written by Brandi Hopper
Tuesday - February 12, 2008
Today (Feb. 12) is the last day of freedom for Queens bred rapper, Prodigy. The G-Unit camp member and one half of infamous East Coast mainstay Mobb Deep is due to report to jail tomorrow on illegal weapons charges.
SOHH caught up with the rapper just in time. Getting his mind ready for a 3 ½ year bid, he talked about the things he'll miss most while he's away.
"The number one thing I'm gonna miss the most is being able to go into the studio and record new music," Prodigy told SOHH exclusively. "For the last 16, 17 years, we don't let two weeks go by without recording something new." [Watch Below]
"I ain't gonna have my freedom to do anything," he said. "I gotta take a shower when they tell me I can take a shower. I gotta eat when they tell me I can eat."
Prodigy was arrested in Manhattan back in October of '06 when cops pulled his SUV over in the wee hours of the morning and found a .22 caliber handgun.
After first telling prosecutors he had no idea the unlicensed, fully-loaded gun was in a console compartment between the driver's seat, where he sat, and the front passenger seat, where record producer The Alchemist was sitting, Prodigy changed his story in court. The rapper pleaded guilty, admitting that the unlicensed .22-caliber pistol police found in his Chevy Suburban last October, was in fact his. He struck a deal that will put him in prison for 3 ½ years while he was originally looking at 15, if convicted.
Facing jail time right before his second solo album, H.N.I.C. 2, was due to come out, P got on his grind to prep the project, recording videos for every track, including one shot in a jail cell.
The rapper got an additional 30 days of freedom when Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin granted him the month long grace period while doctors put together his complete medical record. Prodigy suffers from sickle cell disease. The rapper denies though that his illness is the reason he received the extension.
Now, his time is almost up. P said he'll miss doing live shows and being with his family and friends. And he'll miss the way of life he's about to give up. He knows he'll become a different person in jail and will come out of that cell a new man.
"I'ma just miss the old lifestyle, the way I used to live because I'm gonna be a totally different person when I get home," P told SOHH. "I aint even gonna be on it how I used to be on it. I'ma be on some real clean body, clean mind sh*t. Like I ain't even playin' no games when I come home."
H.N.I.C. 2 drops April 8. While Prodigy will be unable to promote the disc when he's locked up, he said in a recent interview with Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg that The Alchemist and Big Noyd will be touring to support the album for him.
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