The Clark County Medical Examiner has reportedly determined Prodigy didn’t die from sickle cell anemia, a condition the Queensbridge native had battled since he was a kid. After completing the investigation into the Mobb Deep MC’s June 20 death, the coroner ruled he died from an accidental choking.
Prodigy was in a Las Vegas hospital when he reportedly choked on an egg. He was being treated for a sickle cell flare-up after performing in the sweltering Nevada heat during the Art Of Rap music festival alongside acts such as KRS-One and EPMD.
The Hip Hop luminary was 42 at the time of his death. His funeral service was held on June 29 in New York City and was attended by fellow Mobb Deep member Havoc, LL Cool J, Ice-T, 50 Cent, Questlove, Remy Ma, Fat Joe and countless others.
(The original version of this article was published on June 20, 2017 and can found below.)
Hip Hop just took a major blow after learning the one and only Prodigy of Mobb Deep was found dead in Las Vegas, according to multiple sources. The veteran MC was 42. He had reportedly suffered from health problems for years, including sickle cell anemia, but at this time, no official cause of death is known.
A statement from Prodigy’s rep obtained by read:
“It is with extreme sadness and disbelief that we confirm the death of our dear friend Albert Johnson, better known to millions of fans as Prodigy of legendary NY rap duo Mobb Deep. Prodigy was hospitalized a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance for complications caused by a sickle cell anemia crisis. As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled the disease since birth. The exact causes of death have yet to be determined. We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family’s privacy at this time.”
Prodigy was in Vegas over the weekend performing on The Art of Rap Tour alongside Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One and the festival’s founder, Ice-T. Mobb Deep performed on Saturday night (June 17).
Prodigy’s most recent album, Hegelian Dialect:The Book of Revelation, was released in January. His cookbook, Commissary Kitchen, which was co-authored by former HipHopDX staff member Kathy Iandoli, hit the shelves in October 2016.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
damn, so young. major loss for the culture.
R.I.P. .. this is a huge loss! The infamous and Hell on Earth will always be among my favorite rap albums from that very special era.. damn.. seriously I’m devastated
Hell yea man, those two albums are absolute classics. RIP Prodigy.
R.i.P Prodigy, one of the greatest ever.
damnnn… wtf. RIP Prodigy! always kept it real and never changed.
Man that just fucked my day up for real ?
Way too young! Damn, I feel for his family. When I was a kid ‘the infamous’ was my favourite album, and is in the top 10 of all time easily. R.i.p
Damn thats terrible!
Only 42 years of age..so sad.
Rest in peace Prodigy
Didn’t see this one coming. Now he can fuck jesus up and put him back on that cross for abandoning us!
Damn. RIP to PRODIGY and condolences to his family and loved ones. I was listening to HNIC yesterday on my wayhome and saying to myself HNIC was so slept on when it came out
Out of the blue
Terrible loss to rap
RIP TO A TRUE NYC LEGEND P !!!
Nooo, not Prodigy. I woke up to this? This is definitely a huge loss for hip hop. Rest in peace to the HNIC. Gonna be playing that classic Mobb Deep this week.
Damn P. Rest In Peace. Grew up on Mobb Deep. #RealHipHop #EastCoast
God dam rip to a legend
Wow….this one hurts. Rest easy P
The fact that he even lived that long with sickle cell is amazing in itself. Kept himself healthy as long as he could. RIP
rip P… a legend… why couldn’t it have been khaled instead?
Stupid joke… why are you trying to make this all about you…. not even funny.. take an L
stfu and go back to suckin ya mommas titty
Sad day for hip-hop, sad fckin day! 🙁 #RIP
Can’t believe it. Progidy was a legend. May he rest in peace. His death is a true loss to hip hop.
Can’t fuckin believe this man… tears in my eyes… this shit cant be true
I literally don’t have any words…..RIP!!!
Rest in peace. I was just watching 50 Cent’s “Window Shopper” video the other day and laughed at the MOBB DEEP scene when they threw a French fry at the girl who walked pass them.
Oh no!!!!! I was playing his Albert Einstein album just yesterday.
Alchemist and P = dope shit. i really enjoyed that album.
Albert Einstein is a modern classic
Glad I got to see him live. So many golden era MCs passing away.
So sad right now. This is awful.
Rest in peace.
RIP to one of the illest. This legitmately touched my heart just now when i heard. MOBB forever!
damn, rest in peace P. glad i got to see him in Amsterdam in the early 2000s.
Horrible news. I’m glad I did get to see him on the Art of Rap show in 2016. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be drugs or foul play.
