It’s been a few weeks since Freeway revealed the news that his son, Jihad Pridgen, had tragically passed away. The “What We Do” emcee is now opening up about his death and shared that his religion has helped him cope with the loss.
“It’s like what I told you about Islam and about God,” he said to Jeezy during a recent appearance on the “(Re)Cession” podcast. “Without that, I don’t know where I would be at right now. But my faith in God and my understanding in God really got me through.”
Freeway then spoke about some of the hardships he has dealt with this year, including his daughter being diagnosed with cancer in September.
“So, we’re dealing with that and for my son to die in October — they say God tests the ones he loves,” the Think Free rapper continued. “He must love me because I’ve been getting hit with a lot of tests.”
On Oct. 29, Freeway took to Instagram to share the news about his son’s death. He shared a photo of himself and his son during his high school graduation and captioned the photo, “God knows I try my best to be strong, but this right here is a pain like I never felt. Please cherish your time and your love[d] ones because we’re not promised the next breath. I pray Allah forgives my son for all of his sins, and I pray that Allah grants him the highest level of paradise. Ameen. Please make dua for him & my family.”
Pridgen wanted to follow his father’s footsteps and started rapping under the alias “SnowHadd” right before his death. Freeway said he often thinks about the things he could have done differently as a father. “He liked music,” he said. “I be like, ‘Maybe I shoulda had him around me more.’ … Every day I’m like, ‘I could’ve did this, I could’ve done that.’ But I can’t beat myself up about it. What’s decreed by God — what’s decreed by Allah, we can’t argue with.”
The Philadelphia native, who has been vocal about his own kidney issues, revealed that his son was an organ donor and two people received his kidneys after he passed. “He was an organ donor…two people got his kidneys. One person got his lungs and one person got his liver. It’s a blessing,” he said. “Just for it to come full circle because someone’s son saved my life. Someone’s son was in the same position and they were generous enough to be an organ donor and that’s how I received my kidney.”