James Prince (born James Andre Smith; October 31, 1964) is an American record executive, music promoter and music manager. He founded the Houston-based Southern hip-hop record label Rap-A-Lot Records in 1986, which has discovered or signed artists including the groups Geto Boys, Do or Die, UGK, the respective solo careers of Scarface, Bun B and Pimp C, as well as rappers Devin the Dude, Z-Ro, and Trae tha Truth. Smith and his son Jas are also known for introducing Canadian rapper Drake to Lil Wayne and helping Drake sign to Young Money Entertainment in 2009, with both having been credited as early career mentors.

Prince executively produced albums for the Geto Boys (Grip It! On That Other Level, We Can't Be Stopped, Till Death Do Us Part, The Resurrection), Scarface (Mr. Scarface Is Back, The World Is Yours, The Diary, The Untouchable, My Homies, The Last of a Dying Breed), Big Mike (Somethin' Serious), Do or Die (Picture This, Headz or Tailz), Yukmouth (Thugged Out: The Albulation), Bun B (Trill), Pimp C (Pimpalation), and Drake (Thank Me Later, Nothing Was the Same).

Prince has also managed professional boxers such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward, and Shakur Stevenson.

Prince was born to 16 year old mother Sharon Johnson with an older sister Zenia and younger half-brother Thelton. They grew up in Fifth Ward, Houston's Bloody Nickel apartments, which were known for cocaine use and poverty. To earn money, he mowed lawns in Shady Acres, played craps, sold stolen cannabis plants, and worked on welding trucks.

His sister died from getting hit by a train while walking home from school. Amongst other turbulence, friends and family were going to jail while Prince was rotating from school to school and between different homes. He played football at Kashmere High School, from which he graduated in 1982.

Prince was working as a bank teller in 1985 in the fault department, then getting laid off at the age of 20. The initial goal prior to the label was to keep his younger stepbrother known as the rapper Sir Rap-A-Lot out of street life, as well as friends Raheem and Jukebox from skipping school. They would meet on the porch of his grandmothers house to perform and practice. After purchasing an abandoned building, he turned the property into a used car dealership, known as Smith Auto Sales on the west side of Houston. At first he sold bucket cars,then moving on to exotic cars which athletes would come and purchase. The same rundown two-story building that Prince owned, was where the artists then moved on to record into during 1986.

Prince co-founded Rap-A-Lot Records with Cliff Blodget, a Seattleite, in 1987. Blodget was a computer science major, who was an electrical engineer by trade and acted as the label's in-house engineer and producer alongside fellow producer Carl Stephenson. Prince used his last bit of funds to invest into the label. He was inspired by Russell Simmons and the label he co-founded Def Jam Recordings. He moved the company in 1988 to New York City with Blodget. Around this time Lyor Cohen would show Prince check books of Def Jam artists LL Cool J and Whodini which showed him the potential revenue to be made in the music industry enlightening him to continue his vision with the Geto Boys moving the whole label back to Houston.

The first group he formed in the label was the Geto Boys. Prince found members Bushwick Bill when he was performing as a dancer at a club, Willie D through the recommendation of his barber, and Scarface in the parking lot of a club he owned playing demos to a DJ who worked there. His brother was a member but then was replaced at Prince's discretion with Scarface. This was confirmed from a freestyle battle against each other where Scarface outperformed Sir Rap-A-Lot, with the younger brother then agreeing that was the better direction for the group also. Using local radio stations like KTSU to spread the reach of the label's music, his first deal came in 1989 via Rick Rubin working with the Geto Boys on their 2nd album Grip It! On That Other Level.