It’s sad that the Golden Age people are dying and retiring. They need to stick around until old age.
its Hell on Earth With out him
sad sad sad day for hip hop! i was still watching his interviews yesterday.. RIP
Oh God, please give back Prodigy and we give you a president.
Amen.
Lemme guess, Trump?
So sad. One of my favs, got to see Mobb Deep in my country 2 years ago and I was so happy I got to see legends.
RIP.
RIP
Yes, rest in piss, Ballerina P. You’ll always be remembered for being exposed as a fake ass thug/ballerina at Summer Jam by King HOV. “Then you dropped Shook Ones, switched your demeanor/Well, we don’t believe you, You need more people” And both TuWack and Ballerina P died in Las Vegas. Next up is Nas’ broke ass. Anyone that disses King HOV and goes to Las Vegas will die, guaranteed.
Such a of shit u are. passes away and u them? You a coward and should go 2 queensbrigde and talk that hot shit and see what happens 2 u pussy.
“Eminem murdered you on your own shit”
C’mon dude. You can’t take a break from trolling for a second? GTFOH loser. RIP P.
Question for you? How does posting this about the death of this man benefit your life? What value does it do for you? Does this help you become a better man, physically, mentally, financially? I’m curious you are likely an adult because you are familiar with this era of hip hop.
Kill yourself f aggot.
Have some respect…for yourself.
Seriously? What’s your probably man? I guy just died and your fucking trolling it. No one cares about how much you love your “King HOV”. Jay Z, JAY Z or whatever the fuck he’s called now hasn’t released anything relevant to hip hop heads in almost 20 years!
wtf! Should we say you deserve to spend the rest of your miserable life behind bars for continuous trolling?
What a sad little man you are.
With this pathetic sort of reaction you really crossed a line. It don’t matter if u trolling or not, this is the lowest type of reaction anyone can give to the death of any person. I feel sorry for your mother having a son like you (or maybe you’re a girl, wouldn’t be surprised considering the bitch things you been typing constantly), cause there’s no way she would raise you in the pathetic little being that you became. I’m a peaceful guy and unlike you I don’t wish death on nobody -no one deserves that- , but if I saw you gettin’ beat up by whoever, I would choose to not help you and walk away from it.
Grew up on Mobb deep…..damm this one hurts. Only one thing I can say……PRODIGY STR8 BEASTIN ON THESE NICCAS….IN ETERNAL PARADISE!
Wow. First time I seen you comment on something that isn’t a Game article. It’s clear how much love people have for Prodigy. Rip.
They will delete comments that are controversial but truthful. They will allow racists and trolls to run wild as long as they don’t “use the wrong hit-word.” This man prodigy released many albums in the last decade, the ones reviewed by hiphopdx are bullshit. Hiphopdx will tell me that his album with Boog Beggestz is a better album than HNIC pt 2 or Return of the Mac. Hiphopdx will release a news article about an EDM ep that Prodigy put out. Hiphopdx will not let you know when he puts out a legitimate solo album this year that was planned to be the first part of a trilogy of albums titled “The Hegelian Dialectic”. The article dedicated to Prodigy by hiphopdx doesn’t contain any interviews or share with us the person that Prodigy was. Google “infowars prodigy”, to see a proper tribute highlighted by over an hour of interviews that let us know what type of man this rap legend was.
RIP Prodigy!!!!!!!
ain’t no such things as half way crooks
Prodigy is no more? Real Hiphop -1 again #RIP Legend
RIP P…still have Get Away on my playlist
You would never hear his name mentioned in GOAT discussions but the fact is Prodigy had about as many classic albums under his belt as Jay n Nas combined. RIP.
R.I.P P…..
copped HNIC bout 3 weeks ago, felt like I needed it in the collection, shit goes hard
NO! This can’t be serious!!! We’ve lost a GREAT rapper too soon… goddamn… Why?! Damn. RIP Prodigy. You never got the respect you deserved
R.I.P one of the greatest to ever touch the mic.
Pause.
lmao. I think so, sir.
Holy shit, this is one sad day…R.I.P
Lite a blunt or drink some henny and listen to there I go again of infamy and pay respects to prodigy. RIP.
Now let the Prodigy was an Illuminatti sacrifice for Havoc commence in 3…2…1…
Spinnin that classic album on my turntable smokin for you today Prodigy. INFAMOUS, HELL ON EARTH….too many classics
Bumpin Veterans Memorial as I type this, sad sad day.
The only sad part about this is that people are paying tribute to a glorified drug dealer which kills many
You must be white! This is a hip hop site punk! Prodigy didn’t even talk about drugs lot so I know for certain that you’re a chump. Look at the kind of f boys hiphopdx has spawn
Hes a drug dealer. Doesnt mean he will rao about it
I hope horrible things happen to you….. either pay respect or shut the fuck up and don’t say anything ….. I fucking serious as fuck yo
When you bite the dust, the only sad part would be people paying tribute to a homosexual muhfucckah cruising in hell
Skid 183 you need to have the fuck up out you for saying that
R.I.P Capital P
Well that is crazy fucked up Hiphop newz.
#Mobb Fuckin Depp #R.I.P
Lol at all you broke, loser Prodigy stans. He was always an overrated rapper next to Nas and he never got respect from King HOV, even after the beef. “Prodigy took it a little too far, can’t fuck with Brooklyn” He didn’t even mention Ballerina P or Mobb Deep once in his many tweets this past weekend. And I love how all of a sudden, all his fans come out the woodworks when he’s dead. Where were y’all when he was alive? If he had this many fans, he would’ve gone at least gold every time. Fuck outta here! And I say again, rest in piss, Ballerina P.
Pffff…. just hang yourself man..
You’re by far the biggest loser to ever touch a keyboard, prove every time you don’t know shit about hip hop. Mobb and especially P was killin’ it a full year before Jay came out with his first full-length. Don’t even have to be a stan to recognize that. A real avid hip hop listener owns both “The Infamous” & “Reasonable Doubt”. Owns “Hell On Earth”, “Murda Muzik” as well as “The Blueprint” & “The Black Album”. Quality is what counts here, sales don’t matter shit in this, but if u wanna take it there “The Imfamous” was gold in 2 months, while it almost took 2 years for “Reasonable Doubt” to reach that. But bottom line is both albums are classics. Please GTFOH with your constant sucking of Hov’s dick. He’s a great rapper, but there are several others equally as great, who made also albums better than Hov’s best. And no, I’m not referring to Nas. Really dude, grow the fuck up and listen to some hip hop
Why DX ain’t blockin’ you from these boards is beyond me..
Go get a sharp blade and cut it across your neck and die slow the world wont miss you .
Your a Joke
Dammm…can’t believe…R.I.P P
R.I.P
Well, i know what i am gonna listen to all Day long. The Infamouss
Hip Hop legends are always taken from us…..
Very sad bruh, RIP
When you bite the dust, the only sad part would be people paying tribute to a homosexual muhfucckah cruising in hell
dude…kill yourself…
Easy dude. This shit was meant for some disrespecful guy down here
respect, my bad…
Can’t Complain ft Twin Gambino was my shit off HNIC. One of the most underrated rap albums
“‘Skip to my Lou’ had the crowd jumping…”
Learn to balance pain with fame you can’t complain, i rock that almost everyday
Classic track! NY
Everybody that doesn’t own a peice of prodigys catalog or book should go out and support! His fam could use it!
Died of AIDs
Thanks for letting us know what you’ll die of in the future.
His last album was tight. Never the biggest fan of Mobb Deep as a group, but Prodigy was official on his own with the bars. You have to watch yourself when you have that sickle cell, especially when you’re moving around a lot. RIP.
Fuck hiphopdx, they gave H.N.I.C. Pt 2 a 3 star review, one of the best albums of 2008. Fuck hiphopdx, they didn’t even bother to review his last album. RIP Prodigy, he was a legend in his own right and as part of Mobb Deep.
They gave Return of the Mac a 3 star review!!! That album is a classic, Hiphopdx keep prodigy’s name out your mouth, you have insulted him enough over the years with bullshit reviews.
Oh but you reviewed it? Shut up.
I bought the albums HNIC pt 2 and Return of the Mac and have been loving theem since, hiphopdx gave these albums the lowest rated reviews of any mainstream entertainment media outlet. Everyone but hiphopdx gave these albums 3.5+ stars.
I love Mobb Deep, and there were some great songs from those two albums, but I’m sorry, Prodigy as a standalone lyricist was nothing special. He knew his history and was very knowledgeable on the occult and secret societies, and that was impressive, but his attempts to talk about it all through music, post 2004, was garbage. He didn’t have the skill to talk about deep topics while maintaining a dope rap cadence like Canibus or Immortal Technique and often would spit a bar that didn’t even rhyme at all, and when I say often I mean like more than half his bars didn’t rhyme in his later years. Without Alchemist and Havoc to provide eerie background beats that sounded amazing with P’s voice, quite frankly, he could not have held his own. That’s why the albums got bad reviews. Should music reviewers be extra generous with their ratings knowing that the artist will be dead someday?
