Rapper Prodigy, a member of rap group Mobb Deep, has died. The rapper had previously been hospitalized for sickle cell disease before his death. He was performing in Las Vegas "The Art of Rap" Tour before his death. His publicist announced the sad news. In a statement to NewsBeats, Roberta Magrini said that Albert Johnson had millions of fans who knew him as Prodigy and a member of Mobb Deep and that his death brought sadness and disbelief.
Prodigy performed together with Kejuan Muchita whose stage name is Havoc. The two met in high school. Rappers such as Nicky Minaj, 50 Cent, The Game, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and Drake paid tributes to him through social media.
Prodigy's early life and arrests
Prodigy's real name was Albert Johnson; he was born on November 2nd, 1974, in Hempstead, New York. He began recording in Jive records under the name of Lord-T. He was once arrested in Cohoes, New York, on November 6th, 2003, and charged with being in possession of marijuana and a handgun. Police found a firearm in his car after he made an illegal u-turn in New York City on October 26th, 2006.
He was jailed for three and a half years for illegal possession of the gun. He was released after three years for good behavior while in prison. Apart from singing, he was also an actor and appeared in several films such as "Murda Muzik" in 2004, "Full Clip" in 2006, "Blackout" in 2007 and "Rhyme & Punishment" in 2011. He will be well known for signing up his group with G-Unit and releasing songs such as "Outta Control" and "Have a Party" in 2005 together with 50 cent.
Mobb Deep
The Mobb Deep group began in 1992 until 2012 when it broke up after Prodigy was blasted on Twitter by Havoc. A leaked clip of Havoc insulting Prodigy also emerged. The two reunited a year later. "Juvenile Hell" was the group's first album which was released in 1993.
The group signed up to G-Unit Records in June 2015. The group's seventh album "Blood Money" featured artists such as Nate Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks.
Feuds
The feud between Prodigy and others began when Snoop Dogg and other west coast artist released a song title "New York New York." Mobb Deep, alongside others, responded with a diss track titled "L.A L.A." Prodigy also had a feud with Tupac, another former rival of the Mobb Deep rapper.