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5/1/2006 Interview with Prodigy from Mobb Deep What's up, P? Everything's good. How does it feel to have Blood Money coming out on G-Unit? It feels real good. People are real excited about it. It's the best Mobb Deep album to date. What makes this album so great? It's Mobb Deep and we have a great situation. It's incredible rap music. What was the recording process for this album? We recorded it in our studio in Queens. Some of the album was done while 50 was shooting "Get Rich or Die Trying." A lot of fans are worried about Mobb Deep losing their classic sound going to G-Unit. We will never change our style. We stick to our formula. What kind of beats did you want from Havoc for this album? Basically he just got in there, cranked the beats out, and we put the words on it. That's what we do all day. It's a factory up there in the studio. We're not looking for anything particular. We just throw on all the joints and whatever stands out is going to stand out. You worked with Lil' Jon on Amerikaz Nightmare. Are there any collaborations like that for Blood Money? Yeah. We always try to pick hot shit. We'll definitely have a couple of different sounds on there. We wasn't targeting any particular sound when we made this. We were just picking shit that was hot that we were feeling. What's the biggest difference between Blood Money and Amerikaz Nightmare? Visibility and the album. This is new music. It's a new pair of sneakers and an old pair of sneakers. How was 50 involved in the making of Blood Money? He would send us tracks from different producers and send us some verses and we'd have to put our verses on it. We were going back and forth. Hav would send him beats. We were going back and forth on everything while he was filming his movie. Most of the album was done in our own studio. What's been the biggest change for you since signing with G-Unit? The biggest change has been in our visibility. Is there more pressure to succeed with you coming out on G-Unit? Not really. Our music is powerful and we have the machine and label as powerful as our music. It's coming at you. It's perfect. How did the Outta Control (Remix) help you? That was dope. That was to let the fans know what was going on. We had just signed the new deal with G-Unit and we were all working together. Dre did that track. That was one of the first songs we did. We did like thirty songs before we even signed the deal. Does it ever bother you that some people know you for the Outta Control (Remix) but they don't know your classic material? It's not frustrating if the person is young, but it is frustrating if somebody is just ignorant. What influenced your decision to sign to 50? The deal was more than a record deal. We're in business together. We have a film deal, a book deal, shoe deal, G-Unit clothing deal, Crown Royal Liquor deal, and Infamous. There's a lot of things people don't know. Are you happy with how things are going so far? Yeah. It's going good. Definitely the visibility stepped up 110%. All we have to do is do what we do and we're straight. How was the Alchemist involved in the making of Blood Money? Al did a track and he's on the DVD. Alchemist was rhyming on some tracks in the past. Will we see more of that? Maybe. You never know. Is it G-Unit for life now that you have the tattoo? Basically the G-Unit tattoo is because 50 has "Infamous Mobb Deep" tatted on his wrist while we were on tour, so we got the G-Unit on our hands to show loyalty and show the fans that it's real. How important is loyalty in the game today? It depends on what you're dealing with. It's real important though. Would you say that signing to G-Unit is the best thing to happen to Mobb Deep? I would say all our moves were the best. This is definitely the biggest one so far. I heard MOP was told by 50 to hit the gym. Did 50 say anything like that to you? No, but we're always on some health shit. Everybody should be healthy. It's definitely an issue. We always try to take care of ourselves. Speaking of health, how have you been feeling? I've been feeling good. Do any health issues ever interfere with your career? Nah. I've been good. What's next for Mobb Deep? Yeah. You'll probably be seeing some of that. Right now we're just concentrating on the Blood Money album and other business ventures that we have going. How does your deal with G-Unit affect extended fam like IM3 and Noyd? It doesn't really affect them at all. The deal is with Mobb Deep. This is a Mobb Deep thing. Will you be signing artists in the future? We'll definitely be signing some people. It's an executive-type thing. Where are you going to look for artists? From QB or somewhere else like Nas did with Quan? I don't do things like other people. We're just looking for good music. I don't care where it comes from. How do you see the influence of Mobb Deep in today's industry? We have our own sound we created. That's what it is. Everybody has their own little niche. We have ours. That's what brought us here to this point. That's what we're going to stick to and that's what we're going to get. How much attention do you pay to radio and video shows? If they're playing some shit I want to hear, I definitely pay attention. If they're showing some shit that I want to see, I'm going to definitely pay attention. You do tracks with a lot of underground rappers. How important is it to work with artists that may not be on top but definitely show potential? It's definitely a good thing to do. A lot of those new artists got joints. How do you feel hearing your old music today? We feel blessed to look at what we've done. We're not done yet. We're just getting started. Looking at that, why do you think people care so much about a rapper's age but it doesn't matter in other genres of music? I don't know. I don't know about all that. Did you approach Blood Money with a different mind-state? We definitely felt better about getting in there and doing our thing because it's a new situation now. That's definitely going to make you feel good. Was Dre involved in the making of the album? Yeah, definitely. We got some tracks from Dre. How will Blood Money do? It's going to do good. It's one of the best Mobb Deep albums to date. What's next for Mobb Deep? We're on the road right now doing the radio tour. We're doing a lot of things. We have a mixtape out right now called The Best in the Business. We'll probably be on tour this summer doing some big concerts. We're about to shoot a $300 million movie. What's up with the movie? It's going to be popping. Is it going to be the Mobb Deep story? No, but Sean Penn is in it. It's going to be crazy. Are you going to get into more films? Yeah. That's why we got this company set up. What's up with Noyd today? He's doing his own thing. What do you want to say to your fans? Just keep supporting Mobb Deep because we're going to keep it coming as we always come. You don't have to be scared to spend your dollars on our album because you're always going to get some hot shit.

By Brian Kayser

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