Rapper Prodigy was granted yet another reprieve in beginning his 3 1/2 year jail bid for gun possession yesterday. His lawyer, Irving Cohen, claimed that severe lung pain had landed the Mobb Deep member (who suffers from sickle cell anemia) in the hospital, and that his client might also be looking at hip replacement surgery in the near future. But a day after he was supposedly admitted, Prodigy posted a message on his blog claiming he was in as robust health as could be expected given his condition. Oh and he was definitely not hospitalized on Tuesday, repudiating his own defense team. This should make for a fun chat at that next lawyer-client working brunch.

Prodigy wrote: “Who cares what they say, they say a lot. Spell/ pronounce my name right when it’s time … I did Connecticut twice in a row, B.B. King’s in New York, then Boston, Albany and New Hampshire. So I don’t know why they wanna say I’m sick in the hospital. I’m very good, getting that show bread.”

Well, “they” possibly might want to say that to keep you out of jail, even if only for one more week. It’s kind of “their” job. Still, Prodigy’s management backs up the rapper’s claim that he’s been out on the touring circuit rather than stuck in a hospital bed, while Mr. Cohen has remained mum on the issue for the time being. And whether he’s currently illin’ or not, Prodigy is still set to begin his sentence next Wednesday.

Mobb Deep’s Prodigy Claims He Wasn’t Hospitalized [MTV; Photo: AP]