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Standout Track: No. 5, “Kick Em to the Curb,” a confident pop-rap tune with a hook that climaxes with the line, “I know it sounds absurd, but he’s a nerd/You better kick him to the curb.” As synths surge and squiggle behind him, Prinz-D lays out why the object of his affection needs to ditch a guy who’s a “wigga” and a “loser.” (The beat is by DJ Naydee of Beat Planet and the singing by New York’s Rob the Rockstar.)
Musical Motivation: The Birmingham, Ala., native, who attended Gallaudet University and now lives near the school, says the tale is based on a relationship he had with a woman who couldn’t let go of her ex-boyfriend. “He was insecure and used to abuse her a lot,” the 26-year-old says. “It pissed me off ’cause we were digging each other and I felt like he was in the way of her being happy.” In the song, Prinz resolves the matter with the line, “I ain’t fighting over no chick.” In real life, he says she eventually tried to go back to the loser, but by that point the guy had moved on to somebody else.
He’s Different, Yeah He’s Different: The self-proclaimed “first deaf rapper” says he “cannot hear a lick” without his hearing aids, and that it has taken him years to develop the enunciation and pronunciation needed to be a convincing MC. (He started out with the name L.Y.F.E., but ditched it after singer Lyfe Jennings’ career took off.) For First Deaf Rapper: Vol. 2, Prinz had a recording engineer isolate the vocal tracks so they could listen to them carefully before agreeing that a song was finished. “I have to work extra hard to get a nice clean take,” he says.
[audio:http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/files/2013/01/05-Kick-Em-to-the-Curb.mp3|titles=05 Kick Em to the Curb]