Public Memorial Planned for Mobb Deep’s Prodigy
A public memorial for Mobb Deep’s Prodigy will be held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York City Thursday, June 29th, Billboard reports. Fans will be able to pay their respects during a public visitation between 2 and 5 p.m. ET.
Prodigy died June 20th at the age of 42. A few days before his death, the rapper was hospitalized for complications related to sickle cell anemia, which he battled throughout his life.
The rapper’s sudden death elicited an an outpouring of grief from the hip-hop community. On Tuesday, Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg tapped Eminem and Kendrick Lamar to perform their favorite Prodigy verses for a special tribute episode of his “Real Late” show. Eminem performed a section of Prodigy’s verse from Mobb Deep‘s 1995 track “Survival of the Fittest,” while Lamar delivered the first verse of the MC’s 2000 solo cut “Genesis.”
Eminem also said, “I just want to say rest in peace to Prodigy. We love you homie. Hip-hop loves you. You will forever be missed.”
Elsewhere, A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip dedicated his two-hour Beats 1 radio show to Prodigy, while the rapper’s long-term Mobb Deep partner, Havoc, expressed his shock and sadness in a video obtained by TMZ. “I’m still just fucked up,” Havoc said. “I can’t even listen to ‘Shook Ones’ or any song. I can hardly look at the pictures … I still can’t believe it.”