Prodigy: The Prodigal Son, Part 1
AllHipHop.com: So what’s up with that Saigon incident?
Prodigy: Let me start off like this, I don’t like talking about ni***s
like Saigon, and certain ni***s I got beef with. It’s like I’m giving
them free promotion. They’re no where near the caliber of artist that I
am, so they shouldn’t be allowed to come out of my mouth but I will
talk about it because I want people to have a clear understanding of
what’s really going on because there’s a lot of lies circulating. The
Saigon situation started off like this. When Saigon came home from
jail, we had no idea who this dude was.
Aight some dude came home and Alchemist knew him. He was doing some
work with Al because he was close with Ghetto Inmates with Tru Life and
all them n****s. That’s the first time I heard of Saigon, I heard
Alchemist playing some sh*t, [saying] he just came home, [he] Tru Life
peoples. That was before the Tru Life s**t, so I was like aight cool.
Time goes on and I do a little song with Tru Life and I didn’t even
know who Tru Life was, but I found who he was because Alchemist was
doing music for him. I was like who you doing that beat for; I came to
Al’s crib one day. Al said the kid want to give you some money to do a
verse and I ain’t really want to do it to tell you the truth because I
just wasn’t feeling his music. He told me he got some bread for you,
[so] I was like aight I’ll do it. So I laid it down for him. What I
did, I gave him an old verse, I didn’t even write something new. I
wasn’t going to bust my brain cells for some ni*** that I wasn’t really
feeling his music, I was just trying to get a quick check. It was
something I never said before. So I spit that on there, got the money
and bounced.
Maybe like six months to a year later, we did the Any Given Sunday
soundtrack. We gave them the song and I had spit the same verse I said
on the Tru Life record. They was like “Yo that’s the same verse” and I
was like, “Oh sh*t it was a mistake I didn’t mean to do that.” I don’t
want to put that same verse that’s stupid, f**k the money and f**k why
I did it I don’t never want to put the same verse on something and
people say P getting lazy, P can’t write a new rhyme. I don’t want that
look out there. It was really an honest mistake. So Tru Life was
heated, [he was like] tell P he got to do the verse over. I was like
Cool, I’ll do that. I was working on so much other s**t it wasn’t a
priority to go back and fix the verse for him. So time was going on and
they was getting mad that I didn’t hurry up and do it and they paid me.
So he started making threats. So when he started making threats I was
like, Son, you expect me to come fix it after you making threats? That
sh*t needs to chill. He sending threats through Alchemist, I’m like
what? I’m really not fixing it now, f*** them n****s. It ain’t my fault
I didn’t fix it as fast as you wanted me to do it, so f*** it. Now you
want to say some greasy sh*t, so f*** you then. So when he realized I
wasn’t going to do it he got tight.
I was in Soundtrack studios one night and Alchemist came through and
was like “Yo I’m about to go do a song with Infamous Mobb and [DJ]
Muggs and all that.” I’m like cool, I’ll be here working on the album.
So Al left and I’m in the studio chilling. A few hours later I get a
phone call so I think it was Twin or Al and was like, “Yo Tru Life ran
up in the studio.” I’m like what the f*** happened? So they said Al was
in the studio chilling, and Tru Life was in the same studio in another
room. So they seen Al, they like when we see P we going to kill that
n****! I’m like “What, but Al didn’t call me to tell me that.” He just
heard that and was like aight whatever started to continue to make
music. So Twin and them came into the same studio with Al, and when
they walked in Tru Life and them thought that Al called them n****s
because they just said I’m going to kill [P] and twenty minutes later,
Twin and all my ni***s come in the same studio. So Tru Life was only
two deep. So they got scared and came back with mad ni***s with guns
and all kind of s**t. They were like yo, give the message to your man
P. They snatched my little man chain and smacked him with the gun. When
they smacked him with the gun, the gun went off, and it almost shot him
in his head in the studio. And when that happened all of them got
scared and they left after that because the gun went off by mistake. So
they call me, yo them n****s came into the studio, they smacked son
with the gun. So n****s was mad at Alchemist for a little while but it
wasn’t Al’s fault, because Tru Life came and said he going to kill P so
why Al ain’t call nobody and warn anybody in the room.
AllHipHop.com: He didn’t take the threat serious?
