Cormega - Mega Philosophy (July 22, 2014)

This is the last time I'm importing a review from my mentor Max's Hip Hop Isn't Dead blog. I promise only all-new content from now on.

Quick question: How many rappers have caused you to change your mind about their work? We're talking a shift from, "Oh, he's absolute cow dung!" to, "God DAMN, this dude can spit!"

Ever since 2009, I can confidently say that Cory McKay, who joined a lucha libre stable under the name Cormega, has changed mine.

For years, Cormy has struggled under the shadow of his former foe Nas: his then-disagreement with Escobar resulted in him getting mysteriously kicked the fuck out of the hip hop supergroup The Firm, whose remaining members (AZ, Foxy Brown, and Nas, obviously) then rushed to sign with Dr. Dre, Ph.D, who replaced him with a different Queensbridge rapper who called himself Nature for some reason I'd rather not research.

Everything kept going downhill from there, as Cormy went on to be kicked out of another faction, this time Def Jam Records, who shelved his first attempt at a debut solo album, The Testament. This forced him to escape to the underground, where he released project after project of varying degrees of quality. Not to say that Cormy is a shitty emcee, of course: far from it. Mega has slowly moulded himself into one of the sharpest writers: his lyricism and effort are undeniable. But the main problem I've had with him is his inconsistent beat selection, since I believe using too many no-names causes consistency to drop considerably. Each and every one of his previous albums contains a bunch of tracks that you really can't take seriously (e.g., “Montana Diary”, “Rap's A Hustle”, etc.).

During the recording sessions for his second album, The True Meaning, Cormy came face-to-face with the man who helped shaped Nas's career, because whether anybody likes it or not, producer/rapper Large Professor is equally responsible for the awesomeness that is Illmatic as Nas is himself, since he was the unofficial A&R/executive producer of the iconic album. I've long held an admiration for the man's work in this genre, which was renewed when I came across his shelved debut, The LP. Bottom line: William Paul Mitchell is the fucking man.

Their lone collaboration on that project, “The Come Up”, didn't necessarily set the hip hop world on fire, it paved the way for future link-ups such as “Sugar Ray and Hearns”, which, despite how much I hoped, LP did not produce, and “Journey”, off of Cormy's fifth album Born & Raised. Although he had collaborated with other high-caliber producers such as DJ Premier, Pete Rock & Buckwild on that album, Mega sensed that he was on to something with Extra P. “Journey” was a flawless track that ranks right up there with the other classic tracks in Large Professor's production championship belt. So, since being called a “professor” implies you possess certain degree of intelligence, LP contacted our host to propose a full album-length collaboration. What he didn't expect was that Cormy was just about to call him to propose that very same idea. And the hip hop multiverse storyline was officially underway.

Seriously though, after promising the fucking thing for years, Cormy finally dropped Mega Philosophy, with its wall-to-wall production from Large Professor, onto the unsuspecting masses in July 2014. With this album, he claims he will earn his rightful place among the hip hop elite. So, does he?

Mega Philosophy, boy/girl (pick one):

1. A NEW DAY BEGINS

We begin with some dude passionately shouting about something about outsiders claiming to be hip hop scholars while ignoring some of the key people who helped shape the art form. Whatever. After the speech, Cormy spits a single verse over a smooth musical backdrop with no drums to grab on to. Hey, at least it's not an intro or spoken word.

2. MARS (DREAM TEAM) (FEAT. AZ, REDMAN, & STYLES P)

Huh. The sequel to a similarly structured song on Extra P's 2012 opus (Professor @ Large's “M.A.R.S.”, which featured Mega Montana alongside diet Ghostface Killah Action Bronson, current underground darling Roc Marciano, and Saigon, whom I didn't like for the longest until I heard his work with Just Blaze) shows that our host isn't fucking around. He certainly knows that once people merely glance at that guest list that this track will become an instant priority. So, yeah, this song is the tits. Everybody on here comes correct, and I'm very happy with Redman's first outing over an XP production. His Bruh Man reference produced a chuckle out of me that I don't usually get from most hip hop records these days. Props to AZ's diss to George Zimmerman, too.

3. INDUSTRY

The lead single. This cut got a lot of love from the Interweb back then, and with good reason, as Cormy steps up his ever-present critique of the music industry. This is a big step forward from the guy who wrote “Testament”. Props for mentioning Lauryn Hill and Styles P's respective predicaments, though. I have to think Nas was inspired to let Lauryn remind us of her greatness on KD2's Nobody after he listened to this once him & Cormy mended fences. And points have to be awarded for the single's cover art, especially as he includes the late Guru and Pimp C in that group. Not that we don't miss everyone we've lost in hip hop, but those two don't get mentioned nearly as often as the rest for some reason. I wish LP would have spit some bars on this, as he's been fucked over by the industry even more than our host.

4. MORE (FEAT. CHANTELLE NANDI)

Cormy gets his preach on over a dope LP production that utilises his strong ear for bass along with some soft strings sprinkled here and there, along with our host's new vocalist, whose singing I couldn't really decide on. The end result does the job surprisingly well, because although Cormy's preaching comes off as a bit forceful, it weirdly suits him. This album is slowly becoming quite the force. This is also the second song in a row where LP would've fit in nicely.

