News
Happy Birthday To The Legend Prodigy!
Prodigy, one half of the groundbreaking hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, would have been 48 years old today. He suffered from a severe form of sickle cell anemia that he had been diagnosed with since he was a baby. Despite his physical pain, it didn’t stop him from revolutionizing rap music in the 1990s with the group’s bleak, storytelling and clear descriptions of street life in Queens. Unbeknown to most, his day-to-day life Prodigy worried often about when the next pain attack would come and how bad it would be. While on tour in Vegas, Prodigy was rushed to hospital and later passed away. The hip hop community immediately felt the loss but no one more than his other half.
Four years after the death of rap legend and Mobb Deep member Prodigy, he will now be immortalized on a block in his native Queensbridge, New York. The corner of 12th Street and 41st Road in Queensbridge will receive the co-name of “Prodigy Way”. In an exclusive interview with Rock The Bells, Havoc said he’s working on new music.
“I got the Mobb Deep album that I’m working on with a bunch of unreleased Prodigy verses,” he said, adding that performing at the Rock The Bells Festival, which took place in Queens in August, was a “full circle moment.” Just a week ago on ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby podcast, Jadakiss was asked by former NBA player Jalen Rose for his personal top five rap groups. Jada wasted little time in reeling off his first four selections, which comprised of N.W.A, Wu-Tang Clan, Run-DMC and EPMD. Like everyone else, the fifth always gets you and after some thought, he named Mobb Deep as his fifth and final pick. He also paid tribute to Prodigy.
A few months ago, his estate release it’s first posthumous album The Hegelian Dialectic: The Book of Heroine. The 12-track project features guest appearances from DJ Premier (“Walk Out”), Faith Evans (“Angel”), Big Daddy Kane (“You Don’t Want It”), Remy Ma (“Overdose”), Berto Rich (“You Will See,” “We Shine”), DJ Scratch (“You Don’t Want It”), and Big Noyd (“Flirting With Death”). The also dropped the visual “You Will See” which is a compilation of old and new video material, live performance clips, and music video clips that feature Prodigy in some of the most iconic scenes from his life and career. DJ Green Lantern announced a mashup mixtape between Nas and Wu-Tang Clan. He is, of course, mixing in the Flatbush rapper’s 2008 verses on “Where’s My Money” over the beat from the late Prodigy, Havoc, Nas, and Raekwon’s 1995 cut “Eye For An Eye (Your Beef Is Mines).” We will always love Prodigy and the fans will always love him too.
0 comments