while that ain’t mad at the
world.“
The recording, which resulted in the remix, with Pharoahe Monch
doing the chorus, aptly titled “Then and Now,” marked the first time
the duo had worked together in over a decade, after a fizzled reunion
press campaign in 2003. “He reworked the rhymes, and it’s just incredible,” said Po of longtime partner.
The song, as for now, will remain unheard. “It might be leading up to a new album and a new website. We’re talkin’ about it,” Po said.
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Just released digitally this summer, Nasty Habits Music has an officially licensed Organized KonfusionBest Of album available to fans now. “I appreciate [the distributor] Orchard
having an outlet to do that type of project. My biggest fear was, would
this album be available to everybody? Would everybody be able to get it?” admitted Po, who saw the Organized albums, particularly 1997’s The Equinox project get requested by fans in search of the rare material. “A
lot of groups ain’t even make three albums. So for us to have three
albums, and be able to put a greatest hits back together, I think
that’s incredible. I’m in the midst of trying to get back the masters
[to Organized Konfusion‘s first two albums] from Disney.” Prince Po added that he intends to take those albums, after attaining the rights, and get producers including DJ Premier and Will.i.am [click to read] to remix the material from 1991’s self-titled album and 1994’s Stress: The Extinction Era.
Looking at songs included on the Best Of, Po and DX discussed the Gospel and House-influenced 1991 song “Open Your Eyes.” Prince Po revealed, “Since we were Gospel-influenced, we decided to do a song with a church that I attended, their youth choir. I think that was good because we was able to donate some money, and we were able to share the experience with the church. For a Hip Hop artist to interact with the community, especially with the church, was dope.” The emcee and producer added, “We were blessed to have such great songs because we had such great intentions.”
Prince Po also revealed, that in addition to working with Madlib on his newly-released King of the Wig Flip, that he’s working with the Stones Throw producer’s successful brother, Oh No!. “He pretty much is one of the most slept-on producers in the game because of his brother getting most of the shine.” The album is called Blazers of the Lost Art. “It’s about finding the archives of real Hip Hop, the funkiness of it, the stories, the back-and-forth. It’s a creative record,” he said, hoping that Black Thought agrees to be a guest on the project, compromised of numerous international and experimental sounds. The project is due by early 2009, backed by the single “Rage Against The Machine.”
Po also stated that he’s hard at work on The Ice Bears, a project compromised of featured talent from Colorado (Distract), Detroit (Leaf Erikson), New York (Stonewall), Bay (Pauley Rhyme). “All these dudes are exceptional emcess, not the kind of emcees that gotta ego trip. They can talk about subject matter...that’s what I want to remind people emceeing is about.”
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In late October through January, the group will embark on a 40+ city Ice Bears Tour, which HipHopDX will soon provide the dates for.