5. REFLECTION

Another Cormy acapella, a continuation of his one-acapella-per-album trend. The lyrics are good, though. Next!

6. D.U. (DIVINE UNITY) (FEAT. NATURE)

The working relationship between Cormega and Nature is one of the absolute funniest things I've ever seen in hip hop. First, your friend kicks you out of a group you helped form, and replaces you with some other random dude. Then you dis the shit out of both of them. And finally, you make up with your replacement, but not your longtime friend. Glad both of them squashed that, seriously. Anyway, these two have hooked up in the past on a remix of an Alchemist cut called “Professional Style” that also featured common Firm relation AZ. That track was even remixed by Cormega and The Revelations for his compilation album, Raw Forever, complete with redone lyrics from all parties involved. As for this song? Well, the chemistry is surely there, but the star of the show is the instrumental, which elevates the street imagery and boasts to a truly respectable scale. This shit was stupid nice.

7. HONORABLE (FEAT. RAEKWON)

Cormy's pulling out all the stops on this, huh? The Chef comes correct on his second Extra P outing following his showout 14 years prior on Busta Rhymes's The Heist, alongside fellow Wu General GFK and aforementioned underground darling Roc Marciano, whom I preferred way better during his Flipmode/UN days. Rae and our host use the same formula as "C.R.E.A.M.", in that Rae is once again the party enamoured with the street life while Cormy plays the Inspectah Deck role of the cat who thanks his newfound spirituality for getting him the fuck out of that life. In no way am I saying this is as good as “C.R.E.A.M.”: I'm saying the formula is a tried and true one that works on this track.

8. RAP BASQUIAT

Aside from “MARS (Dream Team)”, this song has the beat that stuck with me the most so far on Mega Philosophy. LP's drum break samples are fucking awesome, and he even plays with the breaks during Cormy's performance to amplify the energy of the track. Accordingly, Mega steps his delivery up to a fever pitch, which gives his boasts a certain authority that improves the overall product. True shit: I haven't heard Cormy sound this aggressive since The Testament. The guy at the end, though? Annoyingly unnecessary to the proceedings.

9. RISE (FEAT. MAYA AZUCENA)

Maya Azucena reunites with Cormy after their stellar posse cut to benefit Haiti, “I Made A Difference”, from 2010, which also marked the first time I had ever heard Reggie Noble spit conscious rhymes. LP and Maya prep the track nicely enough for Cormy to go in full introspective mode, and seeing as I love me some introspection when done right, this shit is right up my alley. This is the second time in a row a track ends in a crappy way, though, as LP brings down the beat, leaving Maya sounding pretty paranoid as she hums on to the end of the track. Still, this was the third song on here where Extra P's bars could've fit like a glove.

10. HOME (FEAT. BLACK ROB)

Even when his Life Story album being an absolute gem that sold one million copies Stateside and his sophomore The Black Rob Report being satisfyingly consistent, I've always felt like the late Black Rob was quite underpromoted. That, and I’ve mistakenly dismissed his solo work for the longest because of his staunch loyalty to the human serpent that is Sean Comby Combs (A dismissal that thankfully didn’t last long). But ever since he left prison in 2010, he's been making moves with the right people: I enjoyed his showing on Smif-N-Wessun and Pete Rock's Monumental collaboration album. He's always had a talent for painting a picture you can believe. On “Home”, he gives what can be argued as his most memorable showing since he became a free man again, although I could probably credit that to XP moulding the beat to fit his heavy voice. Oh, and Cormy's his usual self here, as well. Ever since Rob passed, this has become the track I revisit the most from Mega Philosophy despite its brevity.

11. VALUABLE LESSONS

A quick sample from The True Meaning's “Take These Jewels” precedes a somber acoustic-sampling beat that provides the canvas for the final track on the album, where Cormy spits three verses, each one about a different type of relationship: friendship, family, and love, respectively. He ends his album on a very personal note, and LP's beat is a very fitting musical backdrop for the proceedings. And with that, we're done.

FINAL THOUGHTS: With Mega Philosophy, Cormega has finally delivered what has been missing from his catalogue: A damn fine album that is complete with excellent performances and quality beats from a bonafide legend. Large Professor has finally collaborated with an artist who has shown time and again to be worthy of his beats. (LP, I know Neek The Exotic is your man, but he hasn't delivered on his “Fakin' The Funk” potential for over twenty years now. Maybe he should quit rapping. And L.E.O.? Really, William? You fucked up on that one. Fucked up bad.) The only thing would have made Mega Philosophy perfect are some bars from Extra P himself, and trust me, many opportunities presented themselves. But make no mistake about it: this is a fucking awesome album. The guests, rapping and singing alike, were also equally stellar, lending the album an air of fine quality control and ensuring it as a body of work one will revisit for years to come.

WORTH IT? You bet your doughy and warty posterior, boy/girl (pick one). Cormega, you may now take your rightful place among the elite in hip hop. Very well done, sir.

