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{{about|the American rapper|Arabian princes of Saudi Arabia|House of Saud}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Arabian Prince
| image             = The_Arabian_Prince_aka_Professor_X_(N.W.A.).jpg
| caption           = Arabian Prince in 2018
| birth_name        = Kim Renard Nazel
| alias             = Professor X
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1965|6|17}}
| birth_place       = [[Compton, California]], U.S.
| instruments       = {{hlist|Vocals|synthesizer|keyboards|turntables|drum machine|sampler}}
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]|[[Electro music|electro]]|[[gangsta rap]]}}
| occupations       = {{hlist|Rapper|singer|songwriter|DJ|record producer}}
| years_active      = 1984–present
| label             = {{hlist|Orpheus|Da Bozak|Macola|[[Stones Throw Records|Stones Throw]]}}
| past_member_of    = [[N.W.A]]
| website           = 
}}

'''Kim Renard Nazel''' (born June 17, 1965),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/kim_r_nazel_born_1965_9284309|title=Kim R Nazel, Born 06/17/1965 in California - CaliforniaBirthIndex.org|website=www.californiabirthindex.org}}</ref> better known by his [[stage name]]s '''Arabian Prince''' or '''Professor X''', is an American rapper, singer, and record producer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hiphopdx.com/interviews/id.1197/title.arabian-prince-new-funky-nation|title=Arabian Prince: New Funky Nation|author=HipHopDX|date=23 August 2008|work=HipHopDX|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/arabian-prince-what-happened-after-nwa-and-the-posse-6588582|title=Arabian Prince: What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse?|author=Martin Cizmar|work=Phoenix New Times|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scpr.org/blogs/offramp/2012/07/16/7044/lost-nwa-member-arabian-prince-plays-macarthur-par/|title=Lost N.W.A member Arabian Prince plays MacArthur Park on July 28|author=Southern California Public Radio|work=Southern California Public Radio|date=16 July 2012 |access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.askmen.com/daily/austin_150/182d_fashion_style.html|title=N.W.A. - AskMen|author=Kyle Grace|work=AskMen|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/arabian-prince.html |title=Arabian Prince &#124; West Coast Rap Artists &#124; West Coast Rap Pioneers &#124; Tribute to the Early West Coast Rap Scene: Website Title |publisher=Westcoastpioneers.com |date=1965-06-17 |access-date=2015-08-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808034808/http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/arabian-prince.html |archive-date=2015-08-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendy-brandes/kept-outta-compton-nwas-a_b_8101462.html|title=Kept Outta "Compton": N.W.A's Arabian Prince Has No Regrets|author=Brandes, Wendy|work=Huffington Post|date=September 8, 2015|access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> He was a founding member of [[N.W.A]] and contributed to several tracks from ''[[N.W.A. and the Posse]]'' (1987) and their debut studio album ''[[Straight Outta Compton]]'' (1989), the latter of which was released shortly after he left the group.<ref>{{Cite web |title=N.W.A.'s Forgotten Member Explains Why He Was The First To Leave The GroupAmbrosia For Heads |url=https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2019/01/why-arabian-prince-left-nwa-video/ |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=ambrosiaforheads.com}}</ref>

==Early life==
Nazel was born in Compton, California, to the son of Joseph "Skippy" Nazel Jr., an African American author and radio talk show host.<ref name=ArabianPrinceSixSeven>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Innovative Life: The Anthology, 1984-1989 |title-link=Innovative Life: The Anthology, 1984-1989 |others=Arabian Prince |year=2008 |editor-last = Egon |first=Amin |last=Eshaiker |pages=6-7 |type=Liner notes |publisher=[[Stones Throw Records]] |location=Los Angeles }}</ref>  His musical background came from his mother, a piano teacher and classical musician.<ref name=ArabianPrinceSixSeven/> His family tried its best to shelter him, sending him to a Catholic school and keeping him busy with football to keep him away from the gangs. The younger Nazel got his first experience with making music at the radio station his father hosted his talk show on; Nazel used the radio station's equipment to put together [[mixtape]]s that he would sell at school.<ref name=ArabianPrinceSixSeven/>  Nazel went on to graduate from [[Junípero Serra High School (Gardena, California)|Junípero Serra High School]] in nearby Gardena.<ref name=justfine>{{cite web|url=https://melmagazine.com/arabian-prince-left-n-w-a-and-he-s-doing-just-fine-b776410bec32|title=Arabian Prince Left N.W.A and He's Doing Just Fine|author=Mike Sager|date=16 January 2016|work=MEL Magazine|access-date=1 November 2017}}</ref>

==Music career==
Nazel took the stage name of DJ Prince and started selling mixtapes at school. While working at a petshop at a Lennox California Mall, its owner, Sam Nassif, asked him to DJ a party at a community dance hall. He kept performing there for several weekends and the success persuaded Nassif to invest even more in the place, renaming it "The Cave",(And Later "The Basement") where Nazel would continue to host for over three years and even after his N.W.A days. Nassif also funded DJ Prince's first record, "Strange Life".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=10+ Singers & Rappers Born on June 17 |url=https://www.gemtracks.com/guides/view.php?title=top-singers-rappers-born-on-june-17&id=5843 |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=Gemtracks Beats |language=en}}</ref>

