Prince Ea
Richard Williams (born September 16, 1988), better known by his stage name Prince Ea, Prince et anterior, or The Man formerly Known as Prince, is an American spoken word artist and motivational speaker. In 2014, Prince Ea began creating motivational and inspirational spoken word films and content. His YouTube videos have received over 330 million views and over 5.7 million subscribers. These types of videos include topics such as environmentalism, race, work-life balance and spirituality. He credits his shift in perspective to the inspiration of ancient wisdom texts such as the Tao Te Ching and Bhagavad Gita. Prince Ea has gone through controversies such as being criticized several times by internet personalities such as Nerd City, Boyinaband, Leafyishere, and H3H3productions.
Early life
The youngest of three children, Prince Ea was born as Richard Williams on September 16, 1988 in St. Louis, Missouri, and has resided there for much of his life. He first started working under the stage name "Prince Ea" when he graduated in Anthropology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "Prince Ea" is derived from Sumerian mythology meaning "The Prince of the Earth". After graduating from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a degree in anthropology, he initially pursued a career as a hip hop artist.
Music career
In 2011, Prince Ea was rapping for his own entertainment and developed a few videos. These often ended up on WorldStarHipHop. In late 2008, Prince Ea released the mixtape "The Adolescence" on the internet for free download. A few days after the release, he recorded an amateur video of himself rapping and entered it into a Vibe magazine contest dubbed "VIBE Verses". Subsequently, Ea was declared the VIBE Verses grand champion and was awarded $5000 in music recording equipment along with a full page article in Vibe magazine, which held a total value of $50,000. In 2009, he won a Funk Volume competition, stemming from success on YouTube, which allowed him to become the first hip-hop artist to have a feature in Discover magazine. Ea has also been awarded the grand prize of a competition run by Trojan condoms entitled "Magnum's Live Large Project II" hosted by rapper Ludacris in which he was flown out to Miami to perform with the platinum recording artist. In 2011 he won the Riverfront Times "Best hip-hop artist in St. Louis".
In February 2011, Prince Ea independently released The Compilation Mixtape, a free digital compilation mixtape with selections from DJ Techne.
Controversies
Prince Ea has been criticized on YouTube by internet personalities such as Nerd City, Boyinaband, Leafyishere, h3h3Productions, BluesDank, and Leon Lush. He tried out an unsuccessful rap career before his motivational videos in which he behaved in a way that goes against the principles he's now trying to convey, including but not limited to promoting violence, killings
h3h3Productions made a video indirectly parodying and ridiculing his inspirational-style videos.
"Make 'SMART' Cool" movement
In 2009, Prince Ea, upset at the present state of the music industry, decided to form a movement named "Make 'SMART' Cool". The "Make 'SMART' Cool" movement (SMART is an acronym for "Sophisticating Minds And Revolutionizing Thought") attempts to "promote intelligence to everyone, everywhere and integrate it with hip-hop. To create and nurture, without discrimination or preference, a community of free-thinking individuals under the singular purpose of promoting the ideals of education, intelligence, unity and creativity throughout the world at large."
A successful underground clothing line for the movement, which includes T-shirts and sweaters, was released and has gained support from artists such as newly signed So So Def producer Mike Kalombo.
Artists supporting the movement include Traphik, Sha Stimuli, August Rigo.<ref name"riverfronttimes1" /><ref name"wordpress1" />
Awards/nominations
;2008
* Vibe Verses Contest (won).
;2009
* "Don't F**k Up Our Beats" Contest (won).
;2010
*Discover magazine feature
;2011
*Magnum Trojan Live Large Contest (won).
*Riverfront Times contest - Best Hip Hop artist.
*Juicy J underground search contest (won).
*Jae Millz Contest (won).
Early life
The youngest of three children, Prince Ea was born as Richard Williams on September 16, 1988 in St. Louis, Missouri, and has resided there for much of his life. He first started working under the stage name "Prince Ea" when he graduated in Anthropology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "Prince Ea" is derived from Sumerian mythology meaning "The Prince of the Earth". After graduating from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a degree in anthropology, he initially pursued a career as a hip hop artist.
Music career
In 2011, Prince Ea was rapping for his own entertainment and developed a few videos. These often ended up on WorldStarHipHop. In late 2008, Prince Ea released the mixtape "The Adolescence" on the internet for free download. A few days after the release, he recorded an amateur video of himself rapping and entered it into a Vibe magazine contest dubbed "VIBE Verses". Subsequently, Ea was declared the VIBE Verses grand champion and was awarded $5000 in music recording equipment along with a full page article in Vibe magazine, which held a total value of $50,000. In 2009, he won a Funk Volume competition, stemming from success on YouTube, which allowed him to become the first hip-hop artist to have a feature in Discover magazine. Ea has also been awarded the grand prize of a competition run by Trojan condoms entitled "Magnum's Live Large Project II" hosted by rapper Ludacris in which he was flown out to Miami to perform with the platinum recording artist. In 2011 he won the Riverfront Times "Best hip-hop artist in St. Louis".
In February 2011, Prince Ea independently released The Compilation Mixtape, a free digital compilation mixtape with selections from DJ Techne.
Controversies
Prince Ea has been criticized on YouTube by internet personalities such as Nerd City, Boyinaband, Leafyishere, h3h3Productions, BluesDank, and Leon Lush. He tried out an unsuccessful rap career before his motivational videos in which he behaved in a way that goes against the principles he's now trying to convey, including but not limited to promoting violence, killings
h3h3Productions made a video indirectly parodying and ridiculing his inspirational-style videos.
"Make 'SMART' Cool" movement
In 2009, Prince Ea, upset at the present state of the music industry, decided to form a movement named "Make 'SMART' Cool". The "Make 'SMART' Cool" movement (SMART is an acronym for "Sophisticating Minds And Revolutionizing Thought") attempts to "promote intelligence to everyone, everywhere and integrate it with hip-hop. To create and nurture, without discrimination or preference, a community of free-thinking individuals under the singular purpose of promoting the ideals of education, intelligence, unity and creativity throughout the world at large."
A successful underground clothing line for the movement, which includes T-shirts and sweaters, was released and has gained support from artists such as newly signed So So Def producer Mike Kalombo.
Artists supporting the movement include Traphik, Sha Stimuli, August Rigo.<ref name"riverfronttimes1" /><ref name"wordpress1" />
Awards/nominations
;2008
* Vibe Verses Contest (won).
;2009
* "Don't F**k Up Our Beats" Contest (won).
;2010
*Discover magazine feature
;2011
*Magnum Trojan Live Large Contest (won).
*Riverfront Times contest - Best Hip Hop artist.
*Juicy J underground search contest (won).
*Jae Millz Contest (won).
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