The Arabian Prince has been making robots shake their shit since the early '80s, producing his own tracks and playing live shows with The Egyptian Lover, World Class Wreckin' Cru and the LA Dream Team. It was his early electro rap experiments that got this Inglewood, CA-born emcee and producer some serious attention and respect from his contemporaries, and in 1984 he landed his first deal at Rapsur Records, a label under the mighty Macola belt run by KDAY A.M. 1580 radio jock Russ Parr. Parr was not only a part time rapper himself as leader of seminal comedy rap group Bobby Jimmy and the Critters, but also incited his new protegé to twist around his name the same way he did with his record label (Rapsur is Rus Par backwards), which led to Arabian’s countless aliases such as K.Nazel, The Mik Lezan Co., and possibly, Rock-A-Fella, Professor X, and The Sheiks – whether these were actual allies like DJ Pooh’s and Bobcat’s Uncle Jamms Army, or mere products of Brother Arab’s exuberant imaginativeness, is still an issue of debate to legions of Westcoast rap nerds to this day.

Anyway, when Stones Throw will finally release their Arab anthology Innovative Life on August 19, some of this true hip hop legend’s early jams will be available to a larger audience for the very first time, the one streamed below being one of them. After being featured on the original Rapsur 12” along with the eponymous underground smash Innovative Life and a track called Take You Home Girl that was allegedly co-produced by Dr. Dre, Let’s Hit The Beach was only re-released on a Dutch electro compilation called Hip Hop Most Wanted – Chapter 2 in 2002. Others, such as Strange Life or J.J. Fad’s Supersonic (that got Arabian Prince a nice royalty check when will.i.am used it for Fergie’s Billboard buster Fergalicious) might have grown to become well-known classics, but with a 20-page booklet and some rare photos from Rab’s personal vaults, this 12 track compiling should provide even the most ardent follower of Arabian’s career with enough reasons to shell out some shillings. Until then, watch him joining the dots between Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami, and breaking down the fundamentals of the L.A. scene in the early '80s, in his Seattle Lecture Session.

BONUS: Stones Throw are giving away a new Koushik joint, promoting his upcoming LP Out My Window.