Prodigy was an American rapper and one half of the hip hop duo Mobb Deep with Havoc. Let’s see some amazing facts and trivia about him!
1.His real name was Albert Johnson.
2. He was born on November 2, 1974
3. He was the great-great-grandson of the founder of Morehouse College
4. Born in Hempstead, New York. Prodigy became a member of the duo Mobb Deep.
5. He comes from a musical family—his grandfather, Budd Johnson, and his great-uncle Keg Johnson are remembered for their contributions to the Bebop era of jazz
6. His mother, Fatima Johnson, was a member of The Crystals.
7. Propelled to awareness partially by fellow rapper Nas, who took a similar approach lyrically on his Illmatic album from 1994, as well as with the aid of a successful single, “Shook Ones Pt. 2,” Mobb Deep released The Infamous in 1995 and sold over 500,000 within the first two months.
8. A year and a half later, at the end of 1996, Prodigy and Havoc released Hell on Earth; debuting at number six on SoundScan the album was composed with both evocative beats and cinematic rhymes that communicated the dark side of New York’s urban landscape.
9. Due to a grim video for “Hell on Earth (Front Lines)” and theatrical Scarface-like photos inside the CD booklet picturing the duo with guns and a mound of cocaine, Mobb Deep had created an elaborate image for themselves that took hardcore gangsta rap to a new level for East Coast hip hop and the album sold over 500,000 units within the first two months again.
10. Its next release, Murda Muzik, was heavily bootlegged while still in its demo stage, leaking, onto the streets and over the internet, rough versions of the nearly 30 songs the duo had recorded.
11. He started work on his third solo album H.N.I.C. Part 2, which was previewed on his official mixtape The Return of the Mac on the independent label Koch Records.
12. The mixtape single and mixtape video are called “Mac 10 Handle,”. H.N.I.C. Pt. 2 was released through Voxonic Inc., of which Prodigy is an equity holder.
13. In late 2009, Mobb Deep was released from its contract with 50 Cent’s G-Unit label.
14. He recently served a three-year sentence in Mid-State medium-security prison, following a plea agreement stemming from a gun-possession charge.
15. Prodigy released an autobiography during spring 2011 entitled My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy.
16. It was co-written with Laura Checkoway and was published by Touchstone Books.
17. Prodigy was recently featured in the 2011 documentary Rhyme and Punishment a film that documents Hip-Hop artists who have been incarcerated. The film documents Prodigy’s trial and his last days before starting his prison sentence.
18. During 2011, Prodigy released a free EP called The Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP which is his first project since being released from prison.
19. On April 21, a song titled “The Type”, with Curren$y, was released on Curren$y’s free album, entitled Covert Cou
20. Prodigy has spoken out against the secret society Illuminati.
21. In 2013, Prodigy released his second collaboration album with The Alchemist titled Albert Einstein. Then on April 1, 2014, Mobb Deep released The Infamous Mobb Deep their eighth studio album. In August 2016, he released an untitled EP of 5 tracks, released in partnership with BitTorrent , an association that Prodigy had been working up for a while
22. November 6, 2003, Prodigy was arrested in Cohoes, New York and charged with third degree criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana. Police reportedly recovered a .25 caliber handgun and marijuana on his person.
23. October 26, 2006, Prodigy was arrested in New York City and charged with criminal possession of a weapon. He was pulled over in a $120,000 customized bulletproof SUV after making an illegal u-turn around 2:15 AM. After conducting a search of the vehicle, police recovered a .22 caliber handgun in the center console.
24. October 8, 2007, Prodigy was sentenced to serve three and a half years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm. Originally facing a mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison, Prodigy struck a deal with the prosecution, and pleaded guilty in exchange for a 3 1⁄2-year prison sentence.
25. March 7, 2011, Prodigy was released from Mid-State Correctional Facility in New York after serving 3 years for criminal possession of a weapon. He had 6 months shaved off his original sentence for good behavior and remained on parole until 2014.
26. In June 20, 2017, it was reported that Prodigy passed away in Las Vegas, Nevada after having been hospitalized a few days earlier for complications caused by a crisis related to his sickle-cell anaemia.
27. He was performing on the Art of Rap Tour in Las Vegas with his Mobb Deep partner Havoc, Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One and Ice-T when he was hospitalized.The exact cause of his death is yet to be determined.
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