Published: Wednesday - April 5, 2006
Words by Jay Casteel
Prodigy (Photo: Joker Brand)
Mobb Deep are currently enjoying a peak in their careers, as far as publicity and popularity, but the one question remains: will they put up the numbers artists backed by the G-Unit machine are accustomed to? According to Prodigy, Blood Money is the Queensbridge duo's best album to date, so the pressure to put up numbers is nothing they are worried about.
BallerStatus spoke with Prodigy recently, as he touched on topics such as their initial reaction to 50 reaching out to them, why it came at the right time and how Mobb Deep responds to people who have doubt about their new material, as well their G-Unit debut, Blood Money. Although opinions regarding their move to G-Unit are mixed, the group says they couldn't feel any more comfortable anywhere else and anyone who isn't happy for them "ain't a real fan of Mobb Deep."
BallerStatus.com: First off, the new album Blood Money...how will this album rank among of the Mobb Deep classics fans are used to?
Prodigy: It stands among the best. It's definitely one of the best Mobb Deep ever did to date.
BallerStatus.com: A lot of people think that this album will be the Mobb's breakout, turning you into household names. People are expecting some major numbers from you guys this time. Do you feel any pressure to succeed?
Prodigy: Nah, we just having fun with it. We're glad that we have a company like G-Unit to put our album out. It just feels really good to make this music right now. It's really no pressure at all.
BallerStatus.com: I understand that you recorded most of the album on your own, without many G-Unit collabos, keeping it strictly Mobb Deep. Was that your intention? To stay away from making it a G-Unit album, rather than a Mobb Deep album?
Prodigy: Yea, that's our intention on every album that we do, really. We don't really ever try to put to many peoples on there, you know what I mean? We don't want anybody saying, "Oh, you did this, so you can sell your album." Nah, we just kept it Mobb Deep, but we got Mary J. Blige and a few of the G-Unit members on there.
BallerStatus.com: Going in, a lot of people thought that your move to G-Unit was good for the group, but there's also your hardcore fanbase that haven't been as supportive. What is your response to fans that have doubt that a Mobb Deep project from G-Unit will not be the same Mobb Deep as before?
Prodigy: If you a true hardcore fan of Mobb Deep, then you will love that we are over at G-Unit. Because now, your favorite group is all over the place -- all over TV, all over the radio, you know? We're at a really high point right now, so if they a fan...any fan of Mobb Deep would be really happy right now. If they not happy, then they ain't a real fan of Mobb Deep.
BallerStatus.com: Going over to G-Unit has really taken Mobb Deep to a higher plateau. You guys have received more press than ever, you're on the radio...so how does it feel to receive this type of recognition at this point in your career?
Prodigy: It feels good because our work is really never done. We always look at it like, from the beginning -- even in our lyrics -- we always say, "Man, there is more than this. We know there's a whole world out there that we haven't reached yet." That's why we were never satisfied and always hungry and always thirsty because we know there's more.
BallerStatus.com: Before G-Unit, you were signed to Jive and enjoyed moderate success with your last album. So, tell us why you decided to leave Jive and why your situation there wasn't as good as your situation at G-Unit?
Prodigy: Basically, we had a good deal over at Jive. We had a 50/50 joint venture, but the thing about Jive was that they didn't let us control our marketing and promotions budget. They don't know how to market and promote a street label or a group like Mobb Deep. That was their first mistake. When they did that, that effected our sales on that album, so right then and there we knew that, "Aight, this ain't gonna work over here."
We ended up dissolving that situation and like no more than a few days later, 50 [Cent] called us. He reached out and was like, "Yo, I'm Mobb Deep's #1 fan. I wanna see the group be where it's supposed to be at. Let's do it big."
BallerStatus.com: How did you feel about that? I mean, at that point, 50 was the biggest rapper in the world and he's reaching out to you like, "How can I get down?"
Prodigy: Man, it felt real good. I mean, [50 Cent] was just feelin' us. He felt what we was thinking, 'cause we were always sitting back like, "Damn, somebody need to really, really understand what Mobb Deep is about and get behind us." If we had that machine behind our music, then it would match. Our music is powerful, so we need a powerful machine behind it. We ain't never had that, so when 50 reached out, it was just like, "That's amazing." It was perfect and that's what we needed.
