Louisville-born rapper, producer, and self-described "circumnavigator of thought and circumstance" Prodigy the Kid (PTK) sits down with Marc and Pod Rashid for a two-and-a-half-hour Easter Sunday conversation that covers just about everything — from childhood bedrooms to the music industry, faith to freestyle rap history.

Born in 2002 and raised in Louisville, Prodigy started writing music at 8 years old — lining out composition grids on notebook paper. By 11 he was freestyling over Childish Gambino beats into a Rock Band USB mic plugged into a PC, then graduating to a first-gen iPad, an iPod touch, a closet recording setup, and eventually a Mac mini purchased with money saved through middle school. GarageBand carried him all the way to 2019 before a mid-session computer crash forced him onto Logic Pro for the first time — and he's been on it ever since.

A Ballard High grad (class of 2020, homeschooled his senior year due to COVID), Prodigy grew up in what he describes as two separate worlds — bouncing between his mom's household and his dad's — which he credits with sharpening his instincts and sense of right and wrong. He talks openly about navigating depression at 13, how Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly became a lifeline, and how that album still reveals new layers over a decade later. His musical convictions run deep: Kendrick is his GOAT with three pivotal albums, and he has a standing dream project called Ville Matic — a Louisville compilation record inspired by Illmatic — that he hopes to bring to life as his platform grows.

The conversation gets into the business side of music in a serious way. Prodigy — currently studying music business — breaks down Spotify's evolving terms of service and the AI rights implications for independent artists, why Drake's $500 million lifetime deal was a missed opportunity, the mechanics of record advances, and Bandcamp as a more artist-friendly alternative to streaming. He also touches on staying a clean rapper, navigating faith and art, and how his 2023 album Ten Year Rookie was the peak of his ego — followed by a deliberate reset.

Rounding out the episode: a deep dive into wrestling (Cody Rhodes' redemption arc hits different), the Young Thug RICO case, Gucci Mane's legacy, and a side project podcast with his church friends built entirely around pitching terrible ideas.

Follow Prodigy the Kid at @prodigythakid