Prodigy: Speakin' Freely

[Elano]

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.

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.

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, God damn. 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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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 asshole 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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

[Hoodlum204]

Good Read!!