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Prodigy - Apostle’s Warning Pt. 1
Interview By: Danielle Stolich
 Prodigy, the always controversial half of rap duo Mobb Deep, sat down with Nobodysmiling.com to discuss his upcoming new album, HNIC2 (due March 2008) as he prepares for a three-year bid starting on January 9, 2008. Listen as the self-proclaimed HNIC sets the record straight on Saigon, the night of his arrest and why the deal he just inked is about to revolutionize not only the rap game, but music as we know it.
 Nobodysmiling.com : You spoke on your blog about how religion was created by man to divide and conquer…with the holidays upon us does that mean you don’t celebrate Xmas?
Prodigy : I really don’t celebrate the holiday; it’s really for kids. I really don’t want to deprive my kids of Christmas…I buy them gifts but they know those gifts don’t come from Santa Claus, know what I mean? But personally, I don’t celebrate the holidays.
Nobodysmiling.com : 50 Cent has not commented on your sentence, why do you think that is?
Prodigy : 50 just got back from a world tour like three days ago. He’s been gone for like 2 or 3 months almost. But he knows everything that’s going on…he got the right to comment on it if he wants to.
Nobodysmiling.com : Is your health a concern regarding your bid?
Prodigy : The state must make sure I’m in a facility that can accommodate my illness. If they don’t and I get sick I can sue the state of New York. But they must place me somewhere that can handle my illness.
Nobodysmiling.com : How will Havoc hold it down for Mobb Deep musically while you serve your bid? (promoting Mobb Deep projects, new music, leaked songs, etc.)
Prodigy : Basically Hav is just always there to support whatever I need. He’s just always there to support. That’s my brother from another mother.
Nobodysmiling.com : How do you plan to spend your time while you are away besides writing new music and reading?
Prodigy : Patiently spending it, know what I’m sayin’? (laughs). ‘Cause you really can’t do nothing else. Just working out, reading, writing.
Nobodysmiling.com : How will you stay motivated? What books will you be reading?
Prodigy : One book I never had the time to read that I wanted to read is Sister Souljah’s book, The Coldest Winter Ever. I’ll probably read that while I’m in there. What motivates me is just rap music period. Being away and not being able to record is gonna have me so pissed off. When I’m in the street what usually motivates me to do music is when I turn on the radio and I hear new stuff. Like this summer, when I heard “Make You Better” (Fabolous and Neyo) that was hot to me. Moments like that motivate me to go to the studio and record. When I’m away I’ll probably hear something and just be ready to record.
Nobodysmiling.com : Funny you mention “Make You Better” because when Mobb Deep made “Anything” (feat. 112) it actually influenced rappers to make hardcore “love songs” without compromising their sound.
Prodigy : Yeah a lot of people don’t know we got more spins with that (“Anything”) than we did with “Quiet Storm”. When Hav made that beat I was like, “This is a hit. We can’t write no gangsta sh*t to this or we’ll ruin it. We gotta get the females involved and this song could really take off.” After we did the “Quiet Storm” remix with Lil’ Kim, we started seeing more females come to our shows.
Nobodysmiling.com : Who are the new artists that you would say carry the torch right now for Hip-Hop?
Prodigy : Carries the torch? Wow, I don’t even know. That’s a heavy torch to carry! (laughs)
Nobodysmiling.com : Let me rephrase that then. Who would you buy an album from if you were a fan?
Prodigy : I don’t know…I don’t listen to too much…my answers might sound like I’m being biased. But I would buy Lloyd Banks, 50… That’s the sh*t I like to listen to. I don’t really listen to too much else.
Nobodysmiling.com : At the 2007 Hip-Hop Honors celebration, KRS-One gave 50 Cent props and was quoted saying 50 Cent (compared to Kanye West) is “doing real Hip-Hop that streets want to hear.” Was it a shock to hear KRS-One say that?
Prodigy : No, ‘cause it’s KRS-One and he got popular talking the same stuff that 50, Mobb Deep and all of us talk about. The Criminal Minded album and his lyrics back in the day made him who he is now. So it’s really not that surprising.
Nobodysmiling.com : How did you ink the deal with Voxonic?
Prodigy :I heard about their voice-conversion technology and it was really interesting to me. It blew my mind. To hear your voice translated into another language but it sounds exactly like you’re voice. This is gonna change the world; especially things like movies. Like there’s not gonna be anymore subtitles.
