PRODIGY - "THE REAL H.N.I.C. Mixtape (Vol. 1)" [2000]

I and The Lost Tapes was missing in action when the devastating news of Prodigy's passing hit us all like an atom bomb. He was a guy that did so much for Hip Hop, always spoke his mind, but always with the respect he estimated his opponent to be deserving of and being a smart man he understood that there was so much more to life than petty hood beef that never gets anywhere constuctive for anyone. In the end it wasn't a violent confrontation by some disgruntled low-life thinking he owed them something (often despite helping them, giving handouts and power up to a point). But are we not all men, P wasn't put here to hold your hand through your careers, the fact that he gave you a helping hand at all speaks volumes of his character. Y'all kow who I'm talking about, but fuck them, this isn't about them, 

Together with his rhyme and production patner in Havoc they created 3 classics or at least damn near classis for Loud Recods before P's health and writer's block got the better of him for a while, all while the Hip Hip landscape was shaping up differently around them. But those three albums right tere, "The Infamous....", "Helll On Earth" and "Murda Muzik" will go down in history as some of the best music the '90s had to offer both musically and lyrically. At this time they were clearly on a roll, and despite the unreleased "Murda Muzik: The Movie" being pretty damn unwatchable they did record an unreleased soundtrack for the album - granted some of the songs found other outlets later, some of them being on this very mixtape although some are only snippets to get you hyped for the actual album with WHOO KID quipping "COMING ON INFAMOUS RECORDS THAT MURDA MUZIK: THE SOUNDTRACK". Well I'm am going to bring as complete Murda Muzik Soundtrack album that is humanly possible so stay tuned for that.

But one man doesn't make Mobb Deep, but one man sure as hell made "H.N.I.C." which is in fact a better album than later Mobb Deep albums like "Infamy", "Blood Money" and "Amerika's Nightmare" (I did dig the last joint they put out as a team though). Just titling his solo "Head Nigga in Charge" was bold as hell, but his rhymes, songs, bars and personal statements and struggles on there sure as hell backed it up. You got "You Can Never Feel My Pain" (perhap the realest shit 'P' ever wrote), you got "Keep It Thoro", you had "Three", you had "Veteran's Memorial", the "Trials and Tribulations", the obligatory Mobb Deep cuts. Yes, this was everything a Mobb Deep head was wanting to hear at the time but from Prodigy's side of the spectrum and over the years it has only grown in status.

But this is not only a little mini-review of "H.N.I.C." but also a thank you to Albert Johnson for helping to shape Hip Hop as a whole and as such my own adolenscene. This is also about the official DJ Whoo Kid mixtape "H.N.I.C. Mixtape Part One" that dopped in 2000. To my knolwedge there was never a second part ever made but this mx is dope enough to rewind at least a couple of times. I've noticed that there's been floaing around a lot of fake mixtapes with this title on YouTube, basically Prodigy compilation of YT users favorite tracks. But this is the real deal. As DJ Whoo Kid shouts out "This is the best of P" several times, the tape had a few objectives to lay out. Showcase Prodigy as one of the best emcees out there and one who could do it on the solo tip, but also to promote Infamous Records with the upcoming Bars-n-Hooks (why do you think Bars N Hooks get the 5 minute opener),and the "Murda Musik: The Soundtrack" and film. There's some really sick exclusives here so press play and enjoy.

Matter of fact I was going to upload and do the Mp3 thing, but thanks to DJ Whoo Kid himself he has uploaded it to his AudioMack account. Last but not least: Rest in power Albert Johnson a.k.a. Prodigy, you were one of the truly greats and we won't let you be forgotten!