On his controversial blog HNIC2.com, Prodigy has expressed frustration at not being able to witness the release of his third solo album (including last year's Return of the Mac), H.N.I.C. 2, from the frontlines. But at a press event for the album supported by Havoc, Alchemist, Cormega, Big Noyd, Un Pacino, Nyce, and a few other Mobb Deep affiliates, it is clear he has not been forgotten in his absence.

Together, they discuss Prodigy’s latest solo effort with insight that only his closest collaborators could provide. Although Queensbridge rappers are known for internal strife, on this occasion they put all past tensions behind them. Cormega and Noyd speak candidly about their views on some of P’s recent comments critiquing other artists. Proteges Un Pacino and Nyce defend P’s position with reverence, and Havoc and Alchemist reflect on Mobb Deep’s legacy. When speaking about his new project, featuring both a characteristic gloominess and a more pronounced focus on dropping jewels, the praise is unanimous.

HipHopDX: What was it like recording with Prodigy before he went in to do this bid?
Un Pacino: Oh, it was crazy. It was good because he wasn’t really that stressed. I would tell him not to let it worry him, you been through a lot you can get through this. And when you get through this, it’s the ultimate, because you’ve been tested in all walks of life. People expected P to fail at a lot of things that he did, but that’s why I liked him, because he always overcame everything- sickle cell, people that was trying to get at him- so it was like he was on top and he always made you look stupid.
Alchemist: It was funny that the last few months before he went in, he didn’t do too much recording. He was more in video mode; he was just shooting videos everyday. I think with music in general, we’re so ahead of the time. Whatever beats are on P’s album, we probably were working on at least two years ago, we’re used to having this delay. But it was more like, “Let me get this video shot,” he shot a video for every song, so that was dope. Until the last day, that was dope.

DX: Mega, given that you have done some hard time, did you have any advice for P as he was preparing to go in for these 3 ½ years?
Cormega: I just told him to hold his head, ‘cause our situations are different. A lot of rappers go to jail. I didn’t become a rapper to go to jail, I went to jail before I was a rapper. The average artist that’s going to jail, they going to get preferential treatment, or they going to keep you away from population. I was with the killers and dealers, I was in population. I don’t think they gonna put Prodigy in population. I told him to hold his head, hit the books and don’t focus on that shit. Just focus on what he gotta do.

DX: Do you think the bid had a significant impact on him creatively?
Alchemist: I don’t think so, I just think he’s taking some time to reflect. I don’t think he’s going to come out like a different P. P’s too stubborn for that, he’s going to stick to his guns. To be honest, he might be in there writing scripts and rhymes. I think he’s just chilling, reading. I don’t think he wants to waste that good energy. That’s like someone who’s young who goes to jail for six years, and they can’t wait to come home, they have 1,000 rhymes. He doesn’t have to do that, he’s got endless records. I think he’s just getting his mind right, he’s just getting a little older and wiser, but we all will be when he comes home.

DX: It seems that since his case, Prodigy has really been focusing a lot more on Illuminati, secret society themes, expressing his views on the world order and dropping jewels in his music. What do you think about that direction?
Cormega: Prodigy been talking about Illuminati. If you listen to “I Shot Ya,” the remix with Fat Joe and all them, he said, “Illuminati got my mind soul and body,” that was over 10 years ago. It’s good that he’s taking it somewhere else, because maybe from there he could alter rap a little bit. A lot of times, conscious rappers expand the minds of other people. He might expand the mind of some younger rappers, the same way KRS-ONE made people want to get knowledge and talk about it, and Chuck D did it. So hopefully, some of the stuff he’s saying will cause other people to get creative with it, instead of everybody talking about, “I sell drugs” and “I shoot people.” At least he’s talking something different, so I respect that.
Alchemist: He was going through different periods in life, things were happening. And I don’t know if it was directly related to the jail bid, but he been doing a lot of studying lately, even before the whole situation. From YouTube, being able to access shit that he had already read before, he was studying a lot of stuff. And I think he had been feeling like, “Yo I gotta put this out,” because that’s something that he had done from day one. And maybe during the course he strayed off, and he always felt like he had a responsibility to do that. I see it a lot more now which is cool, ‘cause it seems like people like that side of him that’s like, “Fuck it, my chain hang to the street.” Because he got both of those sides, just like all people. I can vouch for that, we all go through different changes in life; we lean to one side or the other. P’s extreme, so he leans from one extreme to another.
Nyce: I mean you know it’s a good thing for him because his mind is on another time zone, his mind is in the future. He already lived the fast life, had jewelry, had tons of cars, he done did it all. So now he’s getting educated, he’s sharpening his brain. So yeah, that’s definitely a good step for him, ‘cause we need more idols like that, more people to look up to like that. Continued on page 2 »