Prodigy and Havoc began laying down rhymes together in high school. When their first album flopped, they came up with a new sound that was directly influenced by Prodigy's lifelong battle with sickle cell anemia, and it helped define a generation of hip hop.

As a kid growing up with the disease, Prodigy was told he'd barely make it to adulthood. But the work of doctors, athletes, Hollywood stars and The Black Panthers helped transform his fate. 

Plus: Big Twins talks about the sickle cell attack he’ll never forget.

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.