Prodigy Explains How Prison Changed His Life For The Better

The Mobb Deep member shares that it helped him realize that he won't be given a second change in life.

While serving a three-year bid for a weapons charge, Prodigy used his time to better himself as a person. Speaking on “The Monique Show,” the Queens, New York native explained that he had a moment of clarity while in the clink, realizing that he only had himself to blame for his mistakes.
“I’m sitting there and I realized that I got my career taken from me, my family, everything stripped of me, and I’m just like wow, I put myself in this position, I can’t even blame somebody else,” he said. “It really made me analyze my whole life and my decision making and my priorities and the things that I was doing before I actually got locked up, and I just came to the conclusion that I needed to change things around a little bit as far as how I was moving and the things that I would do when it came to rap music.”
He expressed remorse for his behavior towards other MCs in the game. “Beefing with other rappers. When it came to finances, spending money on jewelry and all kinds of craziness like that, just different things like that. I had to get my priorities together,” he continued. “And I realized that and I was like, I’m not going to get another chance after this because I’ve been given a lot of chances in my life. This was the last straw, getting locked up.”
With his Sickle Cell potentially acting up in prison, he knew he had to get his mind right. “I had to look at all of that and just really get my life together. When I went in, I said, you know what? I’m going to start eating right every day, I’m going to drink a lot of water every day, I didn’t drink no juice or soda. Just drank straight water, ate a lot of vegetables, got more in tune with God, get back in line with God and where I needed to be as far as my spirituality,” he said. “Work out every day. I was doing a lot of working out, exercising, and things like that. I really got myself together in there, all the way around. Mentally, physically, spiritually. All that. And it worked.”

Lupe Fiasco Defends His Comments Against President Obama

The Chicago native states that he has nothing to clarify regarding his controversial comments made during an interview with CBS.

Lupe Fiasco stirred the pot earlier this week with his controversial comments that President Obama is “the biggest terrorist.” In an interview with Billboard.com, he refused to back down from his position and clarify his perspective.
“I've got nothing to clarify. It's Obama and the U.S. government," he said. "[It's] every president that came before him and every president that comes after him. It's funky because everybody's pulling soundbites from this one interview that we did, but they don't talk about anything else from the interview. [...] So it's really about, 'What do people want to listen to?' It's not what I want to talk about, cause I want to talk about all types of shit... there wasn't the same reaction about me having a book club... about me trying to promote literacy in a country with 50 million functioning illiterates walking around, because we have a failed and flawed education system."
As for his stance on not voting in elections, he explained why he doesn’t participate. “Voting doesn't work, because everybody who voted, voted for the same people who are in office right now that are actually allowing these policies to go forward... You have to educate the populace -- the masses, the voters, the people who don't vote, the people who pay taxes."
He explained that the fix is in educating people on their involvement in the American system. “You have educate the masses to exactly what their tax dollars are going to pay for," he added. "I think once people educate themselves and open up their minds to understand that on that really basic level, then you'll have some type of change in the way that Americans associate themselves and participate in their own political process."

Timbaland Headed To Malaysia For Hip-Hop Performance, Subject of "Possible Suicide Attempt" Manhunt

Super producer Timbaland is headlong to Malaysia this September, where he will headline the Arthur's Day" celebrations with Guinness in Kuala Lumpur.

The two-day concert is part of brewer Guinness' Arthur's Day worldwide celebrations. Timbaland will be joined by Thai-American Hip-Hop group Thaitanium, while rockers like Mizz Nina and Pop Shuvit will also hit the stage.

Billboard reports that acts like Papa Roach and Gaellic Storm will perform in the Mid-Western region of the United States, while a variety of  acts will cover the Caribbean islands with performances.

In the U.K., Manic Street Preachers and David Gray will perform, while R&B singer Kelis will perform in Ireland with Snow Patrol and Brandon Flowers.

This is the second year Guinness has rounded up top Hip-Hop talent to celebrate Arthur's Day, which pays homage to Arthur Guinness, the Irish founder of the company.

In related news, Timbaland was the subject of a manhunt yesterday after his family believed he was going to hurt himself over the theft of Jacob & Co. watch valued at $2 million.

According to TMZ, Timbaland left his Malibu home yesterday and began driving in his Escalade after suspecting that the theft was by someone close to him. 

Sources say the L.A. County Sheriff's Department put out a "possible suicide attempt" just before 5 PM PT yesterday.

