Prodigy: Speakin’ Freely

On January 8, 2008 Albert “Prodigy” Johnson of Mobb Deep infamy began serving a three and a half year sentence after pleading guilty to gun possession charges stemming from an incident in 2006.   Nevertheless, before entering those four walls and momentarily losing his freedom, P was able to record his third solo project, HNIC […]

On January 8, 2008 Albert “Prodigy” Johnson of Mobb Deep infamy began serving a three and a half year

sentence after pleading guilty to gun possession charges stemming from an

incident in 2006.

 

Nevertheless, before entering those four walls and momentarily

losing his freedom, P was able to record his third solo project, HNIC 2, which was released in April 2008

and on October 21, 2008 he released Product

of the 80’s

with longtime associates Big Twins and Un Pacino.

 

Not too long after Capital P’s incarceration AllHipHop asked its

Ill Community

members to ask the Q-Boro MC some questions with assurances that he

would answer each one candidly. Thanks go to P’s wife KiKi

for asking those questions and recording his answers. Now peep P speaking freely.

 

 

HNIC2sreception.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: What does Prodigy think

about the reception of HNIC 2? Did it live up to his expectations? –Isis

 

Prodigy: I like the reception of the album HNIC

Part 2. It’s been good, know what I mean, while I been locked up in jail, so it

did what it did know what I mean? And you know my music is not fast food, it’s going

to always sell. We have a permanent shelf life and I ain’t

just no come and go artist, it ain’t gon’ tomorrow so… By the time I get home, I’ma still be promoting it, I’ma

go on tour promoting it. I’ma drop a new one. But I’ma make all my albums go gold.

That’s my goal; 

to reach that 500 mark for every Mobb

Deep, Prodigy project that we put out. It is what it is right now. I’m happy

with it.

 

ProdigysTop5.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: Who, in your mind, are

the Top 5, or 10, greatest MCs in Hip-Hop history?

-TheKnowledge

 

Prodigy: I’m rolling with top

five, ten is too damn much. Let me see. Hip-Hop

history, G#######. Probably Run-DMC, ya know Rakim, probably LL [Cool

J], who else? Kool G Rap. Nas. Let’s throw Mobb Deep in there, know what I’m saying. Mobb Deep. That’s like five right

there right?

 

OnGUnit.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: Do you think signing with G-UNIT

alienated/disappointed your CORE audience that supported y’all since “The

Infamous” era?

-Willy Killem

 

Prodigy: Umm, I don’t know. I think some people didn’t like it, some people

did like it. We don’t make business moves for other people,

we make business moves for ourself [sic] and for our

music. So it really doesn’t matter to us what people think. You can hate it or

you can love it, it really doesn’t matter. We’re gonna make our deals, we’re gonna

stay relevant. We’re always gonna

drop albums. These other rappers out here, they running around frontin’ talking all this this

that and the third, their albums are never coming out. They can’t even drop a album. They got people that, “ahh

he’s the best rapper around.” Their album is never coming out first of

all. They can’t even put an album out.

 

So when you look

at Mobb Deep and we’ll be able to stay consistent,

keep dropping albums and keep making new deals after all this time we’ve been

in the business, you can’t do nothing but respect that. So whoever got

something bad to say, they a loser, they stupid. You know they’re ignorant and

umm, that’s what it is, know what I’m saying?

 

 MissingSong.mp3 –  

AllHipHop.com: Why did you not put “My World is Empty

Without You” on HNIC 2?Stringer Bell

 

Prodigy: Basically I did a lot of songs [and]

everything just don’t make it on the album.. There’s a few reasons that I won’t get into. It has nothing

to do with the lyrics. It has nothing to do with what the song is about. It was

definitely business. It was a business decision I made

to make that I couldn’t put it on the album because of a business decision I

made to make. It was definitely a good song. I would have put it on the album

but just I couldn’t do it. I have songs on the album that are just as strong as

that, same message so it’s all good. And that song is still

out there. The world knows the song, that’s all that counts. As long as the

world hear it, get it online they can hear it everywhere or whatever on mixtapes. That’s all that counts. The world acknowledges

that the song is there.

 

 

50Beefing.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: Do you think that 50 Cent beefing with

everybody in the industry is hurting your chances, Mobb Deep and other G-Unit artists from making that Big

Cheese that the rap game has to offer? -IRocJs23

 

Prodigy: Nah, I mean whatever 50 do that’s what

50 do. That has nothing to do with Mobb Deep you what

I’m saying? If 50 disses somebody and it does affect

us like, “Oh that person doesn’t want to do a song with Mobb Deep now, or doesn’t wanna

buy a beat from Mobb Deep,” then hey, that’s

that person lost. We don’t really give a s**t. We do

what we do regardless. 50 say what he wanna

say. Mobb Deep gon’ say

what we wanna say, and we all gon’

keep it moving. Like his career doesn’t stop our career, our career doesn’t

stop his career. No matter what we do, we are our own individual people.

