Prodigy HNIC turns 20 today
- Thread starter JMD
- Start date
He could still spit but it’s the voice change and the flow that went away.
That killer teenager voice was one of the most distinct voices ever. He pretty much sounded like a different rapper after 1999/2000
i guess you can say he lost some of that youthful unique mic presence
for real I still got all my CDs from back in the day...never got into the streaming era
still mad I never got the HNIC on vinyl
Yeah one of my favorite albums man...
Ayo, I break bread, ribs, hundred dollar bills
Peel on Ducatis and other four wheels
Write a book full of medicine and generate mills
Tempermental, I snap quick, very touchy
Ayo my attitude is all fukked up and real shytty
I rap like no one out there can fukk wit me
You feel different, nikkas see me
Peel on Ducatis and other four wheels
Write a book full of medicine and generate mills
Tempermental, I snap quick, very touchy
Ayo my attitude is all fukked up and real shytty
I rap like no one out there can fukk wit me
You feel different, nikkas see me
Mike the Executioner
What went on up there? Poppers and weird sex!
Someone mentioned Prodigy's book a while ago and how he explained that he was off drugs for a year or so, around the time of Murda Muzik. Then he relapsed, and when he did, you got the new-sounding Prodigy.
Is this true, @TheDarceKnight? And is it also true that Prodigy didn't even know he fell off until someone on the street told him he sounded different?
FunkDoc1112
Heavily Armed
Yeah, that was what he said in his book. He got off drugs in 1998 after a bad batch of coke triggered his sickle cell. He was clean for all of Murda Muzik and HNIC, but relapsed in late 2000 after he got screwed on the Murda Muzik movie deal. He started drinking out of anger and got back into drugs, and yeah he did mention fans pointing out how much worse he sounded on Infamy.Someone mentioned Prodigy's book a while ago and how he explained that he was off drugs for a year or so, around the time of Murda Muzik. Then he relapsed, and when he did, you got the new-sounding Prodigy.
Is this true, @TheDarceKnight? And is it also true that Prodigy didn't even know he fell off until someone on the street told him he sounded different?
Preach Jackson
All Star
Classic
This was one of the first purchases when i was allowed to buy my own music
This was one of the first purchases when i was allowed to buy my own music
TheDarceKnight
Veteran
I think people (understandably) confuse the 2 style changes from P after Murda Muzik/HNIC recording sessions. There was a definite fall-off from HNIC to Infamy. P has his sickle cell flare up and he also was not taking care of himself, and he was drinking too much, eating bad, etc. When he sounds lethargic and tired on Infamy, it's because he was doing pretty bad there. The verse on the 112 is the perfect example. It sounds like he's struggling to stay awake.
Now, there was a legit stylistic change once he got healthy, where he didn't go back to the Mura/HNIC flow, but he also wasn't lethargic and tired. This is what some Mobb heads call the thugged-out spoken-word flow that he would largely maintain for the rest of his life. This had mixed results. Sometimes it was super dope, and other times not as much.
On Albert Einstein and Hegelian Dialectic (his final 2 solo projects) he actually brought back some elements of his earlier Hell on Earth and HNIC styles. He brought back the thing where he'd start the next bar off the last phrase of the bar he just ended on. That's all over Albert Einstein and Hell on Earth. His flow never returned to Hell on Earth form, but he absolutely made a choice to rap how he did in the 2nd half of his career.
TL;DR: I've asked as many people as possible (friends, other fans, and people that knew P) WHY he made the stylistic change, and I've never gotten a 100% clear answer. He could still go, though. His voice did stay deeper, and I don't know why that is. Peep his verse on this. It's not like Apostle's Warning or Still Shining, but he goes for a long time and it's really dope. It's his most underrated verse after Murda/HNIC. Video is time-coded to start on time. Also, last cool trivia fact @old boy . P had the flu when he recorded Keep It Thoro and that's why his voice sounds raspy and different on there. When asked if he wanted to re-record it, he liked the sound and kept it how it was.
Classic album. Glad I own this on CD cause it’s out of print
edit: I know some posters are going to feel a type of way about the word classic, but I’ll say this a a personal classic to me. One of my fave albums and def played this a ton
edit: I know some posters are going to feel a type of way about the word classic, but I’ll say this a a personal classic to me. One of my fave albums and def played this a ton
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TheDarceKnight
Veteran
Someone mentioned Prodigy's book a while ago and how he explained that he was off drugs for a year or so, around the time of Murda Muzik. Then he relapsed, and when he did, you got the new-sounding Prodigy.
Is this true, @TheDarceKnight? And is it also true that Prodigy didn't even know he fell off until someone on the street told him he sounded different?
Check my post above and I talk about some of this. I was just saying that yeah he was drinking and on drugs after HNIC/Murda Muzik and also had a really bad sickle cell flare up, and all of that contributed to the Infamy voice fall-off. I forgot that he said he didn't realize how different he sounded until people let him know. Yeah, that's true too.
He stepped it back up but definitely altered his style and started doing more unconventional things like not rhyming certain bars on purpose, doing more of a spoken-word/talking style, throwing out more non-sequitur bars, and an increased focus on conspiracy theory topics and woke/spiritual music. IMHO he was really stepping up his lyricism from Albert Einstein and beyond. I actually don't love the production on there as much as some people, but I think it's the best his raps ever were since HNIC. And on Hegelian Dialectic he chose a lot of beats from producers I'd never heard of back then (only 2 beats between his main 4 producers; Havoc, Alc, and Sid Roams), and the whole album was spiritual/woke/anti-government. It was almost like Makaveli 7 Day Theory. Very slept on album. I also think the final Mobb album from 2014 is just a notch below Amerikkka's Nightmare
I'll link to a playlist to him reasoned the best parts of his book if you like too.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY0t7eRwYUQO9bBY5QNtp352ehgl7Hlvx