The one regret Prodigy has in his career: “It’s just instilled in me”
As one half of the iconic hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, Prodigy was an instrumental architect in defining the sounds of 90s New York rap as we know it today: as brutal in its dark honesty as it is precise in its laser-sharp lyricism.
One of the most successful rap duos of all time, Mobb Deep sold over three million records, racked up several chart placements, and acquired acclaim not just from their fanbase, but the critics, too. Their first album, 1995’s The Infamous, cemented their status within the East Coast hip-hop scene, with guest appearances from the likes of Ghostface Killah, Nas and Q-Tip. Their second album, Hell on Earth, released just a year later, received similar acclaim from the critics, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1997.
Few rappers could dream of both the critical and commercial success Mobb Deep enjoyed in the duo’s decades-spanning career. And yet, as expressed in a 2011 interview with Hiphop DX magazine, there is one regret held by Prodigy.
“If I could pick something, it would probably have to do with keeping Mobb Deep independent so all of the money would come to us,” Prodigy explained.
“That’d be the best thing to pick,” he said, laughing. “The way my grandmother raised me as far as teaching me the business and being independent and owning and operating your own business. It’s just instilled in me to want that and to do that.”
And yet it wasn’t quite keeping him up at night. “Like I’ve said, though. I don’t really believe in regrets. Things happen for a reason. That’s how I see it, as far as Mobb Deep’s career. Everything’s happened for a reason. We’ve been blessed and we’ve been good. There’s really nothing for us to regret.”
Other highlights from the interview with the late rapper, who sadly passed in 2017 due to complications related to sickle cell anemia, include a discussion on his belief in the Illuminati. Fans of Prodigy – or even those with an interest in the Illuminati – might know the rapper was a pioneer of Illuminati belief within the hip-hop community.
“It’s definitely trendy. It’s just a name…an old name for a particular group of people,” Prodigy explained.
“That’s probably not even their name anymore. That was their name way back in the days. They probably have all different kinds of name changes over the years because they don’t want people to know or keep tabs on them. It’s just the most popular name, because it sounds cool or whatever. It’s definitely a lot of that trendy thing going on. People don’t really understand what [The Illuminati] really is. They just hear it, it sounds cool, and they want to repeat it or whatever. They don’t really know or have a good understanding of it. The whole thing is just to be aware, aware of what’s going on. A lot of people, they just be taking it too far without really understanding what it’s all about.”