He changed his stage name when he was 15 years old at the Skateland USA, the same skating venue credited for launching N.W.A a few years later, due to a fan's suggestion. He said about his name:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thekindland.com/culture/how-arabian-prince-was-written-straight-outta-compton-1368|title=How Arabian Prince was written "Straight Outta Compton"|author=Jasmin St.Claire|date=3 May 2016|work=Kindland|access-date=7 March 2019|archive-date=8 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308080816/https://www.thekindland.com/culture/how-arabian-prince-was-written-straight-outta-compton-1368|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Blockquote
|text=I called myself DJ Prince at first; back in the day, I always used to dress like [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]. That was the thing in the early '80s — either you dressed like Prince or you dressed like [[Michael Jackson]]. I used to wear the tight parachute pants, and I had the trim moustache, the whole thing. One day I was DJing at a skating rink. I was with [[Egyptian Lover]], that was my boy, still is. This girl comes up to us and asks us our names. And he's like, "I'm Egyptian Lover." And I'm like, "I'm DJ Prince." She looks at me and goes, "I always see you two together. You should call yourself Arabian Prince." And I guess that just stuck.<ref name=justfine />
}}

Arabian Prince started working with [[Russ Parr|Bobby Jimmy & the Critters]] in 1984. He also produced the hit single and album for [[J.J. Fad]], "[[Supersonic (J.J. Fad song)|Supersonic]]".

In 1987, he was a founding member of [[N.W.A]], helping with production on some tracks and appearing as a vocalist on "Panic Zone" from ''[[N.W.A. and the Posse]]'' (1987). He contributed technical work to numerous tracks on ''[[Straight Outta Compton]]'' (1989). He only rapped on the album's final track "Something 2 Dance 2",<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-05 |title=Rediscover N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton' Turns 35 {{!}} Tribute |url=https://albumism.com/features/nwa-straight-outta-compton-album-anniversary |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Albumism |language=en-US}}</ref> a relatively radio-friendly song which was also removed from later pressings of the album due to a dispute.<ref>{{Cite web |title=N.W.A.'s Forgotten Member Explains Why He Was The First To Leave The Group |url=https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2019/01/why-arabian-prince-left-nwa-video/ |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=ambrosiaforheads.com}}</ref> Arabian Prince left N.W.A in January 1989 over royalty and contract disagreements, after N.W.A. briefly toured with [[Ice-T]] and [[Public Enemy]], but before the release of ''Straight Outta Compton''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/mel-magazine/arabian-prince-left-n-w-a-and-he-s-doing-just-fine-b776410bec32 |title=Arabian Prince Left N.W.A and He’s Doing Just Fine |website=[[Medium (website)|Medium]] |last=Sager |first=Mike |date=January 16, 2016 |access-date=February 14, 2026}}</ref> "I started off as a solo artist", he said, "so I was aware of what a royalty statement was. I knew that when these many records were sold, there is a quarterly statement. When you look at it, you can see how much money was paid and then share it. This was not the case. We were also never paid for touring." [[Eazy-E]], Ice Cube and [[MC Ren]] remained as the main performers, [[DJ Yella]] was the [[turntablist]] and [[Dr. Dre]] was the main producer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/whatever-happened-to-nwas-posse-2164896|title=Whatever Happened to N.W.A's Posse?|author=Martin Cizmar|work=L.A. Weekly|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>

After leaving N.W.A, Arabian Prince began a solo career. His first album, ''[[Brother Arab]]'', was released in 1989 on the [[EMI]] major label. The album was a moderate success as it peaked at No. 193 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart, while the lead single "She's Got a Big Posse" was a top-ten hit on ''Billboard''{{'}}s [[Hot Rap Songs]] chart. His second album ''[[Where's My Bytches]]'' was released in 1993, although it was self-released and not attached to any major labels.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/arabian-prince-a-jheri-blossoms-2155689|title=Arabian Prince: A Jheri Blossoms|first=Chris|last=Martins|date=10 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-22-et-prince22-story.html|title=His 'Innovative Life'|first=Jeff|last=Weiss|date=22 August 2008|via=LA Times}}</ref>

In the mid-2000s, he started releasing music again, with his Professor X project on the Dutch label Clone Records. "I could not release the record under Arabian Prince", he said, "because I already had a single out, so I called myself Professor X on that record."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfweekly.com/music/allshookdown/hey-dj/hey-dj-og-arabian-prince/|title=Hey, DJ: OG Arabian Prince|author=Christina Li|date=16 February 2017 }}</ref> In 2007, he performed as a DJ on the 2K Sports Holiday Bounce Tour with artists from the [[Stones Throw]] label. In 2008, Stones Throw released a compilation of his electro-rap material from the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stonesthrow.com/arabianprince/ |title=Arabian Prince &#124; Stones Throw Records |publisher=Stonesthrow.com |access-date=2015-08-15 |archive-date=2019-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516034523/https://www.stonesthrow.com/arabianprince |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of his songs was included on the 2007 video game, ''[[College Hoops 2K8]]''.

