Audio Prodigy
Living The Life

One-half of murder music specialists Mobb Deep, Prodigy has been dropping gems on 'em for 15 years now. Coming off a huge 2007 and riding the momentum of his critically acclaimed mixtape Return of the Mac, he was finishing off his new solo album, H.N.I.C.2, when he was sentenced to serve more than three years in prison for a weapons charge. Unfazed by the impending lockdown, he got married, launched a new Web site, and shot videos for every track on the CD. We got the chance to talk with him shortly before he heads upstate.

MP3: Hey what's up Prodigy? Thanks for taking the time to do this, I appreciate it. Prodigy: No problem, man. Thanks for doing the interview really. Absolutely. So first off, I just wanted to say, yo, congratulations on Return of the Mac. That was one of the best albums I heard all year. It was really, really good. Thanks, man. And that was just my mixtape. Like, that wasn't even the album. Koch was selling it like an album to make their money but that was just a mixtape. That was just to sort of set the tone and get people ready for the new joint. Yeah. Yeah, me and Alchemist put that together just to promote H.N.I.C.2. And if you listen to that CD -- you will hear me saying on there in a couple of songs like, "This is just my mixtape. Imagine how the album will sound." Did that make you feel good? It seemed like every person that I talked to and every review that I read of it, man, people just loved it, across the board. Did that amp you up for the new album? Yeah, it just let me know that, that was what we were supposed to be doing, and I was just trying to let the fans know like, we still know what needs to be done, you know what I'm saying. I know what needs to be brought to the table at this point. So when they hear the album, H.N.I.C.2, right away they're going to be -- from the first song, they're going to be able to tell the difference like, "Oh, I see the big difference between his album and his mixtape," you know what I mean. Right on, man. And now of course you're working with Alchemist. Of course you're working with Havoc on H.N.I.C.2. Who else do you have on there for producers and guests and stuff? I've got Sid Roams producing. I've got Apex. And that's it really. You know, I really just kept the home team, you know what I mean. Now I remember on the first H.N.I.C. record, which I thought was also great, I think you produced one or two tracks on there yourself. Yeah. "You Can Never Feel My Pain," did you do that one? No. Which ones? I did "Genesis." And I did the one with me and Twin and Chinky. Right, right. Is that something that you're still messing with and making beats yourself or are you focusing more on writing? Actually that was the last time I made a beat. Oh, really? Yeah, I haven't made a beat since then. And I've really just been focusing on writing, making songs, you know what I mean. Like, I'm not even really doing beats no more. All right. Now I heard a couple of tracks. I heard the "ABC's" joint and I saw the video. And I also heard the "My World is Empty Without You" track, which was also dope. Are those on the album or were they just leaks to give people a taste or what? Yeah. "ABC" is on the album, and that's the only one that I released from the album. Anything else was just songs that I put out there just little appetizers to get people ready, you know what I mean. Yeah, especially on the "My World is Empty," joint, it's like you were talking about the pharaohs and the pyramids and taking it to kind of a whole different level. Definitely. I mean, the reason I put those out there, you know what I mean, and it's not on the album, I put it out there just to let people know what direction I'm going in right now, you know what I mean. So if the people were like, "Wow. Why are you not putting those on the album? I love those songs," then that means they're going to love the songs that I put on the album even more because the songs that I've got on the album are going in the same direction but the songs are even better. Like, I would never release or leak any of these songs I've got on the album because it's that good, you know what I mean, people are just going to have to wait and get the album to hear it. That's what's up, man. Build up the anticipation. So how did you hook up with [new label] Voxonic? Basically I had a meeting with Voxonic. I heard about their technology through a friend of mine and he set up a meeting for me. And we sat down and they explained to me what they were trying to do with their technology, and basically I explained to them about my H.N.I.C.2 album and the direction I was trying to go with it.

