Prodigy's Mobb Deep

I admit. I didn't know a lick about Mobb Deep, or Prodigy, one member of the hip-hop duo--who is also considered to be one of hip-hop's acclaimed artists--until this evening. I had lunch with my friend Dave and told him I was going to a lecture with Prodigy tonight, sponsored by The Hudson Union Society. He seemed uber impressed--much less by my blank face and mispronunciation of Mobb Deep's name--and much more that I would be in such company.

I have to say, I walked away from the lecture with a mixture of feelings--all of them good. Inspired. Entertained. Awed.

Prodigy, who was recently released from jail--he was serving out a three-year sentence for gun possession--talked a bit about a lot of things. Including how he used to do his laundry with Dennis Koslowski, Tyco's former CEO, while he was in prison. That comment got a round of laughs from the audience. I was struck by how many white-boy-wannabe-rappers were "in da house," and who were clearly grateful for the opportunity to be able to tell Prodigy how memories of Mobb Deep go, well, mobb deep, in their musical upbringings.

He spoke about the war between East Coast hip-hop and its West Coast counterpart. Apparently, Snoop Dogg was unimpressed with NYCers lack of overt enthusiasm (it seems we're a bit more laid back than LA folks) at one of his performances. This saw the creation of a Snoop Dogg song/video, "New York, New York," with the rapper crushing our beloved buildings and monuments with his feet. So, in turn, Mobb Deep released a song/video: "LA, LA."

Competitive edge, he said, is a characteristic of the music genre. It all seemed tongue and cheek, although Prodigy did address the deaths of Tupac and Biggie Smalls.

Prodigy spoke about his growing awareness of spirituality. He talked about suffering from sickle cell anemia and how painful it was to go through this as a child. He said something very profound: that before he never believed in God. But, now he believes God exists and that when you are suffering through something, there's some lesson you have to learn and that's why you are experiencing the trauma at hand.

He also talked about hip-hop becoming more of a global community, like the more defined merging of American and European hip-hop styles: "It's either that or we destroy ourselves," he said.

I was quite interested to learn that he comes from a family of entertainers. Prodigy's mother sang with the 60s group, The Crystals and his grandfather was a famous saxophonist (there's more, but I can't articulate them well from memory). He has just released an autobiography, My Infamous Life, in the making since 2004. I liked that he said he wanted this to be a part of his legacy--so people would know he has a long history in the Business.

It may be a friend that gave him his nickname--calling him 'prodigy,' because he was a child genius. Doesn't seem that far afield given his roots.

Well, I'm off now, to go and learn some of Mobb Deep's music.