The rapper, Prodigy, who made up one half of the Mobb Deep group, has sadly died while on tour in Las Vegas aged 42.
Though the cause of his death has not yet been confirmed it is known that Prodigy, real name Albert Johnson, suffered from a series of health problems throughout his life.
One of the conditions Johnson suffered from was sickle cell anaemia which causes red blood cells to die prematurely meaning there is a shortage of healthy red blood cells in the body which can cause blockages in the blood.
At the time of his death, Prodigy was on tour alongside Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One, and Ice-T on the ‘Art of Rap’ tour.
Commenting on his death, his publicist said:
It is with extreme sadness and disbelief that we confirm the death of our dear friend Albert Johnson, better known to millions of fans as Prodigy of legendary NY rap duo Mobb Deep.
Prodigy was hospitalized a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance for complications caused by a sickle cell anaemia crisis. As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled the disease since birth.
The exact causes of death have yet to be determined. We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family’s privacy at this time.
Our thoughts go out to Johnson’s family and friends at this hard time.
Rest in peace.
