The untimely departure of Prodigy was met with his Hip Hop peers and fans bombarding social media to salute and send condolences to the legend. While Prodigy has created a string of noteworthy offerings since being released from prison in 2011, outside of his core fans it seems the lyricist had become somewhat of an afterthought to the community at large, invariably absent from the “top 5” list as if he hasn’t competed with those casual rap fans ubiquitously label “goat”.
Prodigy’s visibility in recent years makes juxtaposed aside the news of his death lends credence to “they never really miss you toil you dead or you gone”. While this may seem true, perception is a product of human limitation and many of the stars the light the night sky have long since burned out. A star both literally and in terms of entertainment transcends the short time scale by which we measure life, and through death we have all been galvanized to gaze at the star attributes of Albert Johnson via music.
The immortal life of Prodigy one –half of Mobb Deep is encapsulated over 25 years of the “realness”. Perhaps his greatest asset as an emcee was being able to encapsulate the overall feeling of a song within its first few bars. The words “there’s a war going on outside no man is safe from…” and many of his other prefatory communiqués served as primers for Black male psychology that created apertures within those minds for P to insert wisdom using street rhetoric and familiar narratives. Now a cliché and over appropriated theme for the sake of attention, when Prodigy professed, “Illuminati want my mind soul and my body” the subject was taboo and the word was not commonplace. In between gun busting and drinking Henny it was his desire to increase cognition amongst the thugs that cements his place amongst Hip Hop royalty. Best represented on Dead Prez’s “Be Healthy” the Murda Muzik artist drops one of his candid speeches about “living to foul” and the importance of progressing pass the lifestyle often rapped about to maintain your well-being. Live Nigga rap will never die, and if the HNIC is continuing to live out his lyrics its quite possible he’s in heaven reenacting the passion of Christ.(see Mobb Deep Pearly Gates”. For new fans and those who’ve rode with the Mobb for time we suggest revisiting P’s latest work “Hegelian Dialect” and “Hell Still On Earth” which was created with DIGGGERS favorite Conway. His last performance was at the “Art of Rap” festival amidst Vegas heat that rose above 100 degrees alongside partner in rhyme Havoc. That stage was appropriate end off and is a testament to Prodigy’s dedication to emceeing. … Rest in Beats Albert “Prodigy” Johnson November 2nd 1974 – June 20th 2017
-Matthew Carroll