 

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN

INDUSTRY (JUICE CREW REMIX) (FEATURING KOOL G RAP, MASTA ACE & CRAIG G)

Over the same beat as the regal original, Cormega returns and brings with him one hell of an all-star show as Craig G, music man Masta Ace and the Kool motherfucking Genius of Rap of hip hop royalty the Juice Crew catch wreck. And boy, do they ever! Each MC delivers a critique that will remain true until God takes this Earth over. This shit slaps!

INDUSTRY (DELUXE REMIX) (FEATURING INSPECTAH DECK, ROC MARCIANO, SADAT X & LORD JAMAR)

Over an entirely different instrumental from the Extra P, Cormega invites my favorite Wu General Excalibur aka Inspectah Deck, Roc Marciano (I'm really mentioning him a lot in this interview, aren't I? Speaks to his workrate) and members of hip hop royalty Brand Nubian Sadat X & Lord Jamar (DJ Vlad's former BFF) to showcase yet another critique of the business side of music. While everyone else, including our host, did their best to leave a lasting impression on the consumer, there’s a reason the other Wu Generals feared the Rebel. With my favorite outing on the song, Deck perfectly exhibits why he’s one of the most potent MCs to ever write lyrics with:

"I strive to be the type to fight to lead them right

From the brainwash, same songs daily that they playin'

And if you disagree with the mass, then you're hatin'"

Preach on, good brother.

And we’re done.

For more on the recently-reinstated Firm member, lookit. For other Queensbridge luminaries, check this out. And for extra Extra P, follow this.

Cormega - The Testament (planned release: September 1, 1998; actual release: February 22, 2005)

So, tell me if you heard this one before: This is a story about a rapper who was fucked over by the industry. Thought so.

OK, so first there was this dude called Marley Marl. He was a DJ. He was from Queensbridge. He rolled with a bunch of rappers from there. To name a few: MC Shan, Craig G, MC Poet (nka Blaq Poet) and Tragedy. That last dude influenced a lot of similar-minded QB MCs, including one who called himself Nas. That last dude would release his debut, Illmatic, in 1994. It would cause many perfectly sane people who are either fans of hip hop music or contributors to that very genre to lose their shit on a regular basis at exactly how good it was as far as albums go. On that hip hop landmark, Nas would write a song called One Love, produced by Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, which would be imitated to the end of time, as it's basically a letter to incarcerated loved ones. Nas drops a line in One Love that goes: 'What up with Cormega? Did you see him? Are y'all together?

Naturally, back then nobody knew who this Cormega person was. So, hip hop nerds went crazy looking for any info on him. Turned out that a dude who went by the name Cory McKay did some pretty impressive spitshine-cleaning in various grocery stores as Cormega. The store owner told him not to spitshine the vegetables numerous times, but Cormega McKay absolutely insisted on doing so. 'What would I tell Mommy?' was his excuse. So, the store owner fired little Cormy and kicked him out in the street, telling him in a fit of anger to go be someone useless, like a rapper or something.

Little did he know.

Cormy took those words to heart and began writing like crazy. Thereby appearing on DJ Hot Day's debut album, then Phd's debut album. (Phd is the aforementioned Blaq Poet's group. The first of several.) By the time the masses heard the second Cormega appearance on wax, he had become a local rap superhero. Unfortunately however, Mega got himself locked up for armed robbery and did 4 years time. The Nas shoutout was during said jail time, so by the time he was released, a shitload of people knew who he was. Naturally, the two became steadfast friends after he recognized this. They would later form a supergroup with Brooklynites AZ & Foxy Brown and call it The Firm. You know. Because mafioso stereotypes weren't rampant enough back then. The Firm, including Cory, would appear on Nas' second album, It Was Written, and later sign with a certain West Coast producer named Dr. Dre and his then-fledgling label Aftermath. In the midst of all this, Mega was signed as a solo artist to the grandaddy of all labels, Def Jam. All seemed to be good in Cormy's life.

Keyword: seemed. Following Cormy's refusal to sign a bullshit contract with Steve Stoute, Steve-O would launch an extensive campaign to blackball Mega throughout the entire industry, beginning with kicking him out of The Firm and replacing him with an MC with zero prior history with the remaining Firmmates. Some dude called Nature. Cormy blew a gasket, of course. So much so that it affected his own solo deal with Def Jam in the middle of his solo debut album's crafting process. By the time he finished it and called it The Testament, his relationship with Def Jam and his then-manager, the late Chris Lighty, had soured irreparably. Def Jam then gave him his second kickout in his career and shelved his intended debut. All seemed to be over in Cormy's career life.

Keyword: seemed. Mega would gather his act together, found an independent label called Legal Hustle, release his 2nd debut The Realness and become one of the forefathers of the fledgling hip hop independent scene, and would establish a career that is still going pretty damn strong now. He would find enough success to enable him to buy his original shelved debut and release it in its unaltered form. These types of albums usually come with much fanfare, and truthfully? Not all of it's justified. You're reading this review to see if this album earns it, though. Am I right or am I right? Thought so.