Prodigy: He not even thinking like that, Al is just doing his beats. He
not thinking about no street s**t like that, I was even mad at Al for a
minute. But then I had to realize why am I mad at Al? He didn’t do
nothing, it’s not his fault. So basically we just let that go. Then
that Beef DVD came out. Tru Life on there popping s**t that he made me
and Hav strip in the studio, that never even happened son. He took a
situation and added to it to make it bigger than what it is.
After that me and Alchemist went to this club, I forget the name of it.
We in the club, it’s just me and Al. I see Tru Life and five of his
people in the club. So Al is like here they come. I had a Corona bottle
in my hand. I turn it the other way. I’m holding it on my side.
Everybody in the club see what’s going on. Them n****s all come around
me and Al, surrounding us. I’m standing just like this with the bottle
like I’m going to crack one of them n****s in the head with it. If they
say anything wrong I’m swinging the bottle, I’m going to crack you in
the face with the bottle. They come up to me like What up son, and I’m
like What up? They like “What up?; we paid you for that song.” I’m like
son, ya’ll almost shot my man in the head. I’m like f*** all that song
s**t, it’s beyond that at this point. So he’s like that was a mistake,
I didn’t mean for that to happen. I apologize, but we paid you for a
verse. So he’s like what’s it going to be, he popping mad s**t. The
whole club looking like “Ooh, it’s about to go down,” like P about to
get jumped. I’m ready to crack this nI*** in his face, two seconds
later like thirty of my n****s come into the club. It was Littles,
Havoc, a bunch of my n****s from Queensbridge. They all walk up
randomly. My man come up to me, “It’s a problem P?” I’m like it ain’t
nothing. Tru Life like “Yo man let me get your number, let’s exchange
numbers, we’ll work this out.” We exchange numbers and that was that.
So I called Tru Life. I was like what’s up son, I’ll come and do that
sh*t over for you. He’s like word? Come meet me at the studio tomorrow,
so I’m like cool. I get up the next day and call him. He like “Oh I’m
not really feeling good today man, I’m not going to be able to do it
today.” Ok cool, just tell me when you ready son. And I never heard
back from him after that.
So a S.M.A.C.K. DVD come out a year later after Saigon came home. It’s
Saigon and Tru Life on the S.M.A.C.K. DVD and Saigon is holding up the
Amerikaz Nightmare album and burning it with a lighter. He’s saying
f*** these old n****s, f*** Mobb Deep and stomped our s**t on the
ground, like it’s time for the new rappers and the new generation. I’m
like Wow, burning our album cover is like burning our flag. So I took
that real personal, like, These n****s don’t know when to quit.
So Alchemist’s brother had a birthday party after that at a bar, a
little private function. Me and my man, I had this big ass nine on my
waist. I always keep a gun on me. I’m just chilling, I ain’t starting
no problems with nobody, it’s my man’s birthday, we chilling. Who come
up in the club, Saigon. He sees us and comes straight to me. “Yo P, I
love Mobb Deep son, it ain’t no problem son, I was bugging, I don’t
know what I was thinking about. I love Mobb Deep, it’s nothing.” I’m
looking at this n****, You know what son, I’ve said some crazy s**t in
my life before, don’t even sweat it. He’s like, Nah, you don’t
understand, I’m a fan. I’m like, It’s aight son, don’t even stress it.
He keep going on son, and my man said, “Shut the f*** up yo.” He
stopped and looked at my man, he just walked out the club. That s**t
was funny son (laughs). That was the funniest s**t ever, I’m surprised
Saigon didn’t start laughing. But he just walked outside the club. So I
said We can’t let him walk out the club like that, now we got to follow
him like what the f*** you going to get.
Now we go outside and I hear my man arguing like f*** that, they
arguing back and forth. I’m telling him, I’m pushing son like yo forget
it, telling my man to forget it. Now I walk away from these n****s,
like these n****s bugging. All the time I had the hammer on my waist
like I said, but I’m not even thinking about that. I’m just chilling
letting these ni***s argue. So I’m like come on, so my man comes and we
walking off. Now there were popping more s**t now, it was somebody else
with him, I think DJ Sickamore or some other people and then they were
amping him up a little bit. So I walked over to Saigon, I walked close
to him. I’m like son look, forget it about son, forget about it. He’s
like “Nah your man bugging.” His arms are swinging close to where my
sh*t is at. So I kind of grabbed his arm and let him touch that s**t
like, Son go home. I’m not even like that, I don’t even get down like
that. I carry a gun for self defense, if I see it’s going to be a
problem then it’s going to be a problem. When I see this n**** it’s not
a problem.
