It’s November y’all! A weird, difficult and very odd year has raced by. November, like the other months is a very busy month for music history — and for birthdays. Let’s get to it.
- Kool and the Gang co-founder Ronald Bell was born 75 years ago on November 1
- Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen celebrated his 63rd birthday on November 1
- Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ frontman Anthony Kiedis celebrated his 64th birthday on November 1
As an obsessed audiophile, I pretty much grew up listening to Mobb Deep on the radio every single weekend in the 90s — and they were proud Queens boys, repping Queensbridge Houses so very hard. Mobb Deep’s Prodigy was born 52 years ago on November 2
Now, as we may recall we lost Prodigy eight years ago as a result of complications from sickle cell anemia, a few months shy of what would have been his 43rd birthday. Because he was four-and-a-half years older than me, his death hit close to hard. But let’s belatedly celebrate the man and his momentous, influential, gangsta as fuck music.
Happy belated birthday, brother! Happy birthday, wherever you are.
I shot Mobb Deep once at a SummerStage show in the Queensbridge Houses.
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