Changing Lanes: A Prince Castro Interview

Prince Castro, life was turned upside down when the man his mother trusted failed her. Then justice failed her, complicating things further Castro sought refuge in the streets. Hip-hop has always comforted his life, from the blacktops of NYC that warmed the boomboxes of dope dealers, or to the late night sessions with his brother breaking down the latest Nas record. Music was home, but so were the distractions. Castro never chased fame and always had a true passion for MC'ing. The untimely death of his brother would spark a whirlwind of emotions that would bring Castro to his darkest and deadliest thoughts. To seek revenge on the officers that took the life of his brother. Searching for a sign an old mixtape of his brothers soon would show face. This was the moment that life presented the bigger picture, it was to continue the LEGACY of his brother's life and music. Throughout Castro's journey, as he gains more fame and opportunities he simply does it all for love of LIFE. This is the exclusive interview only at #v2

Tell us who is Prince Castro?

Born in Brooklyn NY, raised in Brooklyn(Kings County) & Queens, NY (Queens County) & even my middle name Ameer, means Prince. So I always saw the theme of royalty as prevalent, & we should look at ourselves as such. I'm a product of the city, a student of the art form, A child of the Golden Age' of hip hop.

So, tell us about your childhood

I bounced around, we lived in Brownsville til I was like 5, then my moms shook. She took us down south to North Carolina where her side of the family is originally from. Single moms 5 kids, shit was tough, sharing a bed head to foot type shit, but we made ends meet. I played football, my middle brother played & I was pretty much trying to run behind & be like him for real. He had me by 6 years, but u couldn't tell me that. After a few years in Raleigh my mom's got into a bad situation and we had to move back to New York. at this time my pops was remarried living in Jamaica, Queens. And it's crazy because even that young, you already know you better be on your p's and q's and know how to handle yourself.

Your mother went to jail when you were young, how did you feel then and how do you feel now?

Yeah that happened when I was about 9, mom's was always working two jobs Grinding. Ended up meeting someone who supposedly took interest in her or whatever. Nigerian cat. Had the whole spiel about being a prince back home, had some paper bout his self too. The story was his peoples was sending them checks from back home 100,000.. 120,000.. 90,000.. and I guess he was using my moms the bus to checks in her account. little did she know he was setting her up for a really bad fall. The heat came down, he disappeared and she got hit with 5 years. How I felt? they tried to dumb it down like it wasn't jail. but I knew what it was I just didn't understand why. because being from Brooklyn in the late 80s, you already have an idea of what 'the people getting sent to jail' look like and it wasn't "single mom working two jobs" How I feel now? It really doesn't exist no more. It never affected the relationship, it just meant we had to go live in New York with pops. We were in a small two-bedroom apartment and it was 6 of us. Pops was like Furious from Boyz in the Hood. Militant. Malcolm X to the neighborhood type of individual. We were broke. We made do. but I definitely felt like it was a little bit of a harder situation than in Raleigh.

Tell us about the nights you lived in an abandoned hotel.

We had got kicked out the crib in South Jamaica. And really didn't have nowhere to go. An associate of my pops owns some property in Bed-Stuy. We were on Gates Avenue between Classon and Franklin. Which in itself was crazy cause I was still going to Junior High School in Jamaica. So I'm walking to the G train on Classon & Lafayette. (Shoutout Lafayette gardens) transfer to the F train, & walk my ass all the way down Hillside Avenue to 238 every morning.! dolo! @11 years old Anybody who's really familiar with that area knows there was nothing there (gates bet. Classon & Franklin) except on one side of the street a huge Church, real popular Church. and on the other side, a big ass abandoned Hotel. Nasty haunted house looking shit. The front door had a metal gate (like the stores when they closed for business for the day.) The only way to secure a gate/door like that is with a big ass lock right, meaning when you go inside for the night there's no way to lock it. & if someone does, you're locked in..! We ran a couple orange power cords from the property next door, set up hot plates, some TVs, mattresses.. Little did we know the dude who owned the property was in debt with some Street niggas round the way. Mind you nobody knows there is a family living up in here. One night about 3 in the morning we heard people arguing in the lobby of the hotel trying to decide whether to kill the Nigga. and one dude say "na let's just burn the house & this bitch down" & we really couldn't say shit. After that day we got the fuck out of there.