I don’t know why Saigon burning s**t and come in the club and say all
this sh*t to me that day and then after that he got in an interview and
said some crazy s**t about Mobb Deep. So when I put out Return Of The
Mac I was doing an interview for some magazine, the ni*** like, “What
about Saigon?” I’m like, “F*** Saigon, that ni*** could suck my d**k.” I
was just tired of that n****, like this n**** don’t know what he want.
You want to be cool, beef with n****s, burn our CD’s, you want to say
it’s nothing, you ain’t mean it? You a dumb ass ni***. So when he read
that, Saigon started putting up mad blogs up and all kind of s**t. Like
“P invited me to his d**k, I’m going to punch him when I see him.”
We chilling at Hav’s release party at S.O.B.’s, they had set it up like
where it was going to be a CNN [Capone-N-Noreaga] / Mobb Deep concert for Havoc’s The Kush
album. That’s all that was on the bill, Mobb Deep and CNN. That’s an
ill show; we don’t always perform with CNN, that’s a rare event. So
that was ill that night, we all come out and show support for Hav’s
album that night. We chilling downstairs smoking out and s**t, we go
upstairs and get a little drink from the bar. Hav want a drink so we
get him a drink. We chilling on the dance floor and I think the NYGZ
just getting off or they were was about to perform but then Premier
grabbed the mic and said we got a special guest in the house who’s
going to do a live performance for us. We got Saigon in the house. We
all looking at each other like Saigon in the house, where? So he gets
the mic, he’s like he’s going to do a performance.
So Hav looked at me like let’s rush the stage, I’m like come on. Now we
all go up on stage, we surround him. The ni*** rhyming he looking on
the side and sh**t, like he can see like oh s**t. Hav was about pounce
on this ni*** son, like I grabbed Hav like chill, don’t do that, leave
that n**** alone. Hav is never like that. Hav is always chilling. He
don’t like that kind of s**t. Leave Hav the f*** alone, because he
don’t f*** with nobody. So Hav is ready pounce on this ni*** son, I had
to grab, I had to put my arms around him, my arms around his chest like
yo son chill. He was mad then he was like aight and walked up to son
like we love you while Saigon performing. Saigon is like I love you
too, like I know your cousin right here. Then he hugged Hav’s cousin,
then he came back to Hav and he was talking to Hav for a minute. I’m
looking at s**t, so my man P Dubs walk up to me like, “F*** that. This
n**** got to get it, he ain’t getting out of this club.” So I’m like
you know what, wait until he finish performing. So them ni***s is like
cool. So as soon as he put the mic down, my man P Dubs grabbed him and
pushed him in the corner with the rest of my n****s and n****s start to
punch him in his head. Then the n**** went under the table, and hopped
up and grabbed the laptop on the DJ board. He was going to use the
laptop as a weapon, then he put that down then hopped behind the
security. While that’s going I’m standing like this. He standing to the
right, he see me standing next to him and tried to take a shot at me.
So I seen s**t coming, first of all the n**** hit me with an open hand.
If you going to hit a n**** you know, hit a n****! Don’t play with it,
know what I’m saying? I backed up like oh s**t, he just caught me like
that. But he ain’t catch me with full impact because I backed up. After
he threw, his man hit me in my shoulder and boom knocked me the rest
way down. So I hop right back up, by the time I hop up, n****s already
got his man in the crowd beating him up and Saigon is back hiding
behind his security guard. So I’m like is this n**** crazy? So now he
hiding right now. A lot of my peoples didn’t even know what happened.
They didn’t even see that he tried to hit me. Like son, n**** just
tried to s#### me. My man picked up a glass off the ground and throw
that sh*t at son. It missed him by that much. If that sh*t would of
caught that n****, that boy would have been f***ed up from that glass
son! That s**t hit the wall right next to his face. When that s**t
happened he must of pushed the security guard like let’s get out of
here, security just grabbed him on his back. He jumped on the security
back and ran out the club. So n****s is chasing him and punching him on
his way out the door. He then runs out the block. I got a cameraman
following him up the block to see while he running.
While all that is going I grabbed the mic. I’m tight for a minute. Hav
got on the mic, Hav is like “Why can’t we just get along (Laughs).” Hav
is bent, this is his party. If I didn’t stop Hav it would have been
terrible. He need to thank me, it would have been way worse than being
embarrassed from running. It would have been foul, I stopped some foul
s**t from happening. I’m glad I did that because that would have been
foul. So while he went up the block, I’m tight up on stage. I’m walking
back and forth, I got a knife open in my pocket. Because as soon as the
n**** hit me, I always got the knife in my pocket. I’m seeing all the
camera lights. I’m p#####, I wanted to stab the f*** out of this n****.
