Sean Price would hate the idea of an anniversary retrospective.

He would hate the nostalgia-fueled cottage industry of expanded edition re-releases, overpriced merchandise and corporatized events. He would hate the fact that every major publication write-up celebrating a classic album's birthday sounds exactly like this.

Sean Price would probably hate that this silly piece is being written about him right now, almost ten years after he passed away far-too-young at 43 and twenty years after the release of his proper solo debut album, Monkey Barz.

From 1995 to 2015, Sean Price leaned into his own taste and instincts over the trend-chasing that has become the norm for most MCs of his stature. He was, on the one hand, a self-described “whore” for a paycheck who only half-jokingly rhymed: "I don't do songs with Ras Kass / I do songs with wack ass rappers for fast cash" [editor's note: he did of course do several songs with Ras Kass]. And while he was happy emailing guest verses to any number of lesser known rappers if he was getting paid - even his relationship with Guilty Simpson, who he would later form a group with, began with Sean appearing on the Detroit rapper's album not having any idea who he was - I suspect he would have quit rap altogether before jumping on any of the commercial rap fare of that era.

Sean thought the industry was corny. And he was right.

“If he made a great song and only 50 friends of his heard it and liked it, he was happy with that, and then he went on to the next song.” – Drew “Dru Ha” Friedman; manager, Duck Down co-founder

Sean Price’s professional rap career began as one-half of Heltah Skeltah, going as “Ruck” alongside rhyme partner Rock. The group was one of four comprising Brooklyn’s Boot Camp Clik, along with Black Moon (Buckshot, 5 FT, DJ Evil Dee), Smif-N-Wessun (Tek, Steele) and the Originoo Gun Glappaz or "O.G.C." (Starang Wondah, Louieville Sluggah, Top Dog). Following the successful O.G.C. and Heltah Skeltah - credited together as "The Fab Five" - team-up “Lefleur, Leflah, Eshkoshka” (1995), Heltah Skeltah released their debut album, Nocturnal, in the summer of 1996.

Nocturnal found an audience with underground rap heads and became a college radio mainstay of the mid-to-late 1990s. Upon impact consensus soon formed that Rock was the breakout star of the group, the heir to the Boot Camp Clik (which was, in turn, being anointed as a potential heir to the Wu-Tang Clan), and the next big thing in New York street rap. Rock’s booming voice cut through to the majority of listeners, and for good reason. Nocturnal is, for the most part, a Rock showcase.

Despite being labeled as an overqualified sidekick, Ruck's performance on the album was building him a fanbase of his own. His rapping on Nocturnal is consistent and clever, with flashes of brilliance that include a self-titled solo track and a turn as the Original Dr. Melfi to Rock’s Tony Soprano. "I think on Nocturnal, Sean was Ruck," said Dru Ha in 2021. "He wasn’t Sean Price at that time...he wasn’t the character of Sean Price. He was more 'lyrical miracle'...you know, it’s more like flexing skills. But the lyrics were still there."

“I told Ruck…when you learn how to be the same n____ in your raps that you are in real life, nobody’s going to be able to fuck with you…not even me.” – Rock, Heltah Skeltah

With the late 1990s came a rough patch for Heltah Skeltah and the rest of the Boot Camp Clik. After Nocturnal came a slew of underperforming releases from: (i) the Boot Camp Clik as a crew (For The People, 1997); (ii) Smif-N-Wessun, now going as Cocoa Brovaz due to a cease-and-desist from gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson (The Rude Awakening, 1998); (iii) Heltah Skeltah themselves (Magnum Force, 1998); (iv) Black Moon (War Zone, 1999); and (v) the O.G.C. (The M-Pire Shrikes Back, 1999).

Each group faced the difficult task of following up on an iconic debut record, and the collective as a whole seemed to be struggling to find, or re-capture, their sound. A major culprit was the lack of Da Beatminerz, who were almost completely absent from the sophomore releases apart from War Zone. The beat-making team consisting of brothers Mr. Walt and DJ Evil Dee (and sometimes Baby Paul, who produced standout tracks on Dah Shinin', Da Storm and Nocturnal) handled production for the majority of the crew's initial efforts, and were rightfully seen by fans as a key ingredient to the Boot Camp Clik's early success.

