thaFormula.com - Do you think that you having to go re-work the “Pearly Gates” track lyrically kind of killed the buzz for the album seeing that that track was really starting to get a buzz from DJ’s and people early on?

Prodigy - Nah, I just think that Interscope didn’t go as hard as they should have with it. G-Unit did their thing, 50 (Cent) did what he had to do, Mobb Deep did what we had to do, but Interscope was really pushing it like that.

thaFormula.com – ‘Cause I remember the DJ's were really starting to play it and then they just pulled back on it…

Prodigy - Shit happens though man. Especially with Mobb Deep, that's how they like to treat us ‘cause our music is graphic. Everything that comes out of our mouth is too graphic for them niggaz.

thaFormula.com - How did you come up with that concept anyways man?

Prodigy - It just came natural. That's the shit that niggaz be talking about in the hood. God and religion and all that shit, that's our conversations in the hood. Everybody got a different opinion about religion and God and what's heaven and hell and we just brought that to life in a song.

thaFormula.com - When the label made you change your lyrics, was that the first time that had happened to you guys or does that happen regularly with Mobb Deep?

Prodigy - That was the first time in the history of this planet that somebody tried to tell me I had to change my lyrics.

thaFormula.com - So why not just say, “fuck that I'm not doing it?”

Prodigy - Because I wasn't trying to fight with the label. I was just like “alright cool I will switch it up.” I ain't change it that much, I still say the same things, I just changed it a little. It ain't that important to me. I don't have to fight the label. I was just like “fuck these niggaz, I'll just switch it up and say what I got to say later.” You can't stop me from saying what I got to say. I'm about to say what I got to say on “HNIC 2,” “Return Of The Mac,” and all the rest of these albums about to drop.

thaFormula.com - Was that the same situation label wise with the “Amerika’s Nightmare” album as far as having that big single with “Got It Twisted,” but not much push after that?

Prodigy - It's the same answer. Mobb Deep is graphic. Our shit is too graphic for these niggaz. They are scared of us, radio is scared of us, these corporate muthafuckas are scared of us. Corporate video and TV is scared of us. That’s how it is. They push what’s commercial and the shit that is too graphic is not gonna get pushed like that. That’s what Mobb Deep is, we’re too graphic for TV.

thaFormula.com - So if that's the case, why do these labels have bidding wars for you guys and then decide that you guys are just too graphic for them?

Prodigy - You got to ask them that. That’s an interview with the label. You got to have an interview with these niggaz about that. Certain situations we get in with labels they are like “yeah this shit is gonna work ‘cause we love what you guys do, just get it done.” Other situations , you got people that's like “I don't really like what he said, hold that back,” and that's what we go through. Our whole career is like that. But that don't stop us from making albums. We’re keeping it coming. Other niggaz, your not even gonna see no more. We ain't even begun. We’re gonna keep it coming. These other niggaz, your not gonna see these niggaz no more, it's over. The one hit wonders, maybe 2 or 3 hits, it’s over.

thaFormula.com - You know Mobb Deep and (Dr.) Dre had such great chemistry on that “Outta Control” remix man, why didn't you guys connect more with Dre on the “Blood Money” album?

Prodigy - You know Dre man, that's an expensive dude man. He's like 200,000 a beat. It's hard enough to get him to come with his own albums so you know to get him to do something for somebody else, it's crazy! Eminem is a different story, 50 cent is a different story, but you know Mobb Deep, we’re new, we just came in so he's not gonna do a bunch of shit for us. We was lucky to get what we got from him.

thaFormula.com - Yeah man, but you guys are Mobb Deep, not just a new group on the scene man…

Prodigy - Everybody don't look at Mobb Deep the same way, but they will.

thaFormula.com - Was there ever a point in your career that you felt that lyrically and musically you guys peaked?

Prodigy - Nah, I definitely feel like we ain't reached that point yet.

thaFormula.com - It seems like 2006 brought sales to an all time low, what to you think was the main cause of that?

Prodigy - I think it's several reasons. To me its the Internet, we could have done a better album, Interscope could have pushed it more. It's several different reasons why the sales are down. It’s not just one or two reasons. We can't just put the blame on everybody. We could have made a better album, yeah! Interscope could have pushed it more, yeah! The Internet helped decrease the sales, yeah! You got iPods and all that out now so all that is helping effect the sales. So there is a number of reasons son why shit goes down the way it’s going down.

thaFormula.com - So when did the concept for “Return Of The Mac” come about?

Prodigy - That was just natural. That's from just being in the studio everyday working. See we’re not stuck off of “Blood Money” or any album that we do. We are continuously doing good music so that's how "Return Of The Mac" came to be.

thaFormula.com - So did you look at the situation with Koch similar to the one you had with Landspeed?

Prodigy - Nah, Koch is bigger then Landspeed. Koch is Landspeed’s distributor.

thaFormula.com - So what made you not wanna drop this mixtape/album on a major label?

Prodigy - Basically, Mobb Deep has been through every label that there is major wise. It would be foolish of me to go to another major after all the shit that we been through. Koch was like “look we will give you X amount of dollars, were gonna be behind this shit.” They were excited about it so I was like “hell yeah why not, give me the dough.”

thaFormula.com - When you put the "New York Shit" video out there, did you expect it to get the kind of buzz that it got?

Prodigy - Nah, we was just droppin’ my new shit. I was like, “lets shoot a video to this shit.” Me and Alchemist did it and bam we put it out. But then in like a week or two that shit had like 200,000 hits.

thaFormula.com - So what did that tell you man seeing that you guys basically dropped it without any kind of push behind it?

