Prince Harvey is an American rapper, producer, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his album ''PHATASS'' which he recorded at an

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Early life

Prince Harvey was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He grew up in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, on the island of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

. He wrote his first song at the age of eight, inspired by the rapper, Juvenile's song "

Back That Azz Up "Back That Azz Up", also known as "Back That Thang Up" for a radio edit, is a song recorded by American rapper Juvenile featuring fellow American rappers Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne. Produced by Fresh, it was released on June 11, 1999, as the ...

". At age 14, he moved to

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

with his family.

Career

On July 7, 2012, Prince Harvey released "No Music" on

Soundcloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. The song is completely

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

, and re-appropriates a popular New York City clap-and-chant routine. In a recent documentary, Harvey stated that he wanted to showcase the voice as "the most important instrument", and decided to make an entire a cappella album. While recording the album, Harvey ran into an obstacle when a friend offered to transfer an apartment in his name. Within three days of moving in, he received a notice from the landlord that the rent on the apartment was outstanding. The locks were changed, and all his belongings were seized, including his computer with all of his recordings. Unable to afford a new computer, he visited the Apple Store for four months and used their display computers to create his album. In November 2014, Harvey released "Sometimes" as the first single from ''PHATASS.'' In January 2015, he released an accompanying video, shot in the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

, where he jumps in and out of subway tracks, sails a paper boat, and drops cue cards while walking through the train cars similar to Bob Dylan's ''Subterranean Homesick Blues'' video. On May 27, 2015, he released "The New Black" as the second single from ''PHATASS'' (acronym for Prince Harvey At The Apple Store: Soho)'','' and announced that the album would be coming out that July. On July 5, 2015, ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'' published an article titled "He Made a Secret Album in an Apple Store" written by Matthew Narvin. The piece chronicles Harvey's experiences making ''PHATASS'' and announces the release date set for later that month. Within hours of publication the article had gone viral, being shared on social media by celebrities like

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and news outlets and magazines like ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. Once word had gotten out about ''PHATASS'', numerous publications proclaimed Prince Harvey a

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

. Harvey used this new attention to tour the United States and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In October 2016, he released "Sorry" and announced that he had been working on a new EP titled ''Golden Child''. On November 8, 2016, the day of the US Presidential Election, Harvey released "Stay Gold" as the first single from ''Golden Child.'' He also spoke about the election, indicating that he was not particularly excited about either candidate. "One wants me in jail, the other wants to kick me out of the country", he told ''Paper'' magazine. In Spring 2017, he released the EP ''Golden Child'', a collaborative project with producer Holly. On July 17, 2017, Harvey released "R.I.P. 2016" on Soundcloud, a song that told the story of the death of his step-father and his friend, Dorian, who died of a drug overdose while sleeping in the same bed with Harvey. That same day, he announced that he would be releasing a song a day for the next 100 days as a protest against

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Discography

Studio albums

* ''PHATASS'' (2015)

Extended plays

* ''Golden Child'' (with Holly) (2016) * ''SSICC'' (2019) * ''SSICC II: Self Care As Warfare'' (2021)

Singles

Music videos

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Prince Living people American activists American male artists American male rappers Rappers from Los Angeles Rappers from the Bronx Record producers from California 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)