Your sister used to make you write as a "punishment" for acting out?

That was actually around 8 or 9. Around that, time my moms were already gone, but we hadn't gone to New York yet. So for real, we were Raising each other in secret. But yeah, she would make me write plays, write stories, monologues. Shit like that. She had a job at the mall my oldest brother had his job so they were paying bills 17 and 19 years old buying my clothes feeding me and my other sister. L.I.F.E. was already sent back to Queens with my pops

Your older brother would bring Wu-tang tapes back when you were younger?

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My brother already being in Queens for a couple of years, & the rest of us coming turned 3 people living in a 2 bedroom 6 & it got crowded real fast. He listeningHeady cousin in Staten Island, out there wilin, shooting off the roof, running around having fun. He would bring back tapes and the 1st one I remember was wu-tang 36. That was my official introduction to Hip Hop. When we were down south him and our older brother would be listening to the (Illmatic) and the (Infamous) Mobb Deep album but I wasn't really tuned in until around now. I & Life(brother) had to share a bed Head To Toe round this time. If he playing shit, I was listening whether I wanted to or not, the house was quiet as shit, and I can't help but be locked in. 36 Chambers was the first album that I heard every night.. to this day my favorite joint was "Tearz." During that time though, the biggest influences were Onyx (Purse Snatchaz), Nas (It Was written), that was the Ghetto Gospel foreal foreal, AZ (Sugar Hill) The Firm a little later, (The War Report) we was brooklyn niggas on some real Queens shit. That BQE wave. Lookin back, its kinda crazy how the music had my mindset at 12 years old pinching niggas in they face. Thats wild. Living in Jamaica, it was second nature to go to 1 65th and Jamaica Ave and get the latest clue tape, cutmaster C tape, DJ Whoo Kid tape, and when all else failed stay up late Sunday night with the blank tape & record all the Stretch Armstrong radio shows with record and pause. It was a Classic time. You had to stick the tissue in the top of the tape in the hope to record over it Imao. Mf don't een kno bro.

Tell us about the day your brother passed

At the time I was on an Indian Reservation out west when that shit happened man. Being in a place so foreign to the East Coast way of life, that's naturally going to spark curiosity, especially if u have an interest in culture & things of that nature. Especially being so many of us always hear our grandparents talking about how their Grandparents were full-blooded Indians and all that. So anyway I'm out there at a pow wow, which is a Native American Cultural Gathering where they share dances, they sing, honor the ancestors, & carry the tradition of their PPI heritage that been passed down year after year. We were in a spot that's just Raw, basically untouched land. So needless to say I got no reception, no cell phone service for damn near the whole day. That night I leave, come up closer towards the towers or whatever, I guess and my phone starts lighting the fuck up like 4th of July! 1 1 m talking about 30 voice messages about 80 text messages. I ain't know what the hell was going on. But It wasn't all family, it wasn't all my street niggas. It was like every mf body I knew.. So that alone put my whole stomach in a knot. The first text message I see from an immediate family member said "call me ASAP it's of the utmost importance and urgency" that was my sister. I called she start tryna say something. Her whole voice trembling. So she put a man at the time on the phone you tell me like "yo cash... your brother got arrested yesterday. They hemmed him up on some coke shit. He bonded out, got out real early this morning, & I guess he had a lot more soft that they didn't find. He went to where the shit was buried, & was tryn take that it out to the country. My first name is Faheem. He said "Fah.. They was watchin him Fah. They pulled him over with that whole shit on him! They saw em speeding, & when they pulled him, the cop walked up to his bike & he took off." He said "They chased him for almost 3 hours into 3 different counties. Fah" He was on a BMW Superbike and they were not going to catch him. State Trooper hit his bike, clipping him from the front while he was goin he was going 174 miles an hour" What's wild is I was 5 years old & seeing somebody get they brain blew out right in front of our steps in Brownsville. Seen a father lose his life right on front of his 2 children at age 10, at Ajax Park in South Jamaica Queens.

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I dun Lost homies, felt like I've been through it all and thought I was numb the shit like that. But my nigga I dropped like a ton of bricks. Felt like somebody stuck they hand thru my chest, ripped my heart, & my spine out. Dropped my phone everything. Ballin. Niggas took my other half. I thought our kids would grow together. I just wanna say Fuck 12 from the core of my soul, my nigga. Knowing his mindset, & his thought process, from straight up being raised by him, I can say that him being such a rational & logic based person, he knew that to let them take him in what's Guaranteed Life. But to try to Shake them was at least 50/50, he put his life in his own hands. Gotta respect that!

