Interview – Prinze Lowrida

How did you start your rap career?

It was a coincidence. I have listened to Hip Hop all day long since the early 90ies and started to rap after a few years. Groups like House of Pain, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, 3rd Bass, Cypress Hill and even Kriss Kross really brought me into this. I just kicked my rhymes among friends, started writing lyrics, started recording tracks, and started performing and so on. It was fun and I never thought that one day people that I don’t know will listen to my music, bump it in their car and say one of my songs could be in the charts. The more I performed live and the more I recorded tracks I always set me new goals. First I

wanted 5 people to listen to my music, then 50, then 500, then 5000 and so on. I really fulfil my dreams month by month. 

 

How did you come up with “Prinze Lowrida”?

I’m a child of God who’s the King of all, so I’m a Prince. The “Lowrida” came afterwards, because I have been a lot at car shows, drag racings and so… So I put the names together.

Actually “Prinze Lowrida” sounds really Down-South-Gangsta type of, which I’m totally not. That’s why I got my AKA “7.Dynasty”. Seven is God’s number; the number of eternity and a Dynasty is a king’s family. That’s where I’m from. 7. Dynasty also fits perfectly to the metaphorical lyrics that I write.

 

 

How did “7.Dynasty” start?

As I said 7.Dynasty it is my AKA. I’ve got this name since 98.  When I met DJ Nordstern 2001 we said that we’re gonna release our album “Ewiges Leben” (“Eternal Life”) under the name 7.Dynasty. After we got in contact at a jam where we both had a concert Nordstern first wanted to do a remix of a song that I did. But when we where sitting together listening to his beats and my raps we decided to release an album. Because it was a perfect combination. Within a few hours studio time we recorded 14 tracks… Yes, that’s how it started.

 

How is it to be a German Christian rapper?

Well… First I don’t like this label “Christian rapper”… I’m a Christian and I’m a rapper. Am I a “Christian rapper” because I’m a Christian or because I rap about Christ…? What if I don’t rap about Jesus and still be a Christian?

But as I am a Christian I also rap about Jesus because he’s in my life. Germany is the country worldwide with the most atheists so there are people who don’t wanna hear anything about God and start talking trash as soon as they hear the name Jesus. That doesn’t make it easy for me, but it ain't a problem for me! It makes me even stronger and gives me new impetus. We’ve got only 5 – 8 hip hop groups that talk about Jesus and they are mostly unknown in the secular hip hop scene. But I want all people to listen to my music, no matter what background, faith or nationality they’ve got. So you read about me even more in Hip Hop mags that are not Christian – without adjusting myself to the world.

For example the “Juice”, this is the biggest Hip Hop magazine in Europe, when they wrote a review for my album “DAS 2. TESTAMENT”, they just mentioned that I’m a Christian because this is very rare here. But they didn’t do it with any aversion. Or one dude from a mail order told me that he has never heard a German rapping about Jesus the way I do. Maybe because I’m not this “you-have-to-pray-all-day-long-and-sit-in-church-every-Sunday” kind of rapper. I rather share with them the experiences I have with Jesus. When I started rapping it was all about Hip Hop, not Christ. Now Christ is involved in my lyrics because I write very personal lyrics and I have learned not to be ashamed to say “I love Jesus”. But I am so much in love with the whole Hip Hop culture that I couldn’t stop living with it – with or without Christ.

 

 

What do you want to achieve in your upcoming album?

The next release is gonna be the DAYLITE WORKRES EP called SONSPOTS that I have recorded with my two Swedish friends WORDICAL and CERM. It would be nice if people listen to the cd and think about the message that we transmit in our lyrics. They can hear how we handle several themes and maybe we can touch a few people out there. Plus they shall see that these are real quality hip hop songs.

Then I’m working on my Mixtape “ALLES IST GUT” which will be more – let’s say “weekend style”. It’s gonna be more positive, not so melancholic like my last album DAS 2. TESTAMEN.  I wanna give the people a further picture of me as a person and an emcee. Different kind of lyrics and more verity in my flows.

To reach heads is my achievement.

 

Who and what inspired you for your lyrics?

Each and every person I meet in my life inspires me for my lyrics. Also a lot of times I write a verse and later on I recognize that God has talked to me through these words.

Living in this world is interesting and especially when you are a sensitive person like me who thinks about everything there is a lot to write about.

 

 

What is your favourite song that you ever did and why?

Oh…that’s hard to say. It depends on my emotion. It can be brand new ones and also very old songs.

 

Who will be featured in your next release?

The Daylite Workers EP will be Cerm, Wordical, me and features Prospekt and J-Sleaze on the mic. All the beats come from Sweden (Royale TSM, Private Eye, Skii, Wordical, and Prospekt) accept Boulevard Bou who’s a well known producer and DJ from Germany. He and DJ Phrat, who also lives in Mannheim, made Cuts.

The features for my Mixtape will also be real nice. I don’t wanna say too much. Just take a look at my homepage www.siebte-dynasty.de sometimes and you will see…

 

What artists have you already worked and performed with?

I’ve performed with artists like Ill Harmonics, Lootpack, Visionaries, Beatjunkies, Jeru Da Damaja, J-Live, 7Heads, Abstract Rude and German artists like Torch, Spezializtz, Dike, Groove Guerrilla, Toni-L, Chubby B and so on. The artists I’ve worked with are some Germans, Swedes, Belgians and Americans. 

 

What artist do you want to work with?

There are a lot of artists I’d like to work with. Question is if they would like to work with me. It would be amazing to do a song with Pigeon John, LMNO, Tunnel Rats, Cross Movement or Defari. Freeman, who’s a French Emcee, this would be dope. And I think it’s almost every Emcee’s dream to get a beat from Timbaland or The Neptunes. But I know, this is too far away…

 

 

 

What was the best thing that happened in your career?

Mhhhhhh… To be with God and asking him to open doors. He’s my manager and he definitely is the best. Because of him there are many things I am happy about and proud of.

 

If you had to do another genre of music, what will it be and why?

I would probably spin funk records or produce house because this is music with lot of energy. Or I would write lyrics for R´n´B singers so I could still express my feelings.

 

More about yourself. How did you accept Jesus in your life?

I knew about Jesus since I was a kid because my parents where Christians. When I was 7 my parents got divorced and I lost contact to God. I turned to a child causing problems everywhere; my school teachers hated me and so on. Some years later I started smoking weed and caused even more problems. One day I was fighting with a dude at the basketball court and I threaded him with a knife. Nothing bad happened but I had a bad conscience and I told myself to quit all that stupid stuff. My dad had me a lot in his prayers so I went to church more and more. When I was 16 I started working so it was a new part of my life. One Sunday I woke up, dressed myself nice and said: “Today I wanna give my life to Jesus.” That day I accepted the Lord in my life.

 

What’s your favourite…?

 

Food: Pancakes

Movie: 6th Sense, Forest Gump

Sport: Basketball and Soccer

Rapper: LMNO and Pigeon John

Producer: Timbaland, Kanye West, Key Kool

Country: at the moment Sweden

State: I’d like to be in Hawaii right now!

Music: Hip Hop, R´n`B, Funk, House

Bible verse: Matthew 10, 27

 

Any last words:

Take a look behind the curtain and frontiers. And no matter where you live and what language you talk: go & get these releases. Thanks for taking you time to read this interview. Greetings from Mannheim/Germany.

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