By IPOPPEDOFF. Intro By Odeisel

Many times, the street overlaps with the music, and the energy that rappers put out on the mic gets returned in the streets. Prodigy has been in many beefs over the years, as friends become enemies and the pressures of the industry make petty situations volatile.

P is aware of that and lets the people know how these things manifest and what part he played in his situations. Not irresponsible by any means, but not necessarily culpable, P gives us the lowdown behind the scenes on his beef with Nas and the cultivation of the Nas/Jay-Z conflict. He also gives us the real story behind the murder of E Moneybags. These stories are intriguing and P is a great storyteller. But don’t take our word for it.  Without further ado, Part 3. Peace. 

Prodigy: I call him back like what up son? I’m like, wow Nas getting a little cooler with me and s**t, but at the same, I’m not stupid. At the same time like damn, it takes for us to go platinum; it takes for us to blow up? Now he want to be cool and s**t? Like we should have been close back then when we was trying to get close and doing songs together. But he was too on his high horse to be f**kin with n***as. When we went platinum, n***as started saying Mobb Deep better than Nas or Prodigy better than Nas. I wasn’t even feeling that way; I was always feeling like nah I’m not better than nobody. Nas is ill, I’m my own n***a. But of course when I write my rhymes I’m the best n***a in the world. But in reality, when I’m conversing with you and anyone else I’m like, “Nah I deal with reality. I’m not the best n***a.” I’m pretty good. There’s other n***as that’s ill though, so that’s always my mentality.

So it changed to the QB album. I was like wow I see what he’s trying to do. During all this time, I’m going at Jay-Z.  I started writing songs ‘cause he was saying all that faggot s**t and n***a it’s three years later and now you going to say something? You ain’t say nothing when it was war! You ain’t went to Cali. We could have got bodied out in Cali, son! Them n***as ain’t playing. Them n***as is gangs; they do they body shit. Murder every day straight up just because of the color you got on. They don’t give a f**k about you.

This is the shit we dealing with when “L.A. L.A.” came out. We in Cali performing that s**t. It was the number one record on the radio in LA. Our song going back at Snoop and them it was number one on the radio in LA! We had to go to Cali to perform that s**t. We could have said, “Nah we ain’t going to Cali, they going to kill us.” We had to go and do our job. It was number one on the radio, it was a demand. It’s nothing but love from the fans because number one, the fans don’t give a f**k about that East Coast/West Coast shit. That’s something that the media did and all this bulls**t. Mobb Deep been doing shows in Cali, my n***a. When we had “Hit It From The Back,” when my man Bigga B used to work for Loud in Cali, he brought us on tour everywhere in California back when we had Juvenile Hell. Back when with The Infamous, Cali loved Mobb Deep. So this little bulls**t going back and forth with Snoop, Cali didn’t give a f**k about that. So we out there doing shows and s**t still getting love.  So years later he’s [Jay-Z] trying to restore the feeling?  What feeling you trying restore?

What are you talking about son? Who are you talking about and why are you talking? Shut the f**k up son you should have said something a long time ago. Me and Fat Joe were in Loud offices one day and I even heard Fat Joe say it. I didn’t even come out and say nothing, I was just chillin’ in the office and Fat Joe came out and said, “Yo this mother**ker Jay-Z said he’s trying to restore the feeling.” I looked at Fat Joe I said “Word! I feel the same way son, I feel you on that!” He was like, “Yo that n***a is a funny n***a for saying that. Who is he talking about?”

So I told Nas, he was like nah he ain’t nobody, we ain’t going to diss him. I said f**k that, I’ll diss him on my own. So I diss that n***a, sh**ttin on him. I said in the “Source Magazine,” “Yo that n***a is a bitch ass n***a for saying that, he wasn’t even around when that shit happened,” Biggie was going at them n***as, Mobb Deep was going at them n***as, and they was going at Nas, they was going at Jay, they was going at Biggie and them n****as was quiet than a church mouse son. Them n***as was quiet than a motherf**ker son.

I took it personal when he came out and said that. So I’m chillin’ with my man E Moneybags, rest in peace. I know Bags from my man Shameek. Me and Shameek grew up together in Hempstead, Long Island and we bumped into each other going down the block. He like I just moved out here, I’m like I just moved out here! So down the line, Shameek started bringing E Moneybags out to Queens Bridge. So that’s how I meet Bags. They started hanging out with Nas and all that, we got real close through Shameek and through Nas.

Down the line when I’m dissing Jay-Z, Bags told me, “I went to high school with Jay-Z. Me and Jay-Z went to high school. Sauce Money is married to my sister. F**k Jay-Z, that n***a is a bitch son. I know that n***a man.  I’m like, “Word that n***a said some bulls**t, I had to speak up on it.” He’s like, “Nah, you right son. You ain’t wrong for speaking up on it.”

So me and Bags chillin in the studio one day in Long Island at this place called the Music Palace. It was a Friday night, I had came from the store and on the radio it was Funk Master Flex it was Jay-Z , Freeway , Beanie Sigel and the Young Gunnaz. They was all on there freestyling on Flex show and I was listening to it ‘cause they was going on. Before I get out the car, I’m like let me listen to the radio and all of a sudden I hear Beanie say “I creep on ‘em like a quiet storm” I’m like hold up? This n***a tried to go at us just now. So I’m listening closer now.

He had some n***a named H Money Bags rappin. So I go in the studio I’m like, “Yo E, come outside real quick.” He like, “H Money Bags, who that? I’m like, “Yo son n***as biting your name, son. He like, “I told you I knew that n***a from high school son. That n***a know me. My name was E Moneybags back then son. Them n***as biting my name son!”