Like, Ooh you lucky I got a case going on. Whatever he going to get it
because my peoples going to get him, Hav start performing songs and I’m
like f*** the music start taking over me and made me calm down. So I
started having fun again, we performed seven songs that night. So while
we performing a few of my n****s come back in the club, they laughing
and s**t, they got his jewelry. N.O.R.E. on the side watching the whole
s**t so in between songs I didn’t even know N.O.R.E. was there. I
didn’t think he got there yet. In between songs I’m talking to these
n****s and s**t, and they like you good son? What happened? I’m like,
Yo son I don’t even want to talk about it. So after the show I post the
s**t up on youtube, because that was my camera man. So I told my camera
to put Havoc album up there so we promote the Havoc album because a lot
of people going to see this. I told him exactly what to type. I told
him Mobb Deep chases Saigon out of S.O.B’s. I didn’t tell him to edit
out the parts or anything like that. I put the raw s**t up there. I
wanted people to see that, I wasn’t embarrassed because nothing
happened to me. What do I have to be ashamed of?
AllHipHop.com: Has the thought crossed your mind that the Abandoned Nation that Saigon is down with is heavy in the jails?
Prodigy: I mean that’s cool and everything, they do what they want to do.
AllHipHop.com: That’s not even a concern for you?
Prodigy: Nah, I don’t give a f*** about nobody. I just care about what
I’m doing. If anybody tries to interfere with my progression then I’m
going to deal with it.
AllHipHop.com: How are your kids and your old lady dealing with everything?
Prodigy: Basically she going to be the head of the household now. My
kids know what’s going on, they know I’m going to jail for a minute.
They know I’ll be right back. It’s nothing, I got people in jail that’s
never coming home. This is really nothing compared to a lot of my
n****s, my father did like ten years in the feds. I explained that to
my kids, and they know the reality of the situation.
AllHipHop.com: Recently there was a video leaked on the internet of you taking your son to a gun range. What was that all about?
Prodigy: Basically when you own a rifle in the house like I do, I own a
legal shotgun in my house. For my household we went to the gun store
and bought a shotgun, we registered it. When I bought my shotgun from
the gun store, the guy at the store was like you have kids? He was like
how old are your kids? My son was five and youngest daughter was two or
three at the time. He was like you should teach your kids how to shoot
the gun because you have to teach them the power of the weapon. If you
don’t teach them the power of the weapon, then they will be curious and
that’s how kids accidentally shoot themselves or shoot somebody.
So when my son turned seven, I asked him what he wanted for his
birthday he was like teach me how to shoot the shotgun. I was like,
Wow, that’s crazy. I think I told him I would have to teach him one
day. I was bugging, I took him to the gun range. They make you put on
the headphones and the protective eye wear and all that s**t. I had to
put him up on the chair because he was so little so he can aim right. I
told him how to load the weapon. I told him how to c### it, he cocked
it back himself. I told him if you can’t c### it back yourself, you
can’t shoot it. He did it, you see him struggling to c### it back, he
did it. I was like hold it up, aim it and when you ready and got good
aim, shoot. I was holding his waist just in case. Then he shot it, BOW.
His first shot was a headshot, I was like oh sh*t! I was like where you
learned that from, he’s like Grand Theft Auto. I was like you did good.
My daughter was too young. I took the footage and I put it on a DVD
called Infamous Allegiance that I put out in 2003. That was real s**t
though, you got to own a gun in America to protect yourself. That’s
your constitutional right, that’s in there for a reason. Your right to
bear arms is in the constitution to protect you from a tyrannical
government that wants to overthrow its people. That’s why it’s in there.
AllHipHop.com: Which is happening right now.
Prodigy: Yeah exactly, they trying all that Marshall Law and all that
crazy s**t they be doing that’s why exactly it’s in the constitution.
And they trying to destroy the constitution, they try to take things
out with the Patriot Act. That’s why they blew up them World Trade
Centers.
AllHipHop.com: You think the government was behind the 2001 World Trade Center tragedy?