I must confess: My love for Nas' artistic output so far has initially caused me to dislike Cormega. But, after listening to his numerous collabs with people such as Large Professor & the Wu, I gradually warmed up to his work. I officially became a fan of his when I heard his album Born & Raised. He has simply grown so much as an MC during his career. Add that with the fact that, while not perfect, he has a fairly good ear for beats.

What better place to start diving into this dude's material than his debut? It's readily available, so it shouldn't be a problem if you decide it's worth your time. Let's go.

INTRO

Cormy starts his tradition of opening up albums with rhymes to an instrumental with no beat here. Cory is, without question, one of the better writers of introspective rhymes. As such, this was when he still didn't have a good grip on that aspect of his lyrics, so this falls flat.

62 PICKUP

Cormy starts his career out with a beat produced by himself? Pretty risky. Unfortunately it doesn't pay off as his one-verse wonder, while sound, doesn't mesh with the whimsical beat at all. The waste of good lyrics will only annoy you. I know it did me.

ONE LOVE

RNS, a Wu-Tang affiliated producer, backs Mega's reply to Nas' shoutout with a decent instrumental. You knew Cormy was gonna write this, obviously. And honestly, it speaks volumes about the depth of Nas and Mega's on-off friendship that he still kept this on his album, even though they were beefing at the time. Plus, the rhymes on here match Nas' original extremely well. I loved this song.

INTERLUDE

Cormy also starts his tradition of acapella verses here. Unlike some of his later iterations, this was pretentious as all fuck.

ANGEL DUST (FEATURING HAVOC)

Featuring Havoc as a rapper on a song he didn't produce completely mystifies me. Especially when he's relegated to hook duties. Furthermore, having Prodigy shout Mega out uncredited adds only to the frustration, which should be settling in quite nicely as you're reading this. However, Sha Money XL (whom I never knew was a producer, in all honesty) brings our host a cinematic beat that would've fit on The Infamous & Hell On Earth, and Cory definitely adds to the comparison by spitting thuggery that would've fit perfectly on said albums, as well. This wasn't bad. I honestly feel like he's pushing the limits to what he can do with mafioso imagery, though. He needs a concept, fast.

DEAD MAN WALKING

Right on cue! This was one of Mega's best-known songs, simply for the fact that he actually performed it regularly live back in 1998 on the Survival Of The Illest tour with DMX, Onyx & Def Squad. This song is a classic hip hop revenge tale with the details interwoven by Mega making this song a must-hear. It doesn't hurt that the instrumental by DJ Hot Day & Jae Supreme fits the rhymes like a glove. This was intense.

MONTANA DIARY

A continuation of Angel Dust. And this time, the hook ruins the entire song. I told you Mega was running out of gas.

TESTAMENT

Or is he? This Dave Atkinson production bangs appropriately in a way we haven't heard yet on this album so far, and it influences Cormy to step up his imagery & flow schemes to admirable heights. Nicely done, indeed. By the way, this version of the song does not contain any type of diss towards Nas. It's pretty damn annoying to see people interpret lyrics that were never intended to mean anything because of simple personal agendas.

TESTAMENT (ORIGINAL)
This is the version Nas haters should be looking for, as it contains a brief-yet-clear dig at Mega's former friend. The beat and many of the rhymes are the same, though.

EVERY HOOD (FEATURING HUSSEIN FATAL)

Even though Cory's first verse is scorching hot, everything else about this song's execution is absolutely repulsive. No matter how much you try, Cormy. If you don't have chemistry with another rapper, you just don't. Stop trying to force that shit down my fucking throat. All joking aside, RIP Hussein Fatal. My deepest condolences go out to his family & friends.

COCO BUTTER

An even worse song where Cormy's feeble attempt at love-rapping falls flat on its hideous, Deadpool-ugly-ass face once he decides to compare his infatuation with a certain boo to various drug-dealing imagery. Fuck this song.

KILLAZ THEME (FEATURING MOBB DEEP)

Many Mobb Deep & Cormega fans are already familiar with this song. Doesn't change the fact that this song is trademark Mobb Deep in its awesomeness. Many fans also know that the Mobb & Cormy were confused between this song and Mobb Deep's What's Ya Poison as to who would take which song. I wish the Mobb would've taken this song, because I feel it's a better showcase for Prodigy, while What's Ya Poison showcases Mega better.

LOVE IS LOVE

This composition by Nashiem Myrick, sampling the same exquisite Ohio Players song as Killah Priest's overrated B.I.B.L.E., brings out a side in Cormega that would be very thoroughly and beautifully fleshed out later in his career: Introspection regarding hood life. Whether it be the innocent, the dealers and people who share his current position in life, Cormega drops jewels in a way that has since made fans out of absolute legends such as the late Guru, Chuck D & PMD of EPMD, among many more. And with good reason, too, as his rhymes here are brilliant. This was a highlight, no fucking doubt.