 

BooksPisReading.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: What books are you reading? -The_R_

 

Prodigy: S**t I read all factual books right now

like autobiographies, history books, just everything man. I’m [inaudible] the 120

Lesson’s Of Islam [Ed. Note: Prodigy is referring to the 120 lessons of the 5%

Nation]…s**t everything. I just read every that has something to do with black

history and s**t to do with this planet earth that we live on. Just factual information

you know what I’m saying? I’m not really into fiction and all that s**t know

what I’m saying, I’m really not with that. I’m gonna use my brain power and time and energy to read

big thick ass books. I want it to be something that I’ma

learn some information that’s factual that I can do something with you know what I mean. So that’s what I’m reading. I got Eldrige Cleaver’s autobiography.

I got a book called Medical Apartheid

that’s an ill book. I got a lot of books man. They’re all factual, just real

good information; that’s what I’m about.

 

 

Pspeaksfreely.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: I know you read a lot and recently expressed

your concerns for the future in an animated video done by Broadway. Do you have

any plans to keep talking about these “new world order” plots on Mobb Deep albums? -illseed

 

Prodigy: I mean, yeah. Whoever said this is

something is new for Prodigy must be a little kid and  really don’t know nothing, they

don’t know our history. Because Prodigy been

on it like this since I was in ‘96. Everyone knows me for that. Even Jay-z

sampled my words when I said “Illiminati want my

mind soul and my body.” Jay-Z sampled my words on his Reasonable Doubt album. That came out’95, ‘96 back in the day so…

That’s how long I’ve been talking this kind of information. This

nothing new for me.

 

Everybody that

acting like, “Oh P talking all this s**t because he locked up now,” or,

“He think he Malcolm X because he in jail.” N***a get a life and do some

homework, do some research ‘cause you’re dumb ass would put your foot in your

mouth if you knew that Prodigy been

on it like this and your just a dumb a###### who just talk s**t; just a hater.

Because I see a lot of people on the Internet leaving comments, saying s**t

like, “P talking all this bulls**t, all this political conspiracy s**t

because he locked up,” and all this and the third but to tell you the

truth, this is what P is all about. This is what P been all about, period. This

me. If you don’t like it, who gives a f**k? I do what

I do regardless. That’s why people that support my music, that’s why they like

me, because I don’t give a f**k. I do what I do

regardless.

PonMainstream.mp3 –

AllHipHop.com: Rappers are going mainstream. You have

rappers like Jay-Z, Ludacris and even 50 cent

hobnobbing with Bill Gates, billionaires and serious power. What are your

thoughts on this? -sgt. mashout

 

Prodigy: I mean hey, that’s cool. That’s the

money and power they got. So these are the circles that they around, they in

circles with other billionaires and millionaires. That’s what’s gonna happen. When you have that

much money, your gonna be

associated with other people that got that much money. And that’s what it is. So more power to them. Let them keep going, let them keep

getting right. That’s great.

 

PonWritersBlock.mp3 –

AllHipHop.com: Do you ever hit creative blocks, how do you

get past them? -Ken_Masters

 

Prodigy: Nah, I don’t never have a creative

blocs, I don’t never have writer’s block. I don’t even know what that means.

People say, “I got writer’s block,” I look at them like they crazy

because that’s just a personal problem that they have to learn how to overcome.

I never went through that. Every time I go the studio I don’t have  a problem

with writing.

 

PsInfluence.mp3 –

 

AllHipHop.com: What were your interests outside of rap

coming up? And what made you say, forget everything else, I’m gonna be a rapper? -Esoteric429

Prodigy: The only thing that made me say that was

Run-DMC’s song “Sucka

MCs”; that s**t and maybe like Rakim’s ” My

Melody.” Those two songs right there just made me want to start rapping.

It just gave me that feeling and it had that aggression that was inside of me

that I wanted to put out. I was little, I was like 11,

like 10 years old when them songs came out. I was like, “Yeah that’s what

I wanna do right there, I wanna

rap.” ‘Cause I was looking at them on the TV, listening to their songs on

the radio. 

 

PonJiggaSampling.mp3 –

AllHipHop.com: How did you feel when Jay-Z sampled your

voice for “D’evils”? -CheezyaDoDo

 

Prodigy: I was just like, “Oh s**t, umm I

don’t remember him getting my permission to do that. I didn’t sign nothing for

that, you know what I’m saying, Jay-Z owe me a check.” But other than

that, it was all good, you know what I’m saying, it

was all good. I like Jay and what he does, but certain things he does I don’t

agree with at all. I don’t agree with a lot of things he does to tell you the

truth. But you know when people sample my voice, sample my words, it’s all out

of respect and love because usually that means they like it—they like the

words that I’m saying so it’s all good.