Prodigy - That showed me that I am doing my job correct. I just think it has to do with good music, the visuals is good, and nobody gave a fuck what label it was on. They was just like, “I like this song and I like how it looks.”

thaFormula.com - So besides Alchemist doing the whole album, did you bring any MC's in for the mixtape?

Prodigy - Nah, Alchemist just went in and found a whole bunch of gangsta beats that fit with the title "Return Of The Mac." I just came with the lyrics. We knocked that shit out in a couple of weeks. We didn't really think too hard about it, we just put it together. It was real easy after we came up with the title and the way the beat would sound. It was just real easy after that.

thaFormula.com - So is the mixtape gonna completely different sound wise then the “HNIC 2” album or will it be the same format as the mixtape?

Prodigy - One sounds like a mixtape and one sounds like an album. On “HNIC 2” I got Havoc, Alchemist, Mr. Porter and a whole bunch of hot shit.

thaFormula.com - Do you ever plan on working with Cormega or Nas again man seeing the incredible chemistry you guys have together?

Prodigy - If it happens, it happens.

thaFormula.com - As far as your label "Infamous Records," do you plan on bringing out more product and artists on your label?

Prodigy - Yeah we got some new artists. We got 40 Glocc from Cali and then we got a few people that we are working with, but he's one of the artists your probably gonna see first.

thaFormula.com - As far as Mobb Deep goes, will you be dropping on G-Unit again or will you be keeping it Independent from now on?

Prodigy - The next Mobb Deep album is coming out on G-Unit.

thaFormula.com - What is the number one rule in your eyes when deciding to get into this industry?

Prodigy - In this Industry you got to have a good lawyer. You and your lawyer have got to be best friends man. You don't want your lawyer lying to you, that's the only real friend you got and that's the only person that's gonna break down your contracts for you and show you how you really get your money.

thaFormula.com - How important is a manager to you as an artist and can that person make or break your career?

Prodigy - You definitely need a manager because you can't be handling your own business. You need somebody to play the bad guy. You can't be the bad guy and the good guy, that's not gonna work.

thaFormula.com - How did you approach the production for this album Al?

Alchemist - Basically, the relationship we all have, we are always with each other everyday. This was just a couple of weeks that me and P (Prodigy) decided that it was a challenge. P came up with the title and it was like “let's just bang out and do a bunch of joints real quick for the street,” and that's also why a lot of them joints on the album is a lot of looped up stuff. Its not all completely chopped up stuff like I'm known to do, but it was a vibe that we got on and everyday it kept developing. It was like P said, we didn't think. He would come over, we would do one joint, the next night it would spark my idea for another beat. He would come over the next day and I would be like “yo I got to hear you on this.” P would hear it and 9 times out of 10 we agreed. He would push the pen and in 5 seconds we had another record. ‘Cause that’s how we work you know what I mean. We are real organic with our shit and then when people hear the project, they will be able to see this is a collabo with me and P ‘cause we’re coming with P's solo album so close after this. This is like the warm up for “HNIC 2.” I don't want people to get it twisted. This is a special classic piece of material for you to put in your Mobb Deep catalog. It's not P's next solo. The solo album is coming, “HNIC 2” and that shit is crazy.

thaFormula.com - When you finished this project Al, did you know you guys had something big here?

Alchemist - I knew it was dope the minute we came with the idea and we started making the songs. I was like, “this is that shit.” Because me and P we bang out because this is what we do. We don't compete with anybody else in the industry, we compete with our latest shit. Like we’re always trying to top what we did. Once we started making it, I knew this shit was dope. There was no budgets, nobody got down with this until it was done and finished. P went on his own and did the videos and had the vision for the visuals and that's when it really got pushed over the top, then all these companies started coming out of left field throwing all types of crazy numbers at it. It was crazy because it really just developed out of our love for the shit we’re doing, us competing with ourselves.

thaFormula.com - Now a lot of people are calling this some of the best work Prodigy has done in a long time, but they are also calling it some of your best work also beat wise. Do you feel that way about it also?

Alchemist - Nah, that's something me and P been laughing about lately. ‘Cause like I said, this shit is like P writing rhymes in 2 seconds and me coming up with loops and looping them. There was no thought. We don't think too much cause when you think too much is when you could fuck up your creative flow. So when a lot of people are saying this is crazy, I'm laughing ‘cause I got other beats that I feel are more technically dope and we will let them out when the time is right. But I'm not gonna spoil it for the fans. If you all love this project, gangsta. Because me and P love this shit and that's why we made it.

thaFormula.com - Now I heard that 50 really loved the mixtape and wanted to put it out real big. Was that true?

Alchemist - Nah, I think I made a reference that we were playing the shit for 50 and he was feeling it. He definitely saw that we were going hard and grinding like he always does. It was never a question of us putting it out through G-Unit or nothing like that because Mobb Deep's deal is over there and 50 looked out and gave Hav (Havoc) and P an opportunity to get paper in other ways, which is like something no label or no company would ever do in a million years and that's the type of relationship that they have with 50 so it was definitely a blessing. But there wasn’t plans for that ever.

thaFormula.com - So what was the main theme of the album, I know it's called "Return Of The Mac," but is it mainly just samples around that type of era?

Alchemist - Nah, P just came up with that title. We’re not talking about pimpin'. It just sparked certain ideas on some old movies and the Blaxploitation flix. It has that vibe, but it really ain’t no samples on that shit. I'm not even gonna spoil it for the people. When they hear it, they ‘re gonna feel it. They are gonna hear the title and you are gonna think of Alchemist and Prodigy, Bumpy Johnson and Dutch Schultz and your gonna be like “that’s that shit, Return of the Mac you know!”  

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