Mobb Deep Loses its Prodigy.

On Tuesday morning Albert Johnson, known to many by his stage name, Prodigy, passed away. Tons of outlets broke the story but at this point no confirmed cause of death is known.

Prodigy had been in Las Vegas for a fan meet-and-greet and a performance for the Art of Rap Tour when the rapper fell ill and was hospitalized. It was commonly known that the hip-hop great suffered from sickle cell anemia and his sickness could have been related to the disease. Prodigy was rushed from an event venue to the hospital where he passed away a few days later.

Prodigy came from a family full of music and genius. His great-great-great-grandfather William Jefferson White was the founder of Morehouse College in Georgia. His grandfather, Albert "Budd" Johnson, played saxophone for Jazz greats such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie but both of his parents were artists as well. Prodigy, was a student at the Manhattan High School of Art and Design when he met fellow Mobb Deep member Kejuan Muchita, now known as Havoc, and the two went on to have a very influential music career. At the time of his death, Prodigy was only 42 years old.