R.I.P. Prodigy of Mobb Deep | 1974-2017

wwetvsports21
Jun 20, 2017
2 min read

Hip Hop celebrated the birthday of a legend last Friday June 16th, but today June 20th 2017 we mourn the passing of Prodigy of the legendary Queensbridge rap duo Mobb Deep. The news broke via TMZ about the death of Prodigy in Las Vegas.

Prodigy was apart of some of the biggest moments in hip hop history in beefs with Tupac Shakur, Nas, and Jay Z. He first burst onto the scene with "Peer Pressure" from the project "Juvenile Hell" at the start of the 90's. Before that they went by the name Poetical Prophets. The next album though called "The Infamous" is what truly made the genre take notice. When "Shook Ones" hit the scene it helped the New York rap scene tremendously as during this time the West Coast was running red hot.

The hip hop star, whose real name is Albert Johnson, was on tour in Las Vegas performing with the "Art of Rap" tour alongside Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One, and Ice-T, amongst others. Mobb Deep performed Saturday.

"It is with extreme sadness and disbelief that we confirm the death of our dear friend Albert Johnson, better known to millions of fans as Prodigy of legendary NY rap duo Mobb Deep", his publicist said in a statement. "Prodigy was hospitalized a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance for complications caused by a sickle cell anaemia crisis. As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled the disease since birth. The exact causes of death have yet to be determined. We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family’s privacy at this time.”

WWETV Toronto had the opportunity to meet Mobb Deep live in Toronto in May 2016 for their anniversary Tour. The legends took pictures for our WWETV Toronto team.

Havoc and Prodigy started rhyming in 1986 when they met at the High School of Art and Design in New York City. In 1993, Havoc had a guest appearance on the critically acclaimed Black Moon album Enta Da Stage, on a song called "U Da Man."

The group saw its first major success with their second album, The Infamous, released in 1995. Mobb Deep's third album, Hell on Earth was released in 1996, debuting at number six on the Billboard album chart. The album continued the duo's portrayal of harsh street life, while further pushing them to the forefront of the hardcore hip-hop scene, along with contemporary East Coast rappers like The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan collective, Jay-Z, and fellow Queensbridge associate Nas. In 1998, the duo collaborated with reggae dancehall rapper Bounty Killer on the track "Deadly Zone" for the soundtrack to Blade. In 1999, they released the highly anticipated Murda Muzik album. Despite extensive bootlegging (nearly 30 songs of unreleased material leaked onto the Internet) and countless delays, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly received platinum certification—further highlighted by the popular single "Quiet Storm." Shortly afterward, Prodigy released his long-awaited solo album H.N.I.C, in which the MC collaborated with other artists (B.G. and N.O.R.E.) and producers (including The Alchemist, Rockwilder, and Just Blaze).