DEAD MAN WALKING (REMIX)

Utilizing a slightly different take on the same beat as the original, Cormega presents to the listener the sequel to this story. He describes going to his victim's funeral and the thoughts going through his head while doing so. The attention to detail matches, if not eclipses, the original, which is pretty awesome. And we're done.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Obviously, Mega shows without question that he's an MC of talent. However, it's my belief that had this album been released on its intended 1998 date, Cormy's career would still be the exact same as it is now. The album as it stands is pretty hit or miss, as would be the case for most of Cory's subsequent releases. The highs, however, are definitely must-hears. Mega reaches heights that can only be reached by MCs who deserve to be called such. Even some of the bad songs that aren't worth your time aren't horrendously bad. That classification only fits two songs here.

WORTH IT? Pretty much. You are guaranteed more than a few songs of sheer enjoyment, and most of the rest won't truly piss you off. The album is worthy of being in your collection. You still don't want it? Then why in the fuck did you read the whole goddamn review?! Go spread your negative energy somewhere else, it's not welcome here. What do you mean, I'm being negative too? Are you crazy?

For more Cormega, check here.

Capone-N-Noreaga - The War Report (June 17, 1997)

I am going through a shit time in my life, man. Give me a break.

In the hip-hop world, though, some different type of shit went down. Sean Price, member of legendary Brooklyn collective Boot Camp Clik as one-half of punchline duo Heltah Skeltah, and one-third of Random Axe, passed away in his sleep. If you're not familiar with his music, leave this page now and check out his Heltah Skeltah material and work your way up to his solo shit. I guarantee that you'll be blown away. Sean Price was an example of true dedication to the craft of MCing while staying true to himself, and I'm so sad I didn't get to sit down and have a deep conversation with him in his lifetime. RIP Ruck. Your punchlines and hilarious video skits will be missed. My deepest condolences go out to your family and friends.

Sean's always admirable approach to his profession always reminded me of another OG in the game: Tragedy, coincidentally one of our subjects for this evening. Now I don't want to run the risk of disrespecting a legend like Sean P by merely mentioning him in another group's review but it is my honest belief that if I focus on spreading good hip hop out there, I'm actually paying tribute to what Ruck stood for in his art: good hip hop. After releasing his sophomore effort Saga Of A Hoodlum in 1993, Percival Chapman the Fourth of Queensbridge, known in bowling alleys nationwide as the Intelligent Hoodlum yet secretly competed in juggling festivals under the aforementioned name Tragedy, found the critical and commercial reception lacking (despite the undisputed fact that it was a work of art) and decided, albeit for a minuscule period of time, that he didn't have what it takes to continue his chosen career path as an MC in the treacherous world of the music industry. Which so happened to coincide with the sudden dominance of a few fellow QB artists who were heralded as spiritual successors of his, some whom he even trained personally. You might know of them. Nas? Mobb Deep? Thought so.

So, our protagonist began entertaining the familiar 'Hey, I might actually be worth something after all in this game.' dialogues normally associated with such situations, leading into him beginning a different campaign in pursuit of hip hop glory and riches. Mostly riches, but glory's kinda nice. He went through his bowling buddies notebook (because nobody had cellular phones that could save more than a gajillion contacts with the easiest of ease back then. I think.) and found a certain Kiam Holley, who called himself Capone, truthfully one of the most unimaginative rap names imaginable in a mafioso-rap-saturated market. Numerous attempts as a duo yielded failure after failure, pushing Tragedy to look for another person to fill in as hype-man and add a little something more to the group. This time he went to fellow looking glass enthusiast Victor Santiago, who for some reason kept yelling Noreaga in his sleep so much that his folks started calling him that very name. It is of note that Noreaga was NOT from QB last I checked, thank you. Conveniently enough, both he and Capone choose this most opportune time to get themselves locked up. I'm guessing Tragedy might've been a tad miffed, but somehow they turned this into the best thing to happen to them at that time. See, the two snots didn't really click with each other until the shared jail time and by the time they got out, the two were inseparable. Corny enough to be a movie, really.

By this stage, Capone had already heeded Tragedy's tutelage and became a full-fledged MC. Unlike Noreaga, who was still struggling to lose an idiotic trait of his that would plague him fairly consistently throughout his own career: Many a time comes when the motherfucker simply refuses to flow. Inspectah Deck, Victor Santiago was not. However by then, Tragedy seemingly had enough of his bullshit. He most likely slapped him upside his fucking head a good one and knocked some sense into him. Hey, at least it kept him in check for this album, right? Or maybe it was Mr. Holley inexplicably getting himself locked up again, thereby forcing Mr. Santiago to step up and take his profession seriously, to the utter relief of Mr. Chapman the Fourth. The incarceration of Capone also led to the The War Report getting pushed back a full two years, which was a big deal back then as the hip hop climate was rife with change. Some was good, some was Diddy & Big Willie.

So now that Trag mobilized his forces, (You know. Aside from Pone thrown in the slammer again, of course.) Only two things remained on the agenda: 1. Acquiring some production suitable for his grand vision. 2. Forming a distinctive identity for this group.

