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Prodigy, half of the iconic duo Mobb Deep, had a massive impact on hip-hop during the 1990s and achieved a lot in his lifetime. With hits singles such as’ Quiet Storm’ and ‘Shook Ones, Part II’ remaining classics to this day, it is Mobb Deep’s raw, gritty sonic that is most renowned.

Despite this, Prodigy had a broad range of influences and came from a musical household devoid of hip-hop. The emcee’s mother, Frances Collins, was a soul singer and member of The Crystals. At the same time, his grandfather, Budd Johnson, was revered in jazz as a saxophonist and clarinettist.

As such, occasionally, these influences spilt into his music and made for exciting projects. Although he loved hip-hop as a child of the 1980s, his mother and grandfather exposed him to far more, and, unsurprisingly, he warmed to much of what he heard as a child. That said, in a 2012 interview with Complex following the release of his LP, H.N.I.C. 3, the Queensbridge-bred rapper spoke about some of his biggest inspirations growing up, and some of his picks were interesting, to say the least.

As he began to pick some of his favourite musicians and albums, Prodigy also detailed how he was first introduced to the music he was selecting. During the in-depth discussion, one project he cited as being highly influential during his childhood was the Diamond-certified epic Thriller.

The 1982 Michael Jackson project is the highest-selling album of all time and had a seismic impact on pop culture at the time. Explaining how he became enthralled by Jackson, Prodigy detailed, “Michael Jackson was a big influence to me because my grandmother had a dance school in Jamaica, Queens, and she raised a lot of choreographers. A couple of the choreographers, they were the ones that created the choreography for ‘Beat It’ and ‘Thriller.'”

Following his selection of Michael Jackson, Prodigy pivoted completely and shed some light on his father by highlighting his love of The Wailers and their 1973 album Catch A Fire. Spearheaded by Reggae vocalist Bob Marley, the Queensbridge native recalled, “My father used to play that shit non-stop and would tell me all about Bob Marley’s lyrics and how he was so nice with his lyrics. He used to make me pay attention to Bob Marley’s and Marvin Gaye’s lyrics. Those are his two favourites.”

Although many musicians, including Bob Marley and Michael Jackson, were mentioned, Prodigy’s heart was always in hip-hop. That said, as he looked back on his life, he couldn’t help but notice the importance of two albums: Run-DMC’s self-titled debut and LL Cool J’s 1984 project, Radio.

Deciding that those two albums were tied for first place, he named the singles that initially lured him, explaining, “Run–DMC and LL, it was like a tie between those two. Those are the first two rap albums I ever heard. It was ‘Rock the Bells’ and ‘Sucka MCs’— those two songs—and then I went out and bought the albums. I had my mother buy the albums.”

As he recounted the importance of Run-DMC, he described them as “new” and “aggressive with it”, which was something that attracted him. Prodigy even went as far as to say these two albums were responsible for sparking his interest in hip-hop. Asserting this, he concluded, “So those songs turned me on to rap music because I’m like, ‘Yo, this is ill. This sound like these niggas is mad.’ That’s how I felt inside because I grew up with sickle cell and all that. So, I always had that anger inside of me. I wanted to be Run.”

The two records hit the streets like a juggernaut of new intention. The two acts provided a newer and more exciting entry point to rap music. What had previously existed only in the speakers of house parties was now being broadcast across the nation. It inspired the children of America and connected them with a new generation, envigorating them to make their own leap into hip-hop stardom.