A helicopter and squad cars went on the hunt for the rapper/producer's Escalade, ground crews pulled it over and spoke with the artist after taking him to his residence.

Goldfish & Blink Ft Altimet & ZE! - In The House

Dr. Dre's "Detox" To Release On July 26th?

Though release dates have been given before, another rumored date purports that the album will drop in the summer.

Dr. Dre has delayed his third and final solo album Detox for the past decade, giving several release dates during that time. Another alleged release date has hit the Internet, suggesting that the West Coast veteran will drop his swan song on July 26th.
According to HHNM, HMV has made the album available for pre-order in the U.K. on July 25th. The date, which falls on a Monday, would suggest that the LP would release in the States the following day, as albums release in the U.K. a day earlier.

Mobb Deep to Collaborate with Rick Ross

Prodigy tells MTV that the Mobb recently linked up with Rick Ross for a new song.

Last night at Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam concert, G-Unit soldier Lloyd Banks brought out fellow Queens rhymers Prodigy and Havoc of Mobb Deep for a performance of their classic song “Shook Ones Pt. II.” During the event, MTV caught up with Prodigy, where he revealed that the Mobb had recently linked up with Summer Jam 2011 headliner Rick Ross for a collaboration.
Don P explained to MTV News that the Infamous/Rozay collab was already in the can. He said that Havoc and he are planning to unleash the track on the duo’s next LP, which they are planning to release later this year.
"We did a joint with Ross,” said P. “It's in the stash right now. It'll probably be for the Mobb album. It's kinda crazy too…We're looking forward to maybe, like, September. End of August, September - we're shooting for around that time. We know they need that new music out there, something for the streets. We gotta feed the streets."
Prodigy also added, “It's a lot of different things happening in hip-hop. That's a good thing. You got different types of sounds, but you know we gotta keep what makes us going. We gotta keep our sound alive, that dark Hip Hop. We're gonna keep that alive."
Rick Ross also talked about his respect for P during a visit to RapFix Live on May 25. He said that not only does he enjoy Prodigy and Havoc’s music, but that he also appreciated Prodigy reaching out to southern artists, particularly former Cash Money rapper B.G. on H.N.I.C.’s “Y.B.E.”
"I respect him, most definitely, as being a boss, making your own decisions," said Ross. "When he was released, he gave me a call a few days after that. We spoke on the phone maybe once or twice. It was a genuine conversation, us touching base, making sure it is what it is. We most definitely put a record or two on the table. Just to be frank, I was always a fan of the homey, H.N.I.C. I always respected when I saw that. The B.G. collaboration he did with the South, that was big for me. So I was always a fan of the homey and when he made this move in a way, so you had to respect it. So look for a Rozay and Prodigy record in the future."

Tupac Shakur's Only Screenplay To Be Made Into Film 'Live 2 Tell' is story of teenage drug dealer struggling to leave life of crime

During his short life, rapper Tupac Shakur was a notorious double threat, producing platinum albums and singles and earning notices for his acting in films such as "Juice" and "Poetic Justice."
But the thug life MC, who studied acting, poetry, jazz and ballet while performing in Shakespearean plays at the Baltimore School for the Arts as a teenager, not only acted in plays and movies, he also apparently wrote them.
And now the rights to the only full screenplay Shakur wrote while he was in jail, "Live 2 Tell," have been acquired by a production company that plans to start filming the movie next year, according to Variety.
One of the producers is Preston Holmes, who collaborated with Shakur's mother, Afeni, on the 2003 documentary "Tupac: Resurrection"; Afeni Shakur will be an executive producer on the $11 million project.
The script is described as the story of a teenage drug dealer and his struggles to leave a life of crime. It was written by Shakur while he served an 11-month sentence on sexual assault charges.
"This kid was a genius, and the net of it is, he was from this community, he knew the struggles these young people were dealing with," said Ivan Juzang, whose NStar Studios was behind the acquisition of the screenplay. "And he's able to talk to young people in 2011, 2012, the same way he was able to talk to young people in 1995." Holmes had originally contacted Shakur about the script when the rapper was still behind bars.
"We think that the name we need is the name we have, which is Tupac Shakur," Holmes said.
This is the second attempt at making the film. The script was first optioned more than five years ago by the Insomnia Media Group and was slated to start production in March 2006. No casting for that version was ever confirmed.