I'll let the review talk about the first one while I address the second, for it is much more important to me seeing as I am a resident of the Arab World, and have been so for quite some time now: I personally find it incredibly ignorant, maybe even downright insulting at times, to imploy numerous Arab countries, phrases & ideals in a context of turmoil & thuggery as a metaphor for something as trivial as survival in the music industry or as a measurement of skill in the art form. Number one reason as to why is that I adamantly disagree with the stereotype that the entirety of this part of the world is in constant conflict is because read a book about these people, motherfucker. A book that serves no agenda whatsoever. Trust me, you'll quickly find one. Magic of Google 'n'all. Two: That fucking Arab terrorist image. Aren't you just SICK of going down this particular road? I know hundreds of Arabs here who, quite literally, only know of guns through the movies they watch or the video games they play. Also, statistics say that those terrorists rightly vilified in some media outlets are mostly of non-Arab origin, yet the media only focus on the Arabs in those situations. We all know that terrorism is inhumane but the focus should be on disassociating these criminals from ALL of humanity. Tragedy, you lost a lot of points in my book for that one. I get the 5% Nation babble & shit, but keep those thoughts about this place to yourself, thank you. And by the way: I know that's why you chose the name Khadafi and all but, seriously, the man was not the rebel the West perceived him to be. And, given the way he died, maybe it's time you took the path of your disciple Noreaga and change your name to Afi or some crap. Tragedy Afi, huh? Could work. You know what? Just stick to Tragedy, man.

I've digressed this album into the fucking concrete, apparently.

INTRO

...

BLOODY MONEY

EZ Elpee struck up an often fruitful partnership with Tragedy and his cronies (Well, namely one crony: Nore.) in 1997, starting with this very record. Nore sets the tone forthe rest of the album admirably, meshing well with EZ Elpee's now-signature piano looping, this time sampling from Philadelphia Morning, an instrumental from the classic Rocky OST composed by the legendary Bill Conti. This was proper in all the right ways as Nore sounds pretty convincing throughout.

DRIVER'S SEAT (FEATURING IMAM T.H.U.G. & BUSTA RHYMES)

Nashiem Myrick from Diddy's merry band of Hitmen scores a duet between Nore and Imam THUG, a nickname that does NOT compute in my part of the world, believe me. Imam was briefly one half of the Iron Sheiks along with this project's mastermind Tragedy, one which produced an absolute must-have in Trag's catalogue, Illuminati. Simply because Tragedy sounds like he's rediscovering his hunger for rhyming mid-fucking-song, which is awesome. This song? It moves things along, I guess. And Busta's cameo at the end infuriates me, because Busta: You’re supposed to rhyme on this shit, motherfucker!

STICK YOU

Capone & Tragedy's very first outing on this album is truly marked by an addictive song. Immediately, you're jarred by Capone's very different vocal tone. Dude sounds like he just drank sulfuric acid, and he sounds like that all the time. I don't mind it so much, though. Just thought I'd give you the heads up. The instrumental, by Naughty Shorts, (don't ask) strikes just the right balance between minimalism and melody. The skit at the beginning was entirely unnecessary, though. Other than that, this was awesome.

PAROLE VIOLATORS (FEATURING HAVOC)

Havoc's hook is standard issue. This duet between Nore & Trag is curious because the beat sounds so much like a Havoc beat, yet it’s actually credited to Tragedy as well. Perhaps Trag is a talented shaman when it comes to channeling other people. You know what I believe? I believe Havoc produced this beat for dolo, fuck the bullshit. He simply wanted to give a co-production credit to his lyrical mentor who might've been in a pinch when paying for the crew's dinner that night and Hav, super-producer that he was back then, just gave him that beat for free. Lyrically, Tragedy improves Nore's focus to impressive levels. This was a good follow-up.

IRAQ (SEE THE WORLD) (FEATURING CASTRO, MUSALINY, MENDOSA & TROY OUTLAW)

Nore, no matter how much love you're getting by this point, let me make one thing perfectly clear: You are not fit to lead a posse cut of weed carriers. This shit might fly on your own solos, but not on a goddamn Capone-N-Noreaga album. EZ Elpee does his job proper on the beat, but many people on here never should pick a mic up again. My opinion.

LIVE ON, LIVE LONG

Nore's tribute to his chum comes off as a bit cheesy, but somehow he pulls it off alright. At least, dude has some passion in him. Unlike the songs I hear today, which absolutely do not have soul whatsoever. Such as when whichever Fetty of the Wap tribe of the day blesses us with another of his "hits". It somehow helps that the beat, by something called a G-Money, is pretty fitting for this type of song.

NEVA DIE ALONE

Buckwild of the legendary DITC blesses the duo, or trio on this particular song as Tragedy comes out to play again, an eerie beat that loops a Herbie Hancock sample which inspires all three to rip the beat to shreds, especially Tragedy. He even states later on in his career that working on this album reignited his love for MCing. This was a definite highlight.

T.O.N.Y. (TOP OF NEW YORK)

Another song where all three get down, and this one's the second single. This jam is considered as CNN's signature song, and for an excellent reason. the 3 MCs' chemistry reaches one of its peaks on this album with every verse here complimenting the other well. Built around an exquisite Walter Jackson loop, the Nashiem Myrick beat is one that won't be leaving your subconscious anytime soon. More of this, please.

