1980’s New York is an infamous
era, landscaped in political turmoil and economic crisis.
But out of this same wreckage, came the necessity of creative
impulse and the musical style of Rap was born. Prodigy,
Big Twins, and Un Pacino each were raised in this era.
Born in the late 70’s, they grew up in a culture
steeped in controversy and contradiction. Each walked a
path through the rotted streets by any means necessary.
Violence, poverty, drugs and indulgence were part and parcel.
This project harkens back to this epoch through the frontline
survivors themselves. Likewise, the contributing producers
draw exclusively from the records that were garnered in
that fundamentally diametric period. Welcome to the Product
of the 80’s…
PRODIGY:
In the months leading up to his incarceration, Prodigy,
from the legendary group Mobb Deep, conjured a prolific
body of work. From videos to songs to interviews, he
fought to bring his message to the frontlines once again.
Through the lyrical savage of the HNIC2 LP and his constant
explicative blog entries on numerous websites, Prodigy
has connected to his fans in a unique way. He slammed
opened the creative floodgates to assure that his position
in the rap game was asserted and the presence of a legend
was remembered during his bid. But this recent approach
is invigorated because, although Mobb Deep are the penultimate
purveyors of NY murder-rap, that true dark street theme
music, Prodigy has also always explored politics and
conspiracy with as much fervor. Now, he is wearing his
world-views on his sleeve more than ever, because P is
quite clearly a victim of this American system. He was
bagged in a hip-hop cop sting and then incarcerated on
corroborated lies by the same officers. Needless to say,
he is quite aware of the nuances of Babylon. So, in 2008,
the current climate of the world lines up to Prodigy’s
individual experience in a symbiotic way and parallels
the gravity of the era in which he was raised. It fuels
his creative fire and lends to his arsenal of material,
because, for him, it is a necessity and a destiny to
be making this music and it is a responsibility to pull
the wool from the eyes of the masses.
In the creative period of 2008, Prodigy made a home at
Dirt Class Studios in Brooklyn. Often he arrived alone
and left alone. There was no entourage, there were no groupies.
It became his momentary sanctuary for writing and recording.
The duo of Joey and Bravo (better known as Sid Roams) hosted
these sessions and provided the bulk of the soundtrack.
The chemistry was evident and they began churning out a
copia of material. It was clear that a collaborative project
was in the works but as Prodigy’s time swiftly approached,
the HNIC2 LP (a second chapter to his debut solo work)
took precedence. Prodigy picked a collection of tracks
from these sessions to supplement the work of Alchemist
and Hav and formulated the album that is now HNIC2. The
remaining material is what is presented in Dirt Class Records’ Product
of the 80’s. Accompanied by Dirt Class cohorts Big
Twins & Un Pacino, the project is a true collaboration
of the three Queens natives. Prodigy leads the charge appearing
on all of the 14 songs. Twins & Un each spatter the
LP with their own signature styles. Production duties are
deftly handled by Sid Roams, JakeOne and Sebb… |
