#RIPProdigy // #RIPEMoneyBags // #RIPMakaveli // #RIPYams
If you remember last summer, we did a piece on why 50 Cent will forever be in debt to Tony Yayo. While Kanan distanced himself from the G-Unit brand; that same affiliate, from Queens, helped us fill in some blanks on how the Prodigy vs. Jay-Z beef came to an end.
Dating back to the original Vol. 2 Hardknock Life Vol, 2 album; Jigga said a line on his track with DMX, “Money, Cash, Hoes.” He went to say, “It’s like New York’s been, soft Ever since Snoop came through and crushed the buildings.” Prodigy, immedialtely took offense at the line, saying that he was the only person to publicly step up to Suge Knight and Death Row Records during the peak of the East vs. West coast war.
The two had a private disdain for each other, until it gained national attention on The Blueprint’s popular cut, “Takeover.” That led to Jay-Z throwing lines at P, including embarrassing him at Summer Jam 01; posting a picture of him as a dancer from his childhood. While Jigga didn’t slow down, Prodigy was looking to check Jay’s temperature.
This led to several run-ins behind-the-scenes, where P showed up armed; forcing Jay to cancel several appearances at events like MTV, The Source Magazine Awards and even Viacom’s BET.
It got to the point, where Cormega had to tell Jay-Z, that if prompted, Prodigy would shoot him. That’s when Jay got nervous about the situation, including E-Moneybaggs (friend of 2pac), looking for him as well. It’s not to say that Roc-a-Fella didn’t have their shooters at the time; but Cormega warned Jay that Prodigy was a livewire and wasn’t afraid to let that thang lose, if be.
When P finally ran into his Brooklyn rivals, Jay backtracked and saying it was only music. Years, later, they both showed admiration for each other and their contributions to the culture. However, we can’t but wonder what would’ve happened, if they didn’t have third-parties like Cormega and Nas involved to help prevent anything.
The Jay-Z vs. Nas battle overshadowed everything, but the real situation was with Prodigy. Let us know in the comments what you think.