CHANNEL 10

Lord motherfucking Finesse brings CNN one of his best beats, a perfect atmospheric composition that was begging for Trag & co. to demolish. So of course Percival sticks with hook duties, although his hook is effective. But that's OK, believe me, for in his steed Capone unleashes an awesome contribution that made me seriously rethink my view of his abilities as an MC. Nore sounds more amped than usual, which is supposed to be a compliment. Side thought: I really miss Lord Finesse on the mic. Not saying he'd fit on this type of thuggery, though. I just miss his punchlines.

CAPONE PHONE HOME (INTERLUDE)

I get the sentiment, but it has no place on an album such as this.

THUG PARADISE

Tragedy & co. rip a freestyle to shreds. Sorry, but that's all I got on this one.

CAPONE BONE

Whoops. I may have spoken too soon regarding Poney here. For he wastes a perfectly banging Marley Marl instrumental on truly one of the worst sex raps I've ever heard. I mean, sex raps are by default repulsive, but damn, Poney, what the motherfuck?

HALFWAY THUGS

Another Nore solo. This one backed by a Charlemagne beat. (This Charlemagne is not that waste of human tissue you're probably thinking about from that radio show. I don't care how hard he's worked, that fuck wouldn't have the balls to contribute something meaningful to hip hop culture.) No lie, first time I heard this, I thought this was another EZ Elpee composition. So the fact that it isn't is a nice surprise. Nore takes the imaginary competition to heart with his grimy threats. Had he continued this approach, his solo career could've still interested me for a few more years. Instead, he chose to hook up with the fucking Neptunes. Nuff said. Anyways, this was pretty decent.

L.A., L.A. (KUWAIT MIX) (FEATURING MOBB DEEP)

The lead single, which began its life as a Tragedy single featuring CNN & Mobb Deep. Story time: Work on this album just so happened to coincide with the exact moment the East-West beef escalated: Some truly enlightened people decided in a moment of pure enlightenment (read: they were coked out of their minds) that it was a great idea to roll up and fire live gunshots at Snoop Dogg and the Dogg Pound while they were shooting a video for their East Coast hip hop tribute New York, New York. Yes, it was originally a fucking tribute, NOT a diss. Evidenced by DJ Pooh & Kurupt's approach to their product: Minimalist beat plus rhyming your ass off. Sounds East Coast to me. Anyway, Death Row, under the leadership of crazy person Suge Knight, decided it was an even better idea to insult the entire city in the song's video in retaliation by depicting Snoop & the DPG as giants wreaking havoc in NY. Needless to say, the NY hip hop scene didn't take too kindly to that. However, nobody replied from the big dogs. So, Tragedy took it upon himself & his CNN to record a "response" using the same DJ Pooh beat, while switching the hook to LA, LA. This response tackles the exact same formula as NY, NY, with no specific disses found on the track whatsoever. Later on, hip hop legend Marley Marl was brought on to commission an exclusive beat for said response, rechristened 'LA, LA'. This beat, complied of a ingenious mix of Al Green & the Magic Disco Machine among other elements, is by far the best Marley Marl beat I've ever heard. I don't care what I come off as when I write this, I consider this beat to be Marley's best work in hip hop to date. Of course the rhymes should be up to par, and thankfully, everybody brings their A-game & reach their absolute peak in their chemistry together. Especially Tragedy, as he spits as if this is the very last time he'll be allowed to rhyme. Ever. My only gripe with this classic is that despite the title stating that Mobb Deep will show up, only Havoc rhymes on the song, because Prodigy felt that his verse for this song fit Nas' Live N**** Rap better, thereby sticking to hook duties here. That might've made them more money, (because, come on, It Was Written sold a shit ton more than the The War Report) but he missed out on a critically acclaimed song that would remain in rotation till the end of time within my personal collection. Short answer: this shit is essential. Best song on the album, and my favorite CNN song by far.

CAPONE-N-NOREAGA LIVE (INTERLUDE)

Goddamnit.

ILLEGAL LIFE (FEATURING HAVOC)

Credited as a Havoc beat co-produced with Tragedy again, which I believe to be absolute bullshit by now. Trag probably wasn’t even around the studio when Hav cheffed this beat up. The song is a simple-yet-effective duet between the CNN parties, with Capone's lone verse eclipsing both of Noreaga's bookend contributions. Moving on.

BLACK GANGSTAS

Buckwild returns with one of his textbook magical atmospheric beats, comprised of a haunting xylophone loop taken from Gary Burton, which repeats my sentiments from Channel 10, for Tragedy is on hook duties once again. His hook, however, is better than the hook he provided on said song. As is Capone's verse which leaves Nore's in the fucking Sahara Desert as it soars straight into the moon. Seriously, Capone really showed a hunger that could've made him one of the greats. If it wasn't for his constant need to prove he's from 'tha streetz'. This was bittersweet in its awesomeness.

