The time Prodigy went clubbing with Lindsay Lohan: “Drinking, dancing and grinding”
Prodigy is one of the most gifted rappers of all time, but you’d never put him in the same circle as a superstar celebrity like Lindsay Lohan. Mobb Deep’s ‘Shook Ones (Part II)’ and his solo hit, ‘Keep It Thoro’, are two of hip-hop’s most iconic songs, but they never reached the level of topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Still, his popularity as an MC put him on the radar of Lohan, who was one of the biggest names in the world in the early 2000s.
The New York rapper, who passed away in 2017 from accidental choking, released his autobiography, My Infamous Life, in 2011. During one of the chapters, he opened up about the time he randomly went clubbing with Lohan in Manhattan after receiving an email from her. The fact that he was contacted by email is a sign of technology at the time.
“On the drive back to Queens, I got an email that surprised me,” he began. “It was Lindsay Lohan. She asked if I was in NY and said that I should come to a club in Manhattan later that night called Bungalow 8 where she’d be hanging out with a few of her girlfriends. I hit her back and told her that I’d meet her there.”
The only problem was, Prodigy had no money on him. “I had $20 in my pocket and zero in my personal account,” he explained. “I called my accountant, Arty Erk, and asked him to transfer five hundred dollars into my ATM account so I could have spending cash for the club. Mobb Deep kept all our real money in a business account that we couldn’t touch, so when we wanted money, we made transfers through our accountant. It kept us from spending too much.”
Havoc wasn’t around then, so he asked Queens rapper Nyce Da Future to join him. At around 11pm that night, they stopped at a petrol station ATM to withdraw some money, but nothing was in his bank account. Prodigy spent $10 on fuel for the journey, leaving him with only $10 for an exclusive Manhattan club with “million-dollar white chicks.”
Money was only the start of his issues. When he got to the club, he struggled to get in. Figuring the two Black bouncers might know his music, he said, “What’s up, man, it’s Prodigy,” to which they looked at him with confusion, explaining that it’s a guest list only event for a private party. His name wasn’t there, but when he told them he was with Lohan, one of the men had a “priceless” look.
Eventually, Lohan walked them through the club to her VIP tables with Grey Goose and Belvedere bottles everywhere. “Bungalow 8 looked like some tropical jungle type shit inside, a predominantly white crowd sprinkled with blacks and latinos,” he recalled. “I’d been there before with Alchemist. Lindsay’s friends were wearing Mardi Gras-looking white masks, drunk and dancing crazily to rap music.”
Some time went on and they went to the bar so it didn’t seem like they was scrounging off Lohan for her alcohol. Due to his lack of funds, Prodigy asked for two shots of Hennessy on ice. The bartender recognised him, describing him as his favourite rapper and proclaiming his love for Mobb Deep. Instead of their order, he gave them a bottle on the house. Because of him, Prodigy said the guy saved them from “looking stupid.”
Nyce was dancing with one of Lohan’s masked friends, who he later discovered was Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Simpson’s younger sister. “I told Nyce so he’d know he had a celeb on his hands, then Lindsay pulled me back to her,” Prodigy said. “I saw her looking at her Blackberry after a while and her mood changed. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “This guy I used to mess with is fucking stalking me. I think he’s in the club.”
Prodigy replied, “Oh yeah? Well, let me know if you see him and we’ll fuck him up. You good with me, I ain’t letting nobody bother you if you don’t wanna be bothered. Just let me know.” Nothing happened, so they continued “drinking, dancing and grinding on each other,” with the rapper calling it a fun night. It’s a story you’d never believe if he didn’t tell it himself.