Kim Renard Nazel (born June 17, 1965), better known by his stage names Arabian Prince or Professor X, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. He is best known as a founding member of N.W.A. Early life Nazel was born in Compton, California to the son of Joseph "Skippy" Nazel Jr., a prominent African-American author and radio talk show host. His musical background came from his mother, a piano teacher and classical musician. His family tried its best to shelter him, sending him to a Catholic school and keeping him busy with football to keep him away from the gangs. The younger Nazel got his first experience with making music at the radio station his father hosted his talk show on; Nazel used the radio station's equipment to put together mixtapes that he would sell at school. Nazel went on to graduate from Junípero Serra High School in nearby Gardena. Music career Nazel took the stage name of DJ Prince and started selling mixtapes at school. While working at a luggage store at the Del Amo Mall, its owner, Sam Nassif, asked him to DJ a party at a community center. He kept performing there for several weekends and the success persuaded Nassif to invest even more in the place, renaming it "The Cave", where Nazel would continue to host for over three years and even after his N.W.A. days. Nassif also funded DJ Prince's first record, "Strange Life". He changed his stage name when he was 15 years old at the Skateland USA, the same skating venue credited for launching the NWA a few years later, due to a fan's suggestion. He said about his name: Arabian Prince started working with Bobby Jimmy & the Critters in 1984. He also produced the hit single and album for J.J. Fad, "Supersonic". In 1986, he was a founding member of N.W.A, but soon after fellow member Ice Cube came back from the Phoenix Institute of Technology in 1988, Arabian Prince left over royalty and contract disagreements. "I started off as a solo artist", he said, "so I was aware of what a royalty statement was. I knew that when these many records were sold, there is a quarterly statement. When you look at it, you can see how much money was paid and then share it. This was not the case. We were also never paid for touring."