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When he passed did you feel obligated to continue his musical legacy? And how long did it take you to start writing again?

Honestly, when he passed I didn't feel nothing but pain. I couldn't think about the obligation to put his music out. I thought about evening the score every day for a long time bro, even if it meant suicide by police. I had to evolve from that place. I think it took without 2 years to be able to write without breaking down. That was my writing partner, bounce ideas off each other, nas & az shit.

What has so far has been your favorite "moment" while being an artist? And what is something you hope to accomplish before your career is over?

My favorite moment as an artist was recording with super-producer super engineer Mike blayz with the one and only like the legend and The Hip Hop Legend Beanie Sigel we did a song on my brother's C'est La Vie album and that's yet to come I got that in the cut heating up for y'all. But to grow up listening to Beanie Sigel and get the chance to have him and my brother bring the best out of me that's definitely a dope moment. Honestly, the biggest accomplishment I could achieve would be to elevate my brand enough to generate love from the listers. So much that I can make my brother's music successful. To hear PPI sing his songs. To the point they want me to perform his music as well as mine.

If you had to break down your music with 3 artist- Who would you use?

Nas, Black Thought, Nipsey Hussle: Not because I want to emulate anyone else but is there an electrical approach to the music. and the passion and skill set is the focal point of the music.

How do you think your presence would benefit in today's hip-hop?

I think my presence would benefit today's hip-hop bye showing this away to make the people move without going all the way down bubblegum Boulevard. You don't have to be super duper extremely lyrical sabbatical attic or radical Imao, but u don't gotta skurrt skurrt them to death. Bring content to the Forefront and overall I think it would benefit the game to see someone successful that is willing to put integrity before the bag. Like Lupe said "all you got to do is function properly. And the form will come out of it!

How do you like your studio sessions? What is the perfect vibe for you?

I like closed sessions. I don't write quick. and I don't try to. I don't like distractions. I'm very security-minded so if you not Inner Circle, I'm paying attention to you instead of my song construction. Sometimes that alone sends off mixed signals and now you got the wrong type of energy in your creative atmosphere. Perfect vibe, me, my engineer, cameraman to capture the process, *perfect* would be to have my brother there since we can't rewind the hands of time,

When did you finally realize to leave the street life behind you?

If u wanna put it that way.. I was running into a lotta legal shit, out in NC, fucking around with the bud, that to catching a few gun charges, had to bump of my head on the wall a few times judge told me to my face next time I see you in my courtroom or see your name come across my docket seat you do no less than 7.. I said bitch how bout I leave NC.. I was f'kn wit this lawyer chick at the time.. She put me on game about the building trade unions, & that shit changed everything. Once I found out it was solid I started tryna put all the homies on that I could.

Tell us about the day you finally found your brother's album.

I just turn my mother's garage upside down, still didn't find it, I got lucky my uncle had a copy & brought it to my mom's crib. I remember just thinking to myself now it's time to do this shit! let's get to work Cash. Like y'all don't even understand I blew the dust off that thing and mashed the gas immediately.

You have a piece of jewelry that reminds you of your brother in some way?

Me and my brother startedTransportation Company it was called A2B transportation whatever it is we going to get it from point A2B... company logo with a shield with the wings like a crest of sorts. He came up with that logo found some company to make magnets out of it slap them on the front doors and the back windows of the Suburbans and we were moving. And instead of putting A2B in the crest. I put my brother's name and logo. Matter fact I got the same tattoo as long as 1 1 m alive and have a voice you going to live forever big bro!!

What would be 'making it" or success to you as an artist?

I think making it is reaching a point that you have the resources to enhance the quality of life for your loved ones. But it's more mental than monetary. The truest success in my eyes is to upgrade life for a group of people. the resources to fix the Flint Michigan water issue is "making it." But only if u have the mindset to Care. MF got 10 Bentleys & some don't know what else to do. The resources 2 established a welding school, Art Institute for underprivileged or disenfranchised young PPI

Any shout outs, Projects, sites. Where can the people of Viralvoice find?

Currently My single

"Game of Thrones" feat. LoverBoy Vo is available @:
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