PrimeTime "Hound Out"

Back in the 90’s and a portion of the 2000’s, many people remember the No Limit/Cash Money takeover that took America by storm. They literally RAN New Orleans, LA (and everywhere else) with hit song after hit song, hit album after hit album, and a slew of trends that the rest of America tried to bite off or adopt. I absolutely LOVED No Limit and Cash Money and along with my cousin Dee Hill, we would spend hours listening to every release that dropped from both labels and even the older underground stuff that wasn’t very well known. It was one of the things that bonded my cousin and I and I think we were the only one’s in Saginaw, Mi that knew the complete history of both labels beyond the fame. However, while both labels were taking over, there was another label over there that wasn’t getting the national recognition the other two were getting, but were putting out (in my opinion) better music than them. They were known as SouthCoast Musid group and they had a smaller roster, but each artist brought some serious fire. Partners N Crime, Ms. Tee, DramaSquad, Lil’ Slim, and my favorite artists they had, PrimeTime. PrimeTime was an original (or part time) member of Partners N Crime and would show up pretty often on their albums. Prime had this deep, gravely voice, and could ride any beat like Usher on roller skates. He was no slouch as a lyricist and when I saw his name featured on songs, I knew it would about to be a hot one. He dropped his debut album “Duck Tape’n” around 1998, which was a dope debut and featured Partners N Crime, DramaSquad, Tre-8 (RIP), and Ms. Tee to name a few. It also had standout tracks like “Do You Really Wanna?” The amazing rock infused posse cut “You Don’t Wanna!” And one of my favorites from the album “Uptown/Downtown”. As nice as that album was, it wasn’t until he dropped his second album “Hound Out” around 2000/2001 when he put a stamp on a classic. From the moment he opens “When It Come Down”, Prime let’s you know he means business. The eerie “Neck Of The Woods” follows and features Prime throwing darts at his targets with perfect accuracy. Now, unless you were from the South, people never caught the subliminal and sometimes (obvious) jabs that Cash Money always threw at Partners N Crime and PrimeTime in their songs. I always picked up on them. They had some classic battles and their beef lasted a long time and is probably one of my all time favorite back and forth battles. Prime and PNC don’t hold back in throwing shots at Cash Money on multiple songs on “Hound Out”. From “Don’t Get Comfortable pt.2” to “You Don’t Want War”, they take turns throwing uppercuts at their Cash Money rivals. There are a lot of standout songs on this album and when I listen to it today, it still sounds just as fresh as it did back in 2001. Sadly, “Hound Out” was the last album PrimeTime dropped as he disappeared from the music scene all together. To this day, I don’t know what happened to him or why he stopped making music, but I hope to one day ask either member of PNC to get the answer the question I’ve been. Wondering for almost 20 years now. I feel like Prime and PNC should’ve received way more credit and exposure than they did because they dropped a lot of hot and original music and before Nelly took over the country with his rapping/singing hybrid, Kangol Slim was mastering it long before with catchy song after catchy song (shout out to Devin The Dude, I know you were one of the first as well). If you still love going back and listening to old No Limit and Cash Money for the nostalgia, I highly recommend also going back and listening to Partners N Crime and Prime Time as well. I promise you won’t be disappointed and you’ll probably sit there scratching your head as to why they didn’t blow up like they should’ve either. It’ll probably be easier to find Partners N Crime music than PrimeTime because both Of Prime’s albums are nearly impossible to find and I don’t think they are on any streaming services either (PNC are though). Your best bet would probably be YouTube as I have seen his songs appear on there. One thing I can tell you is that I was glad to be around for the era of No Limit, Cash Money, and SouthCoast Music group because even though all three hailed from the same city and state, they each had completely different sounds and never sounded alike at any time. Their in house production made sure to keep everything unique to their label and sound and the results were amazing.