Albert Johnson (November 2, 1974 – June 20, 2017), better known by his stage name Prodigy, was an American rapper and one half of the hip hop duo Mobb Deep with Havoc. Prodigy was born in Hempstead, New York. He comes from a musical family—his grandfather, Budd Johnson, and his great-uncle Keg Johnson are remembered for their contributions to the Bebop era of jazz. His mother, Fatima Johnson, then known as Francis Collins, was a member of The Crystals. His father Budd Johnson Jr, was a member of a Doo wop music group called The Chanters. Under the alias Lord–T (The Golden Child), Johnson joined Jive and landed an uncredited guest appearance on the Boyz N The Hood soundtrack on the song "Too Young" by Hi-Five. In high school, he met Havoc through a mutual friend. The duo became The "Poetical Prophets", before choosing the name "The Infamous Mobb Deep" from a mutual friend.
Prodigy released a 2001 autobiography, My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy. It was co-written with Laura Checkoway and published by Touchstone Books. Prodigy was featured in the 2011 documentary, Rhyme and Punishment, a film that documents Hip-Hop artists who have been incarcerated. The film documents Prodigy's trial and his last days before starting his prison sentence. In 2011, Prodigy released a free EP called The Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP which is his first project since being released from prison. On April 21, a song titled "The Type", with Curren$y, was released on Curren$y's free album, entitled Covert Coup. Prodigy has spoken out against the secret society Illuminati. In 2013, Prodigy released his second collaboration album with The Alchemist titled Albert Einstein. On April 1, 2014, Mobb Deep released The Infamous Mobb Deep their eighth studio album. In August 2016, he released an untitled EP of five tracks, released in partnership with BitTorrent , an association that Prodigy had been working up for a while.
In July 2012, Prodigy's musical partner, Havoc, wrote a series of derogatory comments about Prodigy on Twitter, including accusing Prodigy of engaging relationships in prison. At first, Havoc claimed that his Twitter account was hacked. However, he later confirmed that he wrote the tweets and expressed his frustrations with Prodigy in an interview with AllHipHop. He stated that Mobb Deep was on an "indefinite hiatus" until the duo worked out their differences. Havoc later released a diss track aimed at Prodigy titled "Separated (Real from the Fake)". Prodigy did not respond to Havoc's song but publicly stated that Mobb Deep would eventually reconcile. In March 2013, the duo announced that they had reconciled and were going on tour. On June 20, 2017, it was reported that Prodigy died in Las Vegas, Nevada after having been hospitalized a few days earlier for complications related to his sickle-cell anemia. He was performing in the Art of Rap Tour in Las Vegas with Havoc, Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One and Ice-T when he was hospitalized. The exact cause of his death is yet to be determined. Following his death, several rappers were quick to pay their respects on social media, including Drake, 2 Chainz, Nas, 50 Cent, The Game, Ice-T, Havoc, Ghostface Killah, Noreaga, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Just Blaze, Q-Tip, DJ Clue?, DJ Funkmaster Flex, DJ Kay Slay, Big Boi, Slim Thug, Fat Joe, and Twista.
