Longtime Mobb Deep and Eminem associate Alchemist (who grew up in Beverly Hills and was one-half of a teen-rap group with Scott Caan!) has formed a duo with L.A. indie rapper Oh No (who's given name is Michael Jackson and who is the younger brother of underground rap hero Madlib). They call themselves Gangrene, and for the title track of their first album, they've made a video in which Oh No is in a recording studio in the back of a U-Haul truck that becomes involved in one of America's most dangerous police chases. Alchemist is driving the truck. Lots of crazy stuff happens. Alchemist bails out and tries [...]

The great Queens rapper Prodigy was released this morning from Marcy, New York's Mid-State Correctional Facility (where he recorded this harrowing ice-pick of a song, above, over the phone last year), having completed a three-year sentence for gun possession. According to the producer Alchemist, a frequent collaborator, Prodigy will meet Havoc, his longtime partner in the duo Mobb Deep, in a recording studio this afternoon to start work on new music. He has a book coming out, too—My Infamous Life: The Autobiography of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy—set for release April 19 through Simon & Schuster. He'll be reading from it at the Russian Tea [...]