In homage to late rapper Prodigy, two New York City artists painted a mural of the prolific musician in Long Island City just weeks after he unexpectedly passed away after a lifelong battle with sickle cell anemia on June 20.
The mural, which was unveiled on Thursday, resides just across the street from the Queensbridge Housing Projects where Prodigy, whose real name is Albert Johnson, was raised. While there, he found a friend and collaborator in artist Kejuan Muchita, better known by his stage name Havoc. The two would later constitute the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep.
Prodigy, whose rap moniker very accurately embodied the extent of his lyrical talent, was 42 years old when he died in Las Vegas just days after a performance.
Artists Jeff Henriquez and Eli Lazare told DNAinfo that they collaborated on the mural out of a shared appreciation and respect for Prodigy.
“His deep and meaningful lyrics inspired and influenced many young rappers and followers,” the Henrique and Lazare told the publication.
Last October, Lazare painted a mural of Prodigy’s fellow rapper and Queensbridge native, Nas, which is located just a few blocks away from he and Henrique's dedication to Prodigy.
Nas was among a number of musicians and everyday hip-hop connoisseurs to mourn Prodigy’s death. LL Cool J, 50 Cent, Foxy Brown, Remy Ma and Ice-T were among notable hip-hop figures who came out for Prodigy’s June 29 funeral.
The last time Prodigy appeared on an album was in his 2017 solo album “Hegelian Dialectic.” His mural can be seen outside of the Urban Upbound building on 13th Street and 40th Avenue.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Prodigy’s last album appearance was in 2014 when in fact he released a solo album in 2017. We regret the error.
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