Prodigy has been delivering his special brand of trendsetting for the better part of 23 years. After a two-year hiatus, the Mobb Deep capo is back and pushing the boundaries on his music to places he has never previously been as his partner Havoc appeases longtime fans alongside The Alchemist. His latest extended player shows the Queensbridge MC painting his brash and braggadocios bars over a canvas of EDM and Dubstep.
The EP opens with “Black Panther,” a scratch-heavy and synth-driven Baauer soundbed. While Prodigy is known for his unorthodox approach to riding the beat, his flow comes off more jarring than usual as he delivers his street tested bars we’ve come to love him for. P holds his own, however, with his patented flavor in lines like, “Thought you getting over but I’m slicing faces open, thought they could get away with murder but the reaper coming/repeat the first two bars describe ‘em to a Tee, I keep my enemies far (get) the fuck away from me”.
“Beast With It” features the Queens brethren over hardcore, uptempo synths mixed in with timely breaks and lulls in the BPM that’s reminiscent of bridges in Hip Hop. The track itself primarily focuses in on the Mark The Beast production and displays Prodigy in more of the traditional MC, master of ceremonies role. P’s lyrical input is minimal as he doesn’t chant much more than, “Life done turned me into a monster, I’m a beast with it.”
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Prodigy spreads his lyrical wings on “That’s What G’s Do” as the H.N.I.C. goes in on bars like, “I’ma meet God halfway and I’ma extend my life, case in point you tryna kill me I’m tryna kill you too/I overcome and survive because that’s what niggas do”. P tackles the melancholy chords mixed in with audio from former Mobb Deep rival Tupac Shakur blended in for the chorus.
It’s good to see the Infamous MC step out of the thralls of his comfort zone. The EP shows a much-needed versatility in a long career of hardcore Hip Hop for P. However, the nameless offering comes off as a disjointed project at times, as P’s style of rap and the EDM/Dubstep mashup didn’t always come off as a good fit for each other as displayed prominently on “Supreme Flow” and again on “Lion Jungle.” At 41-years-young, P gets points and props for bringing a new element to his discography but a more concerted effort could have netted a much better result.