As the new millennium approached, Rock left the Boot Camp Clik and Heltah Skeltah broke up, leaving Ruck to rebuild on his own.

2001 was a turning point. Now going as Sean Price, the artist formerly known as Ruck appeared on Jedi Mind Tricks' Violent by Design-leftover single “Blood Runs Cold” (the reverse A-side, “Retaliation”, is another early-2000s backpack rap gem); contributed “Rising to the Top” with soon-to-be frequent collaborator Agallah to the video game Grand Theft Auto III; and released his debut solo single, also produced by Agallah, “Don’t Say Shit To Ruck”. Twenty-four years later, “Blood Runs Cold” still sits among the three most popular Sean Price songs on Spotify, “Rising to the Top” is known to a worldwide audience as part of what turned out to be probably the most important video game release of the 21st century, and “Don’t Say Shit To Ruck” is stylistically maybe the best indicator of what was to come for the next ten years of Sean Price, Solo MC.

By the time the Boot Camp Clik released its second collective album, The Chosen Few (2002), Sean had clearly emerged as the new Best Rapper in the BCC (sorry, Buckshot). On album highlight “And So”, fans were treated to a tongue-in-cheek glimpse into the mind of Sean Price. For the first time he was putting his personality on display in a manner that eluded much of his early Heltah Skeltah output:

           “I guess I'm back where I started

           Opening up for Buckshot and just rapping retarded

           I hate the life that I'm living, I mean it

           Don't believe me, ask my wife and my children

           See I'm back on the street, packing the heat

           Royalty checks equal to crack in the street

           N____s like, fuck crack, Ruck, rap to the beat

           I'm like alright, I'll be back in a week"

What followed was a warning shot. Sean's first solo mixtape, Donkey Sean Jr. (2004), put fans on notice that the man formerly known as Ruck was becoming a force to be reckoned with.

Donkey Sean Jr. is a filled-to-the-brim flex of an artist overflowing with creativity and in need of a vessel. It’s the act in every superhero origin story where the hero learns to channel their newfound abilities. This is Sean, still struggling to control a power he might not be fully cognizant of, leaving both himself and anyone within his vicinity in awe of what they’re seeing; or in this case, hearing.

The mixtape is a collection of loosie singles from the preceding 3 years, “freestyles” over a barrage of early 2000s instrumentals, a couple of Heltah Skeltah reunions, and four tracks that would end up on Monkey Barz the following year. If DS Jr. was a preview, Monkey Barz would be the official coronation.

           “Biggie Smalls dead, 2Pac shot so it’s my time

           Motherfuckin’ Jay-Z quittin’

           And 50 Cent and Ja Rule constantly conflictin’, so it’s my time

           Eminem nice but Eminem white, n____it’s my time” – “It’s My Time” (2004)

In 2005 Duck Down Records – the label founded by Dru Ha and Buckshot in 1995 and home to Heltah Skeltah, Sean Price and the Boot Camp Clik ever since – went through a soft re-launch with three planned tentpole releases. Dubbed the Duck Down "Triple Threat", the campaign was a collaboration between the label, fashion designer and entrepreneur Marc Ecko, and the indie-rap (or, internet message board) darling rap crew of the moment, the Justus League out of North Carolina. The early 2000s had been kind to Little Brother (Phonte, Rapper Big Pooh, 9th Wonder) and the Justus League, who were riding high off of 2003's The Listening and 9th Wonder’s emergence as a go-to producer for the likes of De La Soul, Destiny's Child, Jean Grae, Masta Ace, Murs, and yes even Jay-Z for that time he very legitimately retired from rapping.

