Few rappers have been as successful as Prodigy; even less have been active for as long. From Mobb Deeps early days to Prodigys most recent effort, H.N.I.C. 3, the Queensbridge kingpin has remained newsworthy, musically or otherwise. The 38-year-old MC's career has been a rollercoaster ride through the heights of impressive sales and critical acclaim to the dark eeriness of a cold jail cell, and he's still here.
Its been almost two years since Ps release from prison, and in that time, a lot has happened in the rap world around him. He's patched up his relationship Nas, seen manager and confidant Chris Lighty's untimely passing, and unfortunately, had a falling out with Mobb Deep partner Havoc. With the Mobb on hiatus, P is moving on with his career as a solo artist, and in this interview, he never once utters the name Havoc." Slence speaks volumes.
Interview by Paul Meara (@PaulMearaDotCom)
Your album H.N.I.C. 3 dropped a little while back and there was mixed reaction to it. Some people are feeling the new P, some not as much. What kind of reaction have you been getting?
There aint no new type of P. Theres one P. Same P as always. I always make hardcore songs, hits for the block. I make all types of music. People wanna put me in a little box and they get mad when I dont stay in there. [Laughs.] You cant put me in a box. I do what the fu-k I wanna do. Im a creative person and Im gonna be creative so whoevers upset because of that, thats too bad. [Laughs.]
The album is doing good. Ive got an independent brand with Infamous records, and my brand is not based off of first week sales or even going gold for that matter. At this point in the game Im completely independent, and the ultimate goal of my brand is to have a catalog of 30, 40, 50 albums thats invaluable. Thats my goal. I dont know about all the short term stuff that people think about. My goal is to sell a little bit of units here and there, keep dropping artists, keep dropping albums and Ive got something thats worth more than gold or platinum.
There aint no new type of P. Theres one P. Same P as always. I always make hardcore songs, hits for the block. I make all types of music. People wanna put me in a little box and they get mad when I dont stay in there.
You also released the Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP. Like with H.N.I.C. 3, you dropped a mixtape version prior to the retail release of the album. How did that come together?
Yeah, the Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson that was an EP that I put out when I first came home from jail so now Im just re-releasing it as a full album this time, with five new songs and some new videos. By the time you turn around, Ill have about five or six albums out by the middle of this year. Its going to happen so fast that people are not even going to understand whats going on. Theyre not going to realize what happened til years later. Like, "Dang, he did that mad quick. I didnt even realize all that sh-t he was doing."
You also have a project with Alchemist. We're used to you working with him, but what was it like getting together again?
The last one we did together was Return of the Mac, so we figured it was about time to go ahead and do the next one. That was our first project together and it did real good. It had a nice little concept. The concept was it had a blaxploitation '70s feel to the album. So this new one that we doing, once again theres gonna be a concept. And we gonna surprise people with what it is this time, but it's basically the same type of thing, though. Al doing all the beats and Im just going in and painting a picture of what the whole thing is gonna be.
What was it like when you started working with him?
On Murda Muzik he did the song with Kool G Rap, The Realness. So we did that and that was the first time that I was like, "Wow! This kid is ill. He can make beats." So we recorded that song the day I heard that beat with Kool G Rap on it. I heard a bunch of other beats, too. I probably heard Keep It Thoro that same day but it didnt come out til a year later. I knew that Al was that nikka. He was in the same vein as the music we make.
How did you two meet? I know he was tight with Cypress Hill and DJ Muggs in the early '90s.
It was from one of my homies from Queensbridge named Twin. He was working with Muggs and thats how he got introduced to Alchemist, and basically Alchemist told him like, "Yo, Ive been going hard. My goal is to meet Mobb Deep and produce for Mobb Deep, and other New York artists and other artists also." So he just hooked up the meeting and that was that. The rest was history. He came to the studio, he played me about 20 beats. I was like, "Yeah, I like this kid."
I love what A$AP doing. I really like Bada$$, hes real dope. Its a bunch of artists, man. I definitely support the new rappers because they got something new to bring to the table.
Speaking of New York artists, do you keep up with the young blood in New York?
Yeah, I like what they doing. I like new rap music. Im a fan of hip-hop. Im a fan of rap so anything new that's happening, Im hip to it. Im already on to it. Im checking out whats on the Internet, mixtapes, all that. Im usually ahead of the curve before it gets popular.
I definitely love what A$AP doing. I really like Bada$$, hes real dope. Its a bunch of artists, man. I definitely support the new rappers because they got something new to bring to the table. You cant keep doing the same old sh-t. It gets boring. So its good to have a whole bunch of choices, 'cause too much of the new sh-t get boring and you want to hear something else, too. So you gotta have different things.
Do you ever see a young Prodigy in any of these artists? Do you ever say, "Yo, that was me at 17?"
Yeah, definitely. When I see, it doesnt even have to be rap music, anybody in the music industry on the come up, they just remind me of the grind or when we was coming up grinding.
Chris was the greatest hip-hop manager that ever lived. He was more than just a manager, too. He was one of the greatest business minds as far as bringing hardcore hip-hop and real street hip-hop to the corporate world. He did that real good. There was a few people that was real good at that and he was one of the best ones. His networking, his communication skills were incredible.
You had a very close relationship with Chris Lighty. How did you feel about his passing?
Chris was the greatest hip-hop manager that ever lived. He was more than just a manager, too. He was one of the greatest business minds as far as bringing hardcore hip-hop and real street hip-hop to the corporate world. He did that real good. There was a few people that was real good at that and he was one of the best ones. His networking, his communication skills were incredible.
I learned so much from watching how he communicated, just his tone, his mannerisms, his work ethic, just everything. That was an incredible individual and he managed us for a long time. Weve been through a lot with Chris. A lot. It hurt a lot when I found out he passed.
Outside of business, what was your personal connection like with Chris Lighty?
Chris was like an older brother to me. When I was in trouble, anytime I got locked up, anytime I was in any kind of trouble, Chris was always there. Like, if I had to spend a night in jail and go to court the next morning and when I walk into the courtroom Chris already sitting there waiting to bail me out, all the time. So Ive been through a lot with him and you could always depend on Chris like if you call him and tell him you got a problem and hes going to fix it or hes gonna do what he can to fix it or help you and assist you.
If hes your artist and he manages you or he really fu-ks with you like that, hes going to do what he can to help you and he did that for me a lot, not just with music but my personal life. Chris was always there. Chris made us a lot of money, too. Our talent got us into the position we in but Chris was able to take that and push it even further.
.....R.I.P. mobb deep