So we came together and we decided, I decided to make my H.N.I.C.2 album deal through them. They brought me in as a partner in the company. So I earn a part of Voxonic, you know what I mean. And they also hired me to do A&R. So I'm going to be signing acts, and I get a salary and all that. So it's definitely a deal for me over there. I'm a company owner. I own the company that my album is on and it's just all the way around a good deal for me. That's great, man. And then they have some sort of software that translates it to a million languages. Is that the deal? Yeah. They've got this technology, they own the patent on it, where they can take my song and have me speaking in any different language in the world, you know what I mean, and it's really me saying it. That's awesome. Yeah, it's kind of weird, you know what I mean, when you hear it, I mean, when you hear somebody talk to you about it. But until you hear it for yourself, you be like "Wow. This is really like mind-blowing." That sounds crazy, man. Now I also heard that you're doing videos for, like, every song on the album. Is that true? Yeah, I've got a video for every song on the album. I've shot, like, 12 so far. I'm working on the last three right now. So you know what I mean, people will be able to really get into the songs, you know what I'm saying, because a lot of times people don't get into a song until they see the video. Mm-hmm. Sure. So I made sure I shot a video for every one so people don't have a problem really getting into the music. And are the videos going to be coming out, like, on your new web site or on YouTube or on TV or all of the above or what? Yeah, we're releasing them with a DVD, you know what I mean, that's going to come out with the album. So when you go into the store you'll be able to go into the album section and get the album and then you can go in the DVD section and get the album DVD and it's going to have a lot of bonus footage and a lot of other stuff on there that doesn't come with the album. That's cool. So I've got to ask you, you're going inside next week. You've got a 3 and a half year bid. I mean, obviously it's a drag and it comes at a bad time. Are you nervous about it? Are you anxious? Do you just want to get it done with? Or how are you feeling? Yeah, man, I'm just feeling like really just trying to take care of the album, make sure the album is tight before I go in because that's what's really going to be my voice while I'm gone. The album is going to be able to speak for itself. So I had to make it where I make sure the album can speak for itself while I'm gone. So that's the only thing I've been working on, just making sure the album is tight, making sure my business is tight so my family is straight while I'm gone. And that's it, man. My album and my web site, H.N.I.C.2, will be my voice, you know what I'm saying. Totally. Hnic2.com and the H.N.I.C.2 album will basically be my voice when I'm gone, you know what I mean. Right on. Now are you able to -- I know that you were doing some blogging on the site before and I know that sometimes, I don't know exactly what the details is, but I know like when Sadat X was locked up, he was able to get online and blog sometimes. Do you know if you'll have any sort of access to the Internet while you're inside or do you know how that works? I don't even know yet, but hopefully I will. But if I don't, I could basically, you know what I mean, through letters, I could send letters home and have somebody else type the blog. And basically on the web site I'm going to be leaving all my information on there so the fans can write me letters in jail. And if I can't get access to a computer, I can answer their letters back just through over the phone and have somebody else type it or I could just send letters home and they could just type up what I wrote in the letter, you know what I mean. Cool. Do you know yet what facility you're going to be at? Is it like Elmira or Fishkill or what? Not yet. They still trying to work it out but they don't know yet. I know I'm going to be on Rikers Island for, like, two weeks and then they'll transport me to wherever I'm supposed to be going. And do you think that being that you're a celebrity and being that you're a famous emcee, do you think that's going to help you or that's going to hurt you in terms of how the other cats are looking at you or the COs or whatever? I mean, it could work both ways, you know what I'm saying. You've got people that are going to hate on that and you've got people that are going to understand like, "Yeah," you know what I mean, "That's P," you know what I'm saying. Totally. So it is what it is, man. Like, usually it's basically the same on the inside as on the outside, man. It's 98 percent love, 2 percent hatred, you know what I'm saying, anywhere we go, so... I hear you, man. I'm definitely not worried or nothing like that, you know what I mean. It's definitely something that subliminally in my subconscious I've always been prepared for because everybody around me, all my friends, been to jail and my father been in the Feds for like 10 years. So it's definitely something I've always been prepared and ready for, you know what I mean. Now I heard recently that Tragedy got locked up as well. Are you still--are you guys in touch at all or do you know if you'll be seeing him in your travels up in there? No. That's like Hav's homie, he and Havoc stay in contact. Me and Trag is cool but we don't really talk like that, you know what I mean. But that's my dude. He cool. Right on. So I was listening, a couple of days ago I was on Stretch Armstrong's blog page. And he posted some old demos of you guys from way back, like the Poetical Profits type stuff, the demo tapes. Yeah. You guys were, like, kids back then. Did you ever think that 15 years later, 15-plus years later, that you'd still be making hit records and putting out these big albums and whatnot? No. We never thought it was going to be so big. We always knew that we had something that meant something to us, like, our music meant something to us and it meant something to our neighborhood, you know what I mean, and all our friends. But we didn't know that the world was going to accept it and love it like how we love it, you know what I mean. But it definitely feels good to see that the world can relate to our music and feel it.