The albums would spotlight Boot Camp Clik fan-favorites Buckshot and Smif-N-Wessun, as well as a resurgent Sean Price. Buckshot was to record a full length collaboration with 9th Wonder; Smif-N-Wessun were re-uniting with Da Beatminerz while teaming with new talent such as 9th's peer and brother-in-production-style, Khrysis; and Sean would cobble together a mix of old and new collaborators including a sprinkling of both 9th Wonder and Khrysis from the Boot Camp/Justus League recording sessions down in North Carolina. Each release would be visually linked and sold to consumers as a package with a “collect-em-all” comic book aesthetic, brilliantly designed by Ecko.

At the time in 2005 each artist was still well regarded within "in-the-know" rap circles. But none of the three had delivered a successful full-length project since the mid-1990s. From the fans' perspective, it was by no means a given that these releases would be anything more than some cool packaging and a couple of new 9th Wonder beats to hold them over until the next Little Brother LP.

Then came Monkey Barz, which hit stores on May 31, 2005. Any expectations held by even the biggest Ruck believers were blown out of the water. Smif-N-Wessun's Reloaded is good, and Buckshot & 9th Wonder’s Chemistry is borderline great - each worthwhile comeback albums that helped reinvigorate the Duck Down fanbase. But with Monkey Barz, Sean Price delivered the first bona fide classic Boot Camp Clik solo record. It sits firmly among the best rap albums, no qualifiers necessary, of the 2000s, and serves as a shining example of a rapper achieving his peak creative output by presenting his unfiltered, truest self. No shame, no hesitation, and nothing held back.

Monkey Barz is a Boot Camp Clik album to its core, but with a few twists. On “Fake Neptune” - a self-aware jab at the track's bargain bin Chad & Pharrell ripoff beat - Sean refers to himself as the “ODB of the BCC,” which functions equally as a reference to his status as the crew's resident jokester but also as the MC willing to keep it the most real. This is a rapper who, on the same song, brags about being "on a world tour with Muhammad my man / in a piece of shit truck smelling like vomit and ham." Later on the album's lead single, the indie rap club banger (I promise this isn't an oxymoron) "Boom Bye Yeah", Sean proclaims he "used to sell crack and listen to Redman", who I would surmise had an even bigger influence on the album's brand of street comedy rap. It's a record that would not feel out of place sandwiched between Muddy Waters and Doc's Da Name: 2000.

Sean's raps on Monkey Barz are equally braggadocios and self-deprecating. A verse may kick-off with some classic battle-MC fare, such as Sean explaining that he is in fact the best rapper who will also not hesitate to smack you in the mouth. Later, with the exact same level of vocal flair, Sean might acknowledge his own lack of commercial appeal, unfit parenting skills and an absence of commas in his bank account. It’s an oddly appealing fusion of Onyx-style gangster rap and Atmosphere-esque everyman rap, a needle thread tightly by a rapper who at this point stopped caring whether vulnerability might get in the way of his street sensibilities and vice versa.

"Peep My Words" functions as the perfect opener. It's a call-back to the best Heltah Skeltah song, "Operation Lockdown", and a tone setter for everything to come: intricate rhyme schemes, a self-aware dose of bravado, and Sean's signature sense of humor:

           “I got little guns that’ll straight pounce ya melon

           Got big guns ‘bout the size of Mount Saint Helen

           Soon as I punch a n____ he like ‘Ouch I’m tellin!’” - "Peep My Words" (2005)

The Duck Down trips to North Carolina ultimately produced what turned out to be the two strongest overall tracks on the album. "Onion Head" cranks the energy with a Khrysis beat that feels nothing less than triumphant. It's an instrumental that sounds big every time you hear it, without being overproduced. Sean's performance is a stream-of-consciousness lyrical exercise that happens to have been fueled by a healthy dose of psilocybin:

“Me, Tek, Steele, and Buckshot were in North Carolina working...my friend came by and brought me some shrooms, but he had them in chocolate fishes. I take shrooms like every leap year. That’s how often I do it. I just sit back and enjoyed my movie. That’s what I call it, the movie. So I ate like three of the chocolate fishes and this beat was on.

