The rapper duo finished recording the song prior to Prodigy's unexpected passing on June 20 last year.
- Jun 19, 2018
AceShowbiz - Actor/musician Lin-Manuel Miranda has marked the one-year anniversary of rapper Prodigy's death by releasing the first posthumous Mobb Deep track for his Hamilton song series.
The creator and former star of the Broadway smash hit has shared one of Prodigy's final recordings with his bandmate Havoc, a song called Boom Goes The Cannon..., which the duo completed prior to the hip-hop legend's unexpected passing on 20 June, 2017.
Miranda originally incorporated a lyric from Mobb Deep's 1995 hit Shook Ones Part II in the hip-hop style stage production, which focuses on America's Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton, and actually invited the MCs to check out the musical.
They subsequently joined forces for his ongoing Hamildrops project, for which he has debuted a new song each month since December (17), as a follow-up to 2016's The Hamilton Mixtape album.
The latest tune, which samples the show's track Right Hand Man, features Prodigy delivering his verse in character as the first U.S. president, George Washington, one of the main figures depicted onstage.
"I paid homage to Mobb Deep in Hamilton by having Alexander Hamilton quote one of Prodigy's most immortal lyrics: 'I'm only 19 but my mind is old...' They are New York hip-hop legends," Miranda shares in a statement.
"I feel so humbled and grateful that Havoc and Prodigy not only came to see us at the (Richard Rodgers Theatre) in 2016, but were inspired to create this track before Prodigy's untimely passing last year. Their lyrics, as ever, paint a vivid picture of friendship and solidarity in the face of overwhelming odds."
Dedicating the song to the rappers' native Queens, New York, he concludes, "I'm unbelievably proud to present new Mobb Deep music in 2018. This one's for Queensbridge."
Surviving Mobb Deep member Havoc also expressed his excitement at teaming up with Miranda.
"It was an honour being part of the Hamilton project, just on the strength alone I'm a huge fan of the musical; I am a history buff so it was right up my alley," he explains. "This being one of the few last recordings I did with Prodigy definitely holds a special place in my heart and always will when I hear the record.
"Releasing the record now at this time of year after the passing of my partner in rhyme, Prodigy, is a great way to pay homage to him and continue not only Mobb's legacy, but his as well. He'll forever be my 'right hand man.'"
Prodigy, real name Albert Johnson, passed away aged 42, just days after he was hospitalised following a concert in Las Vegas for complications linked to his life-long sickle cell anaemia battle. His official cause of death was listed as accidental choking, as he was found unconscious hours after gagging while eating an egg.