So we definitely feel blessed that we're able to have so much longevity and just keep it going, you know what I mean, for so long. And basically our goal--me and Havoc's focus and our goal for Mobb Deep and our careers, you know, for, at the end of the day, for people to say, "Yo, Mobb Deep did it. They were the group that never broke up. They did it the longest. They were the most consistent, the most longevity," you know what I mean. Like, we want to be known for that. Like, that's our goal. So we don't plan on stopping any time soon. That's what's up. Is there going to another Mobb Deep album too? Do you guys have one already in the can or have you been working on that before you go in or is that just going to have to wait until you get out? Yeah. I'm basically going to wait until I get home to do another Mobb Deep album because we have to make sure that we're on tour promoting. We're got to make sure that, you know what I'm saying, we're doing all the right things that it takes to sell a Mobb Deep record. So I'm going to wait until I get home for all of that because right now just my focus has just been on wrapping up the videos, the H.N.I.C.2, wrapping up all the songs, the mixes and everything and whole marketing and promotion plan for that, you know what I mean, so everything is ready to go. Like, I did everything on time, ahead of time, so, we're not rushing nothing right now.

We can really just sit back and let the album do what it does, and just follow through with the plans that we've got for it and let it do what it does. And then hopefully I won't even be gone that long, you know what I mean, where I can just come right home and go on tour for my album and then just work on the next Mobb Deep project. So I got one more question for you. Just this being a brand new year, all the critics and all the web sites and the magazines and everybody puts out, like, their "Best of the Year" lists and Top 10s and all that type of stuff. What was some of your favorite stuff, just on a personal level, records this year that you were feeling? Oh, man. What was I feeling, man? I don't know, man. I don't really get into too much stuff, you know what I mean. I really speak to what we do. I don't try to listen to too much stuff because I don't want really nobody else's music to influence what I'm doing. But I can say that I like what Kanye West has been doing. I was feeling the little Jay-Z thing, American Gangster. He has some hot s*** on there. It kind of reminded me of Return of the Mac. Like, he heard what I was doing and he went out there and did his own thing, similar to that. I think production-wise, it was definitely an influence. The beats and stuff seems like it's all from the same era as what Alchemist was using. Oh, yeah. Even, the artwork for it, like, black and white. But this whole--you know what I mean, because that's really how rap music is, you take a little from here, take a little from there and then make your own s***, you know what I'm saying. Sure. I hear you, man. So, you're going in on, is it Tuesday, Monday? I think it's like--it's the eighth. I've got to go to court on the eighth and then on the ninth I'm supposed to go in. Okay. So what are you going to do between now and then? This is kind of your last few days to be out and about handling things. I mean, obviously getting the music together and the album business is key, but do you have anything that you want to do, like, just for you or just for your family before you get locked down? You know, spend some time with them, that's all. I've been spending a lot of time with my wife. I just got married recently, you know what I'm saying. Oh, congratulations, man. Yeah, thanks. Like, I got my birthday weekend, November 2nd, me and my wife got married out in Vegas. So I've just been spending time with her, you know what I mean, and my kids and that's about it really, you know what I mean, besides taking care of the album and the business, just spending time with the fam a little bit. That's important stuff, man, definitely. Oh, yeah. Right on. So is there anything that you want to say to all the fans out there that's going to be checking this out? I mean, basically, yo, you know what I'm saying, check out hnic2.com, and you'll find out everything that's going on with Prodigy. I'm leaving my address so the fans can write me in jail, you know what I mean. You can get all the information from the web site. And I'm putting up videos. I've got pictures up there. You can read my blogs, you know what I mean. I'm commenting and talking with the fans, so make sure you all do that.

Make sure you all go support the H.N.I.C.2 album, because I take it real personal when I do my solo albums, you know what I mean. I'm not playing. I made sure it was a tight package because I know people--you know, times is hard right now on the boulevard, man. Everybody don't want to spend their money on somebody's album and it only got two good records on there. So I made sure that the whole album is tight. You don't got to skip nothing and it's worth your money, you know what I'm saying. Excellent, man. Well I definitely look forward to hearing that. And good luck with everything. Hold your head and hopefully you'll be back out in no time. Definitely, yo. Good look and I appreciate the interview, man. All right. Take it easy, Prodigy. All right. Peace.