“I just started writing. I wrote the two verses quick because I was feeling the shit. Now, I’m waiting for Steele, but I can feel the shrooms kicking in. I’m like, ‘Once these shrooms kick in all the way, I’m not gonna be able to do this song.’ So I stopped Steele in the middle of his session and I’m like, ‘Yo son, let me please do this song.’ He said, ‘Alright, go ahead,’ and I did the whole song in one take.

“It was so funny because on the second verse I was talking about Steele. Steele was just sitting in the corner with a whole big gallon bottle of Seagrams, and he was just drinking...just tearing that shit down, guzzling it. I looked at him and I was like, ‘‘Grabbing the gin, drunk rappers need to grab on the pen / Write some ill shit n____, then let the madness begin.’ I admitted to him that I was rapping about him and he’s like, ‘Yeah...this fire.'” - Sean Price, as told to Complex in 2011

General Steele does not appear on the final version of "Onion Head". Today it remains Sean's most popular song on streaming, currently at 9.2M streams on Spotify.

"Heartburn", the lone 9th Wonder contribution, is one of two Sean Price Love Songs™ appearing on the album along with the aptly titled "I Love You (Bitch)". The smooth, borderline sappy, soul-sampling production - two of the best beats in this style of the era - works as the backdrop for Sean's take on "love" in all of its forms. The always gritty Sean Price raps come in as a stark contrast, resulting in some complex, hilarious, unconventional, and kind of beautiful music.

            “I love selling nicks at night

           Go home to my son, roll a spliff, and watch Nick-at-Nite

           I love it when my bitch cook

           Come home to a hot meal, it’s not real, the bitch can’t cook” - "Heartburn" (2005)

“The Brokest Rapper You Know” is as close to a second-act mission statement as you'll get from this era of Sean Price. The thesis is simple: Sean Price, no fake names, is going to show you his real life. No embellishment, just the truth. Even if that truth kind of sucks. As Sean puts it:

“That’s a true story. I was living off the land like John Rambo. I was a pretty bad father, pretty bad person all-around. I was fucked up in the game, no money. Rock had a solo deal, I had nothing. The plan was for Rock to go solo, jump on a few hit songs, and help Heltah Skeltah get a new deal. That was the plan, but it didn’t work out that way for whatever reason. I was forced to go solo.

I was definitely the brokest rapper. I was selling drugs and two-way Motorolas…actually, after 'The Brokest Rapper You Know’ I had some successful years. It’s like, damn I kinda made it cool for people to say they broke now, I made it cool to keep it real...it was a tough time but I made it work for me.”

After Monkey Barz, Sean's creative hot streak continued with Jesus Price Supastar (2007) and Mic Tyson (2012). Jesus Price picked up right where Monkey Barz left off, featuring a heavier dose of 9th Wonder and Khrysis on the boards but never reaching the highs of his debut. On Mic Tyson you can hear the first inkling of Sean's delivery beginning to strain. He gravitates toward a lower-BPM production style, including a heavy-dose of The Alchemist for a few of their absoulte best collaborations. Lyrically, he never lost a step. Even Songs In The Key of Price (2015), the mixtape released right after his passing, and the posthumous Imperius Rex (2017) are packed with quotables and rhyme patterns that would make his idol Kool G Rap tip his cap.

“Ruck saved us… [Duck Down] was near done. Financially, we was close to like the red button…[we] maxed out the whole “real hip hop, man!”. And then Ruck just came and flipped styles and lyrics I’ve never [heard]…I became a fan of Ruck. I always was a fan of his, but I became a fan of that.” - Buckshot, Boot Camp Clik, Duck Down co-founder

For all of his hater tendencies - something I can relate to - Sean Price loved rap music. He was dedicated to the craft until his final days. As his career progressed his art increasingly became a Price family affair: you can find contributions from his daughter, Shaun, and wife, Bernadette, all over his later discography. I'd like to think that Sean Price would love the fact that this album is still being discussed at length by fans twenty years after its release. Even if those discussions might be corny as hell.