Parrish Smith of EPMD Talks About His ‘Prodigy Tribute’
The death of Prodigy of Mobb Deep shocked hip-hop artists and fans, not the least of which was PMD aka Parrish Smith of EPMD.
In an interview with HipHopDX, Smith talked about why he wanted to pay tribute to Prodigy on Smith's new EP. After touring with Mobb Deep, Rakim, Ghostface Killah and Naughty By Nature on The Art of Rap Tour, PMD wanted to salute Prodigy after having forged a long-standing relationship with the rapper.
“I did the ‘Prodigy Tribute’ song to Prodigy to have a conversation with P and pay respect to him for his great contribution to hip-hop,” PMD told HipHopDX. “Anytime EPMD and Mobb Deep would have a show together, P and I would chop it up for minute and catch up the next time we were on the same show.
EPMD weren't a part of this year's Art of Rap Tour. It was at the Las Vegas show that Prodigy fell ill and ultimately passed away.
"EPMD and Mobb Deep were on The Art Of Rap Tour in 2016. In June 2017, Mobb Deep was on The Art Of Rap show in Las Vegas, but EPMD wasn’t on The Art Of Rap Las Vegas show this year, so I didn’t get to catch up with Prodigy. I felt like I had to have that conversation with Prodigy.”
"Prodigy Tribute" is featured on PMD's latest release, Business Mentality.
Listen to PMD's "Prodigy Tribute":
Listen to PMD's "It's The Pee '97" feat. Prodigy: