After Prodigy was locked up on a gun charge, he took a plea deal and was soon headed upstate to prison. But even Prodigy said prison changed him for the better.

As the world of hip hop mourns his loss, there are still questions surrounding his death. We try to find answers, and go inside Prodigy’s memorial service to say goodbye to a rap icon.

WNYC’s health coverage and The Realness by Only Human is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 

Audio of Prodigy on Questlove Supreme is provided by Pandora, which also has a recording of Mobb Deep's classic hit "Shook Ones (Part II)" performed by Nas.

Additional audio of Prodigy provided from the audio book of My Infamous Life by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson.