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Prodigy’s In-Depth Interview With Complex

Posted on April 18th, 2011
by
Karen


The other day I found myself running through some vintage Mobb Deep. I forget which album, but I want to say The Infamous. While I have never been the biggest Prodigy and Havoc fan, I’ve always respected the group’s place in Hip Hop history mainly because of my older cousins and later my old college roommate. Ask anyone who was entrenched in the music and they’ll tell you the same thing, there was a moment in time when people held the belief Prodigy was the best rapper in New York (some may say the entire game).

His raw and vivid lyrical imagery set him apart from most and thanks in part to Havoc’s knack for production was tailor made for the group’s sound. Fast forward a few years, a few setbacks and one incarceration stint for P, there seems to be a renewed interest in the group and their future projects. Complex’s Toshitaka Kondo caught up with the man of the hour for to talk all things Hip Hop, life, Mr. Cee, prison and everything in between.

Speaking of Mobb Deep, you talk in the book about how at first Havoc wasn’t visiting you in jail. Were you guys on bad terms when you first went in?
Nah, it wasn’t nothing like that. Sometimes when niggas get locked up, the people on the outside, they don’t understand really the importance of it. When you in prison and you’re locked in the cell, you’re looking at the outside world different. You’re seeing everything different. Time stops. And you’re just sitting there, and moving real slow. Everybody else in the world is just out there moving frantic.

They’re not even thinking really, because they’re worried about bills, and this and that, and the third, and you’re just sitting there with time to think and be calm. So you look at things different. So I was reaching out to son, and he ain’t get right back with me right away, but I already knew that he’s not thinking like I am right now. He’s out in the world being hectic with the world’s issues. But at the same time it gets you mad a little bit. I mean, this happens to everybody. This ain’t just me and Hav’s situation. I’m talking about everybody that goes to jail.

They’ve got to deal with this same shit that I’m talking about right now with somebody. They don’t understand that people on the outside don’t understand how serious that shit is. Because I know I’ve been through it, where I’ve been on the outside, and I had people in jail, and I didn’t write them as fast, or as much as I should have, because I didn’t understand how much that shit means to somebody that’s in prison.

So when I dealt with the situation myself it made me think back, like, Wow, I remember when the shoe was on the other foot. When I was on the outside, and one of my mans was locked up, and he used to write me, and I didn’t get back to him for months. I’m running around doing other things, and I’m not even focused, because I’m out in the world dealing with world shit. So, that’s basically what happened. And I knew eventually, he would come around and come up, and that’s what happened.

There’s plenty more the two go on to speak on, so click here to read the entire interview. Also, in sort of a church announcement type thing, here are two important notes everyone should be aware of:

— With Complex’s sponsorship, Prodigy will be releasing his The Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP tomorrow.

— Also tomorrow, Albert’s book, My Infamous Life, will be available as well with stories littered throughout about Nas, Biggie, Jay-Z and, yes, Lindsay Lohan.

Got all that? Good, now go check out the interview.

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