Seeing is definitely not believing. It’s been several days since we lost Prodigy from Mobb Deep and even though we know he’s gone, it just doesn’t feel real and it definitely does not feel right. One of our all time greats is gone. Friday night in New Jersey, P’s almost life-long music partner and best friend Havoc paid homage to the late legend onstage.
The “Art of Rap” tour hit the NJPAC center in Newark with full performances by DMX, Raekwon The Chef, and Ghostface Killa. The Mobb were also on the bill and booked to be on the tour way before Prodigy’s death. On Friday, fans chanted, “MOBB DEEP! MOBB DEEP!” A host of supporters including Ice-T, Rae, and Ghost came onstage with Hav as Mobb’s music showered the venue. Everyone rapped Prodigy’s verses from records like “Quiet Storm” and “Shook Ones Part II” when they came on. Hav showed incredible strength to be on the stage rapping his parts.
Backstage, Wu-Tang reflected on their friend P.
“P had that Gangsta voice,” Ghostface, sitting next to Raekwon, said with a grin. “Little dude with a cannon on him. But he was mad humble. Respectful. He wasn’t a knucklehead, like a stupid dude who you can really get anything from… [Queensbridge] The bridge, man. I always say the Bridge is like Staten Island’s cousin.”
“Back in the day, people used to ask me, ‘Who’s your favorite rappers?” Raekwon began to tell. “I was like, ‘There’s something about them Queens [rappers].”
“Queens got the best rappers,” Ghost interjected.