In the months leading up to his incarceration, Prodigy, from the legendary group Mobb Deep, conjured a prolific body of work. From videos to songs to interviews, he fought to bring his message to the frontlines once again. Through the lyrical savage of the HNIC2 LP and his constant explicative blog entries on numerous websites, Prodigy has connected to his fans in a unique way. He slammed opened the creative floodgates to assure that his position in the rap game was asserted and the presence of a legend was remembered during his bid. But this recent approach is invigorated because, although Mobb Deep are the penultimate purveyors of NY murder-rap, that true dark street theme music, Prodigy has also always explored politics and conspiracy with as much fervor. Now, he is wearing his world-views on his sleeve more than ever, because P is quite clearly a victim of this American system. He was bagged in a hip-hop cop sting and then incarcerated on corroborated lies by the same officers. Needless to say, he is quite aware of the nuances of Babylon. So, in 2008, the current climate of the world lines up to Prodigy’s individual experience in a symbiotic way and parallels the gravity of the era in which he was raised. It fuels his creative fire and lends to his arsenal of material, because, for him, it is a necessity and a destiny to be making this music and it is a responsibility to pull the wool from the eyes of the masses..
In the creative period of 2008, Prodigy made a home at Dirt Class Studios in Brooklyn. Often he arrived alone and left alone. There was no entourage, there were no groupies. It became his momentary sanctuary for writing and recording. The duo of Joey and Bravo (better known as Sid Roams) hosted these sessions and provided the bulk of the soundtrack. The chemistry was evident and they began churning out a copia of material. It was clear that a collaborative project was in the works but as Prodigy’s time swiftly approached, the HNIC2 LP (a second chapter to his debut solo work) took precedence. Prodigy picked a collection of tracks from these sessions to supplement the work of Alchemist and Hav and formulated the album that is now HNIC2. The remaining material is what is presented in Dirt Class Records’ Product of the 80’s. Accompanied by Dirt Class cohorts Big Twins & Un Pacino, the project is a true collaboration of the three Queens natives. Prodigy leads the charge appearing on all of the 14 songs. Twins & Un each spatter the LP with their own signature styles. Production duties are deftly handled by Sid Roams, JakeOne, DJ Khalil, and Sebb…
Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Waddup G’z (Produced by Sid Roams)
3. Shed Thy Blood (Feat. Un Pacino) (Produced by Jake One)
4. Box Cutters (Feat. Big Twins) (Produced by Sid Roams)
5. Catch Body Music (Produced by Sid Roams)
6. P Keep Spittin’ (Produced by Sid Roams)
7. Test Tube Babies (Produced by Sid Roams)
8. Cold World (Produced by Sid Roams)
9. Anytime (Feat. Un Pacino) (Produced by Sid Roams)
10. Stop Stressin’ (Produced by Sid Roams & Benny Needles)
11. Damn Daddy (Feat. Un Pacino & Big Twins) (Produced by Jake One)
12. Lay’d Out (Feat. Un Pacino) (Produced by Sid Roams)
13. In The Smash (Feat. Big Twins) (Produced by Sid Roams)
14. Circle Don’t Stop (Feat. Big Twins & Chinky) (Produced by Sid Roams)
15. Am I Crazy? (Produced by Sebb)
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