BallerStatus.com: How has 50's guidance or advice helped you so far, since signing with the G-Unit label?
Prodigy: He got good ideas and his work ethic rubs off on you. I mean, our work ethic is the same way. All we do is make songs in the studio all day, so his work ethic matches our work ethic. We just build off each other.
BallerStatus.com: I've heard a lot about the song "Pearly Gates," where you write from an atheist's perspective. What made you write a verse that way?
Prodigy: I wouldn't even say atheist. That is just a word people use. I wouldn't say I wrote it from an atheist's perspective, I would say that I wrote it from a different prespective that people aren't used to hearing. They aren't used to hearing anything as shocking as that, so we just did it from different types of perspectives. It's definitely one of the illest songs on the album because it's something people's not used to.
The people are gonna love it because rap music is rebel music. We go against the system all the time. That's what it's about. It's about getting our voice heard that they don't want you to hear. They don't want you to hear this voice right here. They try to silence it.
BallerStatus.com: A lot of people are saying that both of you and Havoc have really stepped it up with Blood Money, production-wise and lyrically. Do you feel you guys can say you are in the top spots, as an MC and producer?
Prodigy: Oh most definitely that, we ain't never gone no where. We was always the top emcee and producer in the game. It's just that a lot of people wasn't able to see that. We didn't have this machine and this platform for them to see us, but now we do. Now, they gonna really know. And the ones who did know, they are gonna be like, "Oh sh--, it was these n----s, aight."
BallerStatus.com: Tell me about the overall vibe, as far as the sound and where you wanted to go with this album, comparing it to your previous work.
Prodigy: The only thing I can say is that it is new. It's new material. It's the same Mobb Deep formula -- we always stick to our formula, we don't never change. 50 was like, "I want what Mobb Deep has got to bring to the table. I ain't gotta come in here and write songs for you like other people. I ain't gotta come in here at all, really. Y'all just do what you do and let me handle what I gotta handle with the marketing and promotion." But, as far as the album, we always stick to our formula and never change. We got our own sound that we created, so it's like we can't really change anyway. We got our own niche, and that sh-- is engraved in stone right now. So, basically, we just stuck to what we did. The only thing new about it is that it is new material.
We're working with Dr. Dre, Fif, Eminem...that's the only thing new about it. We're all working together. Havoc did damn near the whole album, then as far as features we got Dr. Dre, Alchemist, Sha Money XL, J.R. Period -- those are the guest producers.
BallerStatus.com: I know you guys have at least on Dre produced track ("Nightmares"), I've read you quoted as saying that the track doesn't even sound like a Dre record. Why is that?
Prodigy: 'Cause it sounds like something new. It sound like some new sh--, like, "Oh sh--, he made some other sh--." That sh-- is hot like a motherf---er and when you hear it...it's just like a lot of Hav beats. It'll f--- your head up when you found out that Hav did it. You would be like, "Get the f--- outta here, Hav did that?" That's all I was saying about "Nightmares." It don't really sound like a Dre track. When you hear it, you wouldn't even know he did it.
BallerStatus.com: Let's talk about your situation with G-Unit Records. 50 has stated that he plans to put you guys into executive positions, where you would sign your own artists under Infamous/G-Unit. How has that part of your career been so far?
Prodigy: Basically, the deal we made with 50 is we are in business together. It's not just a music record deal. We got a film company, a book company...there's a Reebok deal, G-Unit Clothing, Infamous Records -- a whole lot of things. We're also doing something with Crown Royal that we can't really talk about 'cause people be biting our ideas. But, it's definitely bigger than just music. This is the direction that Mobb Deep has always wanted to go to, so everything is naturally just taking place. We didn't have to change nothing. All we had to do is sit back and keep doing Mobb Deep and look what happened.
BallerStatus.com: You guys have -- for most of your careers -- been artists, so do you feel you can juggle the business side of the game and the music side successfully?
Prodigy: We men of many hats. When you from the hood, you already, naturally got that hustle in you because that's just the attitude we all got. Some people do it better than others and you will see who progresses faster than others. It's just natural for us son.
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