You dont know what your talking about, He had great tracks and held his own along Inspectah Deck, Big Pun, Ghostface, Raekwon, Fat Joe, Keith Murray etc without Alchemist or Havoc production and his first solo album is classic. Canibus has 15 albums and they all suck,
Prodigy my second favorite emcee. In his later years his voice changed and his rhyme patterns were more simplified. He always had bars that didn’t rhyme. Like any great emcee after his prime he was very hit and miss with the bars but in his prime he was a monster. The Infamous, Hell on Earth, Murda Muzik, HNIC are nearly flawless. After his prime HNIC 2, Return of the Mac and the Masterpiece Albert Einstein were all fire because this dude had an incredible ear for beats and production. One of the most underrated ears in hip-hop. Lets not forget about Product of the 80s. RIP Bandana P.
They found out wasn’t an Obama supporter and clowned his albums… smh
People with sickle cell don’t live long though. Pretty much the life expectancy is like 40 to 60 years old at best, and he had the most severe form of the disease.
It doesn’t matter what the trolls say or how the media underappreciated most of Prodigy’s albums – to me he was one of the greatest, definitely in top 10. He embodied that grime New York street hip hop from the 90’s and it is because of him, Nas, and the wu-tang that I felt what living in New York must be like. I still remember the first time I heard The infamous, Hell on earth, H.N.I.C – those three albums helped me cope with difficulties in my life and helped me grow. Rest in peace, Prodigy, I will be bumping your best tracks all day long.
This brother was deep and very intelligent we have lost one the greats tru GOAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“There is a war going on outside no man is safe from…” RIP P. We will all go one day.
Prodigy of mobb we lost a felling angel ? i what very shock to hear the ? bad’s aslo lost a legend who make very good music ? at well he will be miss so much my pray go out to his family and friends but aslo to all of his fan’s around the world he touch a lot ❤ and souls he is always sin are ❤ so he final going home to see 2pac and big smalls’meet pimp c big pun glock 40 so everybody wait you at the gold gate we will all miss u so much but your music ? is like gold gife r.i.p in
40 Glocc died??
Prodigy the god father of horror street raps. The Infamous & Hell on Earth tell tales of urban street life mixed with raw grimey piano loops and hard hitting drums invoke feelings of a nightmare. P & HAVOC walking around with sickles in the peer pressure video
Ice-T is the father of horror street rap but still much respect to Prodigy. RIP
Ganksta N-I-P…Horror Movie Rap / Black Godfather
It would of been better if joe botton passed away instead.
When trying to get likes make you sound ignorant as fuck. People like you need another planet to live on.
“I put truth in the song, but you want lies
I put real in rap music, but you want fake
By the time you understand me it’ll be too late”
R.I.P. Prodigy
Prodigy was one hell of a lyricist. It’s sad that he’s no longer with us. R.I.P Prod. Hip Hop will never forget a true legend of his caliber.
Prodigy choked on an egg Tuesday morning in the hospital, where he’d been getting treatment for a bout with sickle cell anemia … TMZ has learned.
Multiple sources — connected to Prodigy and the investigation into his death — tell us he choked on the egg …
He choked on an egg and that ain’t gangsta.
“I break bread, ribs, hundred dollar bills
Peel on Ducatis and other four wheels.”
One of my favorite opening lines on a record. RIP Prodigy.
The instagram post in the article from a “fan” shows “Give It Up Fast” off the Infamous album. It was off the Hell On Earth album.
Dude has a catalog of great verses, but I always go back to his 2 minute verse on Apostle’s Warning (last song off Hell On Earth). This sucks.
My dude. That might be his greatest verse. So classic. In his prime no rapper sounded better than him on track. No one. Not Pac, Biggie Jay Em Rakim. Prodigy had the best voice/delivery and Havoc’s production brought out the best in him.
2Pac’s Song MOBB DEEP KILLA has come to pass now i guess !!!!
Think you mean “hit em up” but since youve been Pac fan since the movie dropped I’lI give you the benefit of the doubt
One of the most underrated writers PERIOD!
My favorite hip hop verse of all time is Drop a Gem On EmEm’ damn he murdered 2pac on that second verse.
RIP P and Mobb Deep
HHDX stop being hall monitors and deleting comments of true fans paying their respects to a legend. If ya’ll really gave a fuck you would delete all the disrespectful comments below but knowing HHDX you guys won’t
They will delete comments that are controversial but truthful. They will allow racists and trolls to run wild as long as they don’t “use the wrong hit-word.” This man prodigy released many albums in the last decade, the ones reviewed by hiphopdx are bullshit. Hiphopdx will tell me that his album with Boog Beggestz is a better album than HNIC pt 2 or Return of the Mac. Hiphopdx will release a news article about an EDM ep that Prodigy put out. Hiphopdx will not let you know when he puts out a legitimate solo album this year that was planned to be the first part of a trilogy of albums titled “The Hegelian Dialectic”. The article dedicated to Prodigy by hiphopdx doesn’t contain any interviews or share with us the person that Prodigy was. Google “infowars prodigy”, to see a proper tribute highlighted by over an hour of interviews that let us know what type of man this rap legend was.