I’m like, “You know them n***as just tried to diss Mobb Deep just now. Come on let’s go call Hot 97.” We call Hot 97, somebody picked up I’m like, “Yo this Prodigy, let me speak to Jay-Z.” Yo P they just left, man they just got on the elevator. They went outside to go get him. Jay-Z came up back and got on the phone. I said “Yo man, somebody wants to talk to you.” Gave the phone to E , E like, “What up n***a.” He[Jay] like who this? “This E Moneybags. Who the f**k is this H Money Bags, son? That’s my name, son. That’s my s**t! You got somebody with my name n***a?” So him [Jay] and Bags start arguing. Jay said, “Whatever n***a.” Bags was like,”Whatever? Then when you see me you know what it is!” And they hang up. “I’m like f**k that n***a son.”

Anyway a couple weeks later, Bags had beef with ‘Preme ‘cause bags was going to buy a car and ‘Preme was selling it. So he put a down payment on it and I was doing music with Bags and I paid him for it. So Bags is like, “Oh shit, I got this money now. Let me get that money back from him.” Bags like let me get that back, ‘Preme like nah, you cant get that back. Bags like what? Bags seen him behind The Coliseum, one day. Seen him chillin in the car, walked up to his car,and shot his car up. Nothing hit ‘Preme, the shit hit Black Just. Black Just was still alive, he got shot in the thigh and probably somewhere else, I don’t know, but the thigh was the bad one.

Mary Immaculate [Hospital] is right around the corner. Preme takes Black Just to the hood and tells somebody else to take him to the hospital. Black Just dies from bleeding to death, so now n***as is after Bags for that. So Bags telling me like, “Yo man, I didn’t mean to kill Just, I was trying to kill ‘Preme.Them n***as after me. I don’t give a f**k though, I’mma kill ‘Preme when I see him.” A couple weeks later, Bags got murdered and I was just with him the day before. I got up early in the morning, called him, and the police picked up the phone. I’m like oh shit and that shit was like wow man niggas took my nigga.

Right around that time Bags got killed, Nas made a record called “Build and Destroy.” He dissed me, talking about I told you Prodigy used to be my man. He said I was jealous of him in the song. I was like damn where is this coming from, I never did nothing against this n***a. I was just mad cool with this n***a. Why is he trying to diss me now? I thought about it I was like, “Oh shit it was because I started going at Jay and it started getting out there to the fans like, ‘Oh P and Jay are going at it and Jay put up the Summer Jam s**t.’”

Then it really exploded. Jay just dissed Prodigy. Prodigy dissing Jay and Nas dropped that song “Build and Destroy.” What he did was like a chess move. Same thing he did with the soundtrack. Like nah I can’t let P do this. So he got me out the way by dissing me, so when people see Nas diss Prodigy n***as is like Nas is the real n***a and that he’s going at Jay and that’s when he dropped “Ether.” THEN it became a Nas/ Jay-Z thing. When he dropped “Ether” I was like I’mma fall back anyway. I could have never made a song like that song wow! Tell you the truth, I couldn’t do that song. Only Nas could come with some s**t like that, so I wasn’t even mad! F**k it I’ll fall back, like f**k it now its f**k Jay-Z and f**k Nas fuck all you n***as now! Basically that’s how the Nas shit started and that’s how the jay-z shit started and that’s how all the other shit started. We ain’t never start nothing son, we was just defending our position.

A lot of shit that n***as go through as far as rap and beefing with n***as and s**t. A lot of s**t, number one, because like you said before, we real aggressive with our music and the music is real aggressive. So we’re going to attract aggressive listeners and fans. A lot of times, it’s because of the music. It’s just like that’s how people are going to come to us ‘cause that’s what we’re putting out there. That’s just how the world works. But at the same time, for that reason, we try not to be reckless with our lyrics and the things that we say. We always on… if u really listen to Mobb Deep, then you will know that Mobb Deep is always on some self defense shit. When we talk, we say if u do something to me I’m going to do something back to you; I’mma protect myself. And we always on some shit like that.

We’re never out there really on some reckless s**t; it’s always on some revenge s**t or something I’m not trying to say revenge is good, but I’m just saying that’s what it is and we do that for a reason. ‘Cause we don’t want to put nothing reckless in the universe. You’re not supposed to do that, know what I’m saying? It’s going to come back to you.

Planet Ill: Big Beef, tho.

Prodigy: Yea I mean, but nah nah nah that’s what I’m tryna tell you. If you pay attention to the music, we’re not doing that. Like we probably did that like on Juvenile Hell album wasn’t thinking but like u know when we got to Infamous and all that shit that was on our minds all the time. When we write our lyrics, me and Hav that’s how we are. Our personality comes out on our lyrics and our personalities is like that. We don’t want no trouble we don’t start no trouble but we will defend our self and our personality reflects in our music so that’s what it is. Because the music is so aggressive though its definitely gonna come back so it comes back but it doesn’t come back crazy cuz were not crazy it just comes back a little bit know what im saying and that’s what it is.

Planet Ill: Them same n***as be the same n***as that be listening to the joint, too.

Prodigy: Who knows what be on people mind? But the people that we had beef with know what I’m saying. Explain from the first to the last, like look what kinda people they are look at what they doing and I explain to you. You see that we didn’t do nothing really; they started with us know what I’m saying? These people starting with us. We not starting trouble with nobody, we protecting ourselves, know what I’m saying. And that goes all the way down the line with every single little drama we had in rap music. We’re protecting ourself basically.

***LISTEN TO INTERVIEW***

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

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