Prodigy: I know for a fact that a super power that exists on this earth
blew those buildings up to change American and international law so
they can say you’re a terrorist and lock you up for simpler reasons
than they were used to years ago. Now they can lock you up for making a
threat with somebody, that’s a terrorist threat. You get into an
argument at a gas station say and they decide to call the cops on you
and say this person threatened me, cops can say this is a terrorist
threat. They got another thing were if you walking in a group of three
people that’s illegal. They can lock you up for illegal gathering or
some s**t like that. My peoples was chilling walking around the street,
like four or five of them coming from the store or something. They not
even Black people; they were like young White and Mexican kids. Cops
arrested all of them. All of them went to court. It’s a charge on their
record now. Laws are passing, and they listening to your phone
conversations, watching what you doing on the Internet. They monitoring
people tighter and tighter until they have one world control and one
world order, that’s what it is. If people don’t see that then people
are fast asleep like they trying to make a one world system, one court
system, one religion, one money, one everything. They want control of
the world.
AllHipHop.com: Any reason why you would use their symbol of the Eye of
Horus over the pyramid that’s found on the dollar bill for the Blood
Money album cover though?
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, we did that on purpose. All money is blood money.
That’s why I called the album Blood Money! I always try to come up with
something crazy. I was thinking hard, my wife was talking to me like
“Yo you should call your album Blood Money.” I was like ooh that’s ill,
that’s the name of the album. That s**t is evil; it’s built on an evil
system. They used slaves to build this whole entire country and then
they set us free like, Aight ya’ll free now but ya’ll still not equal.
And then we had to get bricks and rocks thrown on us, Martin Luther
King and Malcolm X had to get assassinated for white people to see,—Oh
sh*t, you not equal. Let’s give them a little bit of rights. Let’s give
them a little big of money. Come on get on the basketball team; come on
get on a football team. Aight we’ll let you n****s in. Aight we’re
sorry, take this money and forget about it. We’ll sweep it under the
rug now. Now instead of chains on us now they got chains on our brain.
They got us controlled with religion, money, entertainment, fashion.
They got our minds locked!
AllHipHop.com: You think they are using Rap music along with all that to keep us distracted of what’s really going down?
Prodigy: Nah I think they using [other] music, we created Rap! Rap
music is from the hood, Rap music is our own expression, its verbal
music against this kind of system. Against this kind of oppression
that’s going on where they try to control your mind through music,
entertainment, and fashion and all this s**t. We created this certain
style of music speaking out against the world. So Rap music nah, it
ain’t one of these things.AllHipHop.com: What are you going to miss
most while you are away?
Prodigy: Just my freedom, being able to be by myself, I miss that. You
got to move when they tell you to move. That’s what I’m going to miss;
freedom. That’s what they take away from you.
AllHipHop.com: So what’s good with the new album H.N.I.C. Part 2?
Prodigy: The bottom line for the new album, I’m happy that I found a
company that really believes in my music and they on top of their game
with the technology that’s going on in today’s world. Everybody knows
Hip-Hop ain’t dead. Whoever started that campaign they trying to kill
Hip-Hop. By even putting that out there in people’s minds, you never
supposed to say that? You crazy for saying that? Technology is just
progressing. We went from 8-Track to vinyl, vinyl to CD, CD to digital.
As it makes that progression people got the perception like record
sales is f***ed up because Hip-Hop is dead. CD sales is f***ed because
technology is progressing. We got iPods, iTunes, mad websites you can
just download music from, ringtones, you got all kinds of new s**t. It
just switched direction from here to there but it’s still live and
going strong. For the people that can’t adjust to that, then they just
lost. With Voxonic [Records], I’m glad I’m with a company that got the
technology where they can take my song and translate it into any
language in the world and it’s me saying it, it’s my voice. It will be
Prodigy rapping in German or Russian or whatever. Now we on some global
sh*t, I’m glad I’m with that kind of company that understands the
technology and they brought me in as a partner. I own a piece of the
whole thing at the end of the day.
AllHipHop.com: What’s the music like?
Prodigy: On the album as far as producers I got Scott Storch, Havoc,
Alchemist, Syd Rhomes. As far features I got Twin Gambino, Un Pacino,
Havoc, I just kept it the home team.
AllHipHop.com: Your debut H.N.I.C. was real slepted on. What’s the difference with Part 2?
Prodigy: Back when we were doing H.N.I.C. and all the albums, n****s
were younger and we were still learning a lot of s**t. I’m thirty three
now; I’m at that point where I’m smarter, I’m much wiser, I can
articulate myself better than I ever could before. Now I’m just really
telling them what’s on P’s mind.
