This week in Hip Hop the biggest story was the death of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy. Also of note, everyone thought Snoop Dogg was poking fun at Young Thug in his new music video “Moment I Feared” (but he later claimed he wasn’t), and DJ Khaled released his latest project, Grateful.
Rest In Power Prodigy
Mobb Deep’s Prodigy, born Albert Johnson, passed away in Las Vegas on Tuesday (June 20). He was 42.
According to his rep, he had been hospitalized due to complications caused by sickle cell anemia. The news of Prodigy’s death resulted in an outpouring of support and love from the Hip Hop community. Nas, Questlove, Q-Tip, Ice T and A$AP Rocky were among the scores of celebrities to send their condolences. Cormega even penned a touching eulogy.
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Mobb Deep’s other musical half, Havoc, expressed himself by posting a few pictures of Prodigy to his Instagram in remembrance of Prodigy’s life. He initially thought news of his friend’s passing was a joke.
“He goes to the hospital all the time,” he says. “Rumors like that always get around like some dumb shit. I was really laughing to be honest with you. I had not directly spoken to P, but I knew his status every day since I left. I was like, ‘Let me call our road manager and see what’s up’ just to ease my brain, even though I knew it was a lie.”
Read more on Prodigy and his legacy, and check out DX’s exclusive that detailed his final days.
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Snoop Dogg Kinda Mocks Young Thug, But Not Really
People thought Snoop Dogg was making fun of Young Thug in his latest video, “Moment I Feared,” because there’s a caricature of a rapper dressing and posing similarly to Thugger’s Jeffery album cover art. It was strange considering Snoop is featured on Thug’s Beautiful Thugger Girls project.
Snoop clarified the confusion in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX and said he has nothing but love for Young Thug and the younger generation. He claims he wasn’t making fun of the Atlanta artist at all.
“Nah, I ain’t poking fun at nobody,” Snoop Dogg told DX. “It’s a video. I’m acting in the video. The director directed it. It’s just a video. It could be a number of people. It’s a lot of people it could be. But it’s just me letting people know that I respect what the youngsters are doing. This is what they do. How they do it. I respect that.”
Read more on what Snoop Dogg had to say about Young Thug here.
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DJ Khaled Drops Grateful
DJ Khaled’s 22-track album Grateful came out this week, filled with features from today’s biggest stars including his Hot 100-topping single “I’m The One” featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Lil Wayne and Chance The Rapper. There’s even speculation that Big Sean threw shots at Kendrick Lamar on his “On Everything” song.
Despite getting booed off the EDC stage last weekend because “they” reportedly sabotaged his sound for almost an hour, Grateful is still projected to hit as high as 150,000 in sales and streaming, according to Hits Daily Double.
Stream DJ Khaled’s Grateful here.
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DXclusives: Statik Selektah, Chance The Rapper’s ASL Interpreters & XXXTENTACION’s Revenge Tour
In an exclusive interview with HipHopDX, record producer Statik Selektah admits that DJ Khaled is the source of inspiration for his forthcoming studio album, 8.
“I’m really inspired by just life right now and being a dad … and Khaled,” Selektah tells HipHopDX’s Kyle Eustice. “Khaled doing what he’s doing, he’s on his 11th or 12th album, and we started doing albums right around the same time. We’ve been friends for over 10 years, but he really inspires me and not many people do that. When we compare the music, it’s not the same. He’s more the crossover king with his Hip Hop, but with my shit, it’s like the balance. I make the grimy shit, he does that and we bring together all-stars.”
Chance the Rapper has done something seriously cool by employing a troupe of sign language experts from DEAFinitely Dope to interpret his shows. When it comes to putting on a show with hands while translating the slang embedded into the music, interpreters have to get creative and don’t necessarily see it as a challenge.
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“It makes it more fun,” DEAFinitely Dope’s founder Matt Maxey explains. “I’m pretty familiar with regional slang and used to adlibs, so it’s automatically a habit to include that when interpreting music. When you hear it as a hearing people, you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I fuck with this.’ So for me to leave that out while interpreting would take away from the song. For example, [Takeoff’s verse on “T-Shirt] Water faucet, there’s more fun to show what they actually meant by it. If you show the movement and you have fun with it, it’s important to take the slang to another level. Stuff like Rap Genius is very helpful to break down a little bit more in case I don’t understand. With slang, you’re really trying to show what the word means and you won’t be able to spell out the word if you’re interpreting. Like with the water faucet example, you put the picture out there instead of just ‘neck water faucet.’ If you’re not literal and show what the water faucet is referring to, it’ll make it more of a story. It’s more challenging, but it’s more fun to do and it makes it more interesting to watch.”
HipHopDX is keeping up with XXXTENTACION’s shenanigans as he travels and performs on his Revenge Tour. Beginning with wififuneral getting jumped in Houston on May 31 and leaving off with a stage dive in Minnesota on June 21. For now, X’s tour has been put on hold because his cousin got shot.