In 2015, a biopic about N.W.A. titled ''[[Straight Outta Compton (film)|Straight Outta Compton]]'' was released; however, Arabian Prince was not portrayed in the film.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-08 |title=Kept Outta "Compton": N.W.A's Arabian Prince Has No Regrets |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kept-outta-compton-nwas-a_b_8101462 |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref> Initially, Brandon Lafourche was cast in the role of Arabian Prince. Despite appearing in early photoshoots, the character was cut from the film. The film's director, [[F. Gary Gray]], explained that "It felt like a mistake to focus on someone who wasn't in the group for that long. It was a challenge to narrow ten years down into two hours."<ref>{{cite website |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/straight-outta-compton-set-visit/ |title=Straight Outta Compton Set Visit |website=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |last=Williams |first=Owen |date=July 29, 2015 |access-date=February 22, 2026}}</ref> After the film's release, Prince said to ''VladTV'': "A lot of the scenes in real life, I was there. I'm just not there in the film, which I'm like, if you're gonna write me out of a movie, shoot some other scenes. Don't write scenes where I was there."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1mIDSgEoVg| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211122/s1mIDSgEoVg| archive-date=2021-11-22 | url-status=live|title=Arabian Prince reveals discrepancies in "Straight Outta Compton"| via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Some of the pivotal scenes would be choosing the name for the band, the recording of ''Straight Outta Compton'', and the group's early shows. Arabian Prince also remembered himself as the main opposer to [[Jerry Heller]] about the royalties and the money, a role that in the film was instead given to Ice Cube.

The following year, N.W.A. was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]], but again, Arabian Prince was not included nor mentioned.<ref name=":0" />

In 2018, Arabian Prince appeared on the ''[[AmeriKKKant]]'' album of [[Industrial metal|industrial-metal]] band [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]]. He made a second appearance on Ministry's 2021 album ''[[Moral Hygiene]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/ministry-bring-in-ex-nwa-man-arabian-prince|title=Ministry Bring In Ex-NWA Man Arabian Prince|author=Scott Munro|work=Metal Hammer|date=2 March 2017 |access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ministry-shares-unity-mix-of-good-trouble-single-featuring-n-w-a-s-arabian-prince/|title=MINISTRY Shares 'Unity Mix' Of 'Good Trouble' Single Featuring N.W.A.'s ARABIAN PRINCE|author=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|work=Blabbermouth|date=15 July 2021 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref>

==Other ventures==
Aside from his music career, he worked in [[special effects]], 3D animation and [[video game]]s.<ref name="justfine" />

==Discography==

===Solo===
'''Albums'''
*''[[Brother Arab]]'' (1989, [[Orpheus Music|Orpheus]]/[[EMI]])
*''[[Where's My Bytches]]'' (1993, Da Bozak)

'''Compilations'''
*''[[Situation Hot]]'' (1990, Macola)
*''[[Innovative Life: The Anthology, 1984–1989]]'' (2008, [[Stones Throw Records|Stones Throw]])<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Paine |first=Jake |url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7241/title.stones-throw-records-releases-n-w-a-affiliate-album |title=Stones Throw Records Releases N.W.A. Affiliate Album |magazine=HipHopDX |date=2008-07-03 |access-date=2015-08-15}}</ref>

===Other===
'''Bobby Jimmy and the Critters'''
*''Ugly Knuckle Butt'' (1985, Rapsur)
*''Roaches: The Beginning'' (1986, Macola)
*''Back and Proud'' (1987, Macola)

'''N.W.A.'''
*''[[N.W.A. and the Posse]]'' (1987, Macola/[[Priority Records|Priority]])
*''[[Straight Outta Compton]]''  (1989, Priority)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150808034808/http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/arabian-prince.html Interview with Arabian Prince & Biography on westcoastpioneers]
*[http://larecord.com/issues/2008/08/19/arabian-prince-women-and-partying-and-freaks/ August 2008 Interview] with [[L.A. Record]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120610182324/http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/arabian-prince--brother-arab Arabian Prince RBMA lecture]
*[http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2010/03/_arabian_prince_also_known.php Arabian Prince: What Happened After ''N.W.A. and the Posse''?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405032751/http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2010/03/_arabian_prince_also_known.php |date=2015-04-05 }} at ''[[Phoenix New Times]]''
*[https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/dj-arabian-prince DJ Arabian Prince Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Library]] (2020)

{{Arabian Prince|state=expanded}}
{{N.W.A}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Arabian Prince}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:African-American male rappers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male rappers]]
[[Category:Rappers from Compton, California]]
[[Category:N.W.A members]]
[[Category:Ruthless Records artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American rappers]]
[[Category:21st-century American rappers]]
[[Category:American hip-hop singers]]
[[Category:African-American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American electro musicians]]
[[Category:Gangsta rappers]]
[[Category:Rappers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American male singers]]
[[Category:West Coast hip-hop musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male singers]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from California]]
[[Category:American special effects people]]
[[Category:Rappers from California]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Arabian Prince|access_date=2026-02-25}}