I called a meeting with them and they explained how they wanted to promote their technology through music and I explained my vision for promoting HNIC2 through You Tube©, etc. We came together and it all made sense. They hired me to do A&R work so I can sign artists and I also own a part of the company. Plus I did my album deal with them, too. The fans, here and overseas, are definitely going to be pleased with how I’m doing this album.
*Note: Voxonic/Voxonic Music has trademarked the voice conversion technology that can convert Prodigy’s voice with 99% accuracy into different languages including Spanish, French and German. Prodigy will be the first Hip-Hop artist to release a record that is converted into foreign languages using the Voxonic voice conversion technology.
Nobodysmiling.com : This is legendary. Any plans to use the voice conversion technology for a Mobb Deep album? Yeah,
Prodigy : Definitely. We’re gonna use the technology for everything that we’re doing.
Nobodysmiling.com : What will you be looking for in any artists you plan to sign?
Prodigy : To tell you the truth, I’m really not looking for any rap artists. I’m not really hearing anything that’s hot yet so I’m mainly focused on R&B, reggae, just different styles. If I happen to find a hot rap artist, we can do a deal but I’m not looking for that. And any artist I work with needs to be humble, business-minded and down-to-earth.
Nobodysmiling.com : How is HNIC2 different from last year’s Return of the Mac?
Prodigy : Return of the Mac was just a mix CD that I did to promote my album HNIC2. The company I did it through promoted it heavily like an album. But as soon as you hear the first song on my CD you’ll hear the difference in that Return of the Mac was a mixtape and HNIC2 is an album. Jay-Z kinda bit my style a lil’ bit with the American Gangster album because if you listen to Return of the Mac it’s a lot of old loops and 70’s style tracks. It was easy for real.
Prodigy : You’ll hear the difference immediately between the two albums. Now the new production team I’m working with is called Sid Roans. Sid Roans are two white kids from Cali, Alchemist’s friends that moved to Brooklyn to connect with artists and make beats. I met them the same way I met Alchemist through my man Twin. They got some fire, too. On HNIC2 I’m also working with Hav, Alchemist and Apex, who did “I Get Money” for 50 Cent.
Nobodysmiling.com : Are you planning any collaborations on HNIC2 with anyone other than the names you listed on your blog (Twin Gambino, Havoc, Noyd, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks)?
Prodigy : There’s alot of guests I’m just gonna surprise people with. But it’s definitely a lot of artists I wanna work with. I love working with other artists. Like Alicia Keys, we spoke at the VMA’s and talked about doing some stuff. I’d like to do another Mary (J. Blige) record in the future. I love when Havoc does beats for other people, too. We definitely are gonna try to make another song with Lil’ Kim, too.
Nobodysmiling.com : You’ve always shown an intellectual/spiritual side through your lyrics (i.e.: your verse on “I Shot Ya”, “Apostle’s Warning”, etc.)…what made you put so much emphasis on this now?
Prodigy : It’s just time to put that information out there now. People wasn’t ready for that back then. Ever since that World Trade Center sh*t, I’ve been thinking about all of that. I’m older, wiser, a lot of laws have changed, and times have changed. But it’s nothing that was planned or done to make the HNIC2 album this particular way.
Nobodysmiling.com : Do you think this side of you and this message might have been over some of your fans’ heads a few years ago?
Prodigy : It might have been over there heads. I really can’t say. I really can’t comment on how another person might take it or understand it. But I wasn’t ready back then because I was still learning. I don’t want to talk about certain shit unless I can really explain it fully. Plus people wasn’t really ready to accept it either.
You have to be careful with things like that because if the fans are used to hearing you sound a certain way and then you change it, you can turn off a lot of fans that way. In music you have to be very careful on how you approach things like that, without scaring the fans off. That’s why I took my time with it and made sure I did it the right way.
Nobodysmiling.com : The video for “ABC” is classic Prodigy: moody, dark and hardcore. What was the inspiration behind that video?
Prodigy :Basically I just came up with chorus from back in the days when I would hear little kids on the block saying their ABC’s. As far as where my head was at when I was writing those lyrics, I just wrote to the beat. It’s a grimy dark beat. The video came out better than I expected. It deals with a lot of conspiracy theory stuff but it’s really artistic. When I do my videos I really try to do some artistic sh*t, like with “Mac 10 Handle”. I just like to give a whole different look when I shoot videos, not just your average cars, girls and jewelry in the club.
Pordigy Interview Pt.2 >>
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