Yep any comment about Queen Hov sucking Kanye’s dick will get deleted.
WORD!
NOUN
VERB
EGGs
Theme-wise I think Mobb Deep performing at a show with KRS One and EPMD is a weird combination. You got hype tracks/lyrics from KRS and EPMD then Mobb comes in with dark beats and talkin about stabbing your brain with your nose bone lol
EGGs……the silent killer
i break bread, ribs, hundred dollar bills, peel on ducatis and other four wheels, write a book full of medicine and generate mills
That’s fucking ridiculous, someone should be suing the hospital or something. Nobody should be choking to death in a hospital.
Vlad already interviewed Hav and cleared this up…but Hav said he threw up and choked on his vomit, not that he choked on an egg! Get the proper facts and repost this shit DX, stop fuckin up!
Havoc wasn’t there tho. You fuckin Internets think you’re smart or something. This article cites the coroner as its source of information. You goin’ with Havoc tho…..aight.
smh fuck hospitals
I would think if someone choked on food, a hospital would be the most ideal place for it to occur. Isn’t there like always a button to press for help? How is this even possible? Are eggs too sticky for the Heimlich maneuver or something?
why would anyone try to swallow an entire egg sounds fishy to me
Why does it even matter how he died at this point… dude is dead, gone! let him rest deeply and pay your respects to a legend smh at y’all humans these days
You care. You’re just in denial.
Yeah bruh you’re in denial bruh.
If someone killed him and we all just simply do or say nothing…thats even worst. People dying left right and centre and no one saying shit. He got killed
RIP bandana P. One of the best that ever did it.
THE GLOBALISTS PUT THAT EGG DOWN HIS THROAT
No they created the situation that led to him having sickle cell. Check out prodigy’s interviews with alex jones and other infowars reporters on youtube.
Please don’t make me lose respect for Prodigy by telling me he did an interview with bat shit crazy Alex Jones.
you already know he done did it.. i think they even reposted the old interview when P died
Bat shit crazy Alex Jones? You must be misinterpreting his satire. Hes been right about a lot more than any other news figure known today
damn homie that egg musta been deviled smh
Accidental choking is no joke. I almost died after accidentally choking on my brother’s dick one time.
thou i in no way condone incest i hope at least you’re female ok
WT Actual Fack man
Weirdo….
He choked on an egg in the HOSPITAL and nobody could save him? They don’t know CPR or the proper procedure to clear ones air way in the HOSPITAL? Come on now. Sounds stupid.
38 percent of people with sickle cell die from asphyxiation due to upper respiratory failure. This is from a study done from 1920 to 1980. More than likely the food was already in his digestive system when this happened. Ultimately it was a side effect of sickle cell disease causing respiratory failure. The egg happened to be there at the time being digested. No one dies from sickle cell they die from what it does to the body..i.e. upper respiratory failure, heart failure, kidney failure etc The organs simply are destroyed over time as the sickle cell disease causes problems. Death can happen at any time…fine one day…gone the next. Its not like cancer. The music community is lucky to have had him for as long as they did. He left his mark on the world…many of us wont ever be able to have the kind of impact that he did.
Imma take the official report over some dude on the internet.
You People Are Disgusting!
I don’t fu©k with boiled eggs cuh
Its crazy for all the gangsta sh* u can talk about being mobb deep and shooting people and yet an egg takes your life. no need trying to be a thug, live a normal life n be happy
He should have ordered his egg boneless
the fuck is wrong with you?
Don’t mind him, that guy is sick
his family should sue. this is not normal. the hospital should have had preventative measures in place to help people who are experiencing choking symptoms.
Any proof? Cameras? Shit is a little hard to believe
How the fuck do you choke on an egg?
As many different ways you can cook it,hardboiled,or with bread an other food in your mouth! Duhhhh….
I really hope u get whats coming to you bro the level of hate and ignorance that is you is beyond pathetic u talkin ill of the dead and regardless if u like prodigy or not to laugh at another mans death is foul but ik u really a succa go to queensbridge and say that shit put it on worldstar instagram or whatever platform u choose then lets see who u really are chump
Murdered for telling those secrets and to make things worst tell the public anything he choked while eating a egg from the Easter bunny