CLOSER

Ending an album like The War Report with a song from motherfucking Clark Kent?! I consider this to be one of the very worst decisions Tragedy has ever made in this hip hop game. Despite being a very credible producer, Clark Kent always has a nasty habit of looking for radio airplay in his beats and you know this for a goddamn fact, Trag. How could you allow this fuck within 10 feet of the studio at that time, man? And you're nowhere near the damn song! This bullshit attempt at positivity came off as all sorts of insincere. The Sam Sneed remix rectified some of the damage for me.

CAPONE PHONE HOME (OUTRO)

Enough with the Capone phone calls already!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The War Report definitely qualifies as a headscratcher. One one hand, we have some truly abhorrent attempts at radio whoring, mixed with a lack of focus and too many goddamn skits. On the other, some bonafide classics that will stand the test of time. Most of the latter category has Tragedy's lyrical input, might I add. Tragedy's strange plan to re-enter the rap game apparently paid off though, as I always remember this album for containing a chunk of brilliant hip hop. The lyrical and musical high points on the joint are as high as any classic rap album I know out there, past or present. This thug rap example has truly enough goodness in it to forget that repulsive Closer abomination. What can I say? I love the word 'truly'.

WORTH IT? I'd say yes. If only for the thrill of hearing Tragedy rhyme his ass off again. The awesome beats on here might help sweeten the deal.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:

CALM DOWN (FEATURING NAS)

This gem right here was to feature Trag, Nas & both CNN members. Another missed opportunity resulting from Pone's stupid situation. EZ Elpee brings us a textbook piano sample of his (from a Bette Midler record, of all sources) that allows Tragedy, fellow QB native Nas & Lefrak outtatowner Noreaga to wreck shop. I honestly don't even mind Nas' appalling-as-always singing on the hook as these 3 really have a definite chemistry on here that still endures brilliantly. I still don't know why this was left off the album, as it fits perfectly within its context. Anyhow, it's incredibly easy to find, so git.

Believe it or not, there's more Tragedy stuff! I can smell your curiosity building from here...

Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth (November 19, 1996)

1994. Two teen rappers from Queensbridge, New York were tossed to the wolves the previous year after their debut's sales went straight to the gutter. They somehow still wanted to pursue this path in the fickle industry of music. So, they regroup and do the impossible: The name Mobb Deep became one of the most revered hip hop music acts in the artform's history. All within the span of a single release. The Infamous, their sophomore album introduced a formula the duo came across out of necessity, for Kejuan Muchita, nicknamed Havoc by his boo-boo, had discovered he was quite apt at production. While his partner in rhyme Albert Johnson, nicknamed Prodigy by his baby son who couldn't speak at the time so it was a complete mystery as to how he managed that particular feat, (Don't ask me why. Do I look like a goddamn pediatrician to you?) found out that he had vast amounts of untapped potential as a hip hop poet. The two snots used their newfound strengths to spectacular effect, earning the respect of hip hop pundits worldwide. A respect that continues to be given to them to this very day, all of it very well deserved. So, now our protagonists face an entirely different challenge: How the fuck do you follow up such a success?

By learning from other people's mistakes, of course. The Mobb is frequently compared to a fellow QB hip hop act, one Nasir Jones. Something which Prodigy actually acknowledges as he mentions being inspired and stepping up his lyrical game after Nasir, or Nas, dropped his debut album. You might've heard of that album. A little piece of work called Illmatic? Constantly brought up in fucking useless if not detrimental debates regarding the "best hip hop album of all time"? Anyways, Nas faced a similar challenge when it was follow-up-album time and he opted to go the experimental route while channeling the mafioso rap subgenre, newly revamped and overhauled by the Wu-Tang Clan for team-member Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...  in his sophomore effort It Was Written, an album that many Illmatic fans absolutely loathe. Which is absolute bullshit, because It Was Written, while considered by some to be slightly inferior to Illmatic, remains a quality piece of mafioso rap. Furthermore, it sold a fuckload of copies, launching Nas into the mainstream as a legitimate commercial force in hip hop music and gaining him all-new fans to recompensate for the very few fans he lost at the time, seeing as Illmatic had just went gold prior to It Was Written's gargantuan release.

Mobb Deep, however, felt that they were more dependent on their now-core fanbase, since The Infamous did a hell of a lot better than Illmatic at both's beginning stages. So, they decided to choose the other path: Sticking to your guns. Which worked even better than they'd imagined. For around that time, the Mobb's head weed carrier Tajuan Perry aka Big Noyd aka Noydy aka his Noydness aka Pizza Dude, who was an instant hit following his scene-stealing verse on Mobb Deep classic Give Up The Goods (Just Step), released an awesome EP, Episodes Of A Hustla, 95% of which was produced by Havoc. It would've helped even more had the EP not been released to the sound of crickets. But the few Mobb fans who did hear it were craving more of the Mobb sound, which was apparently relayed to said Mobb. So, galloping into familiar artistic territory they went. That's not to say they didn't tweak the formula a bit.

See, even Mobb Deep couldn't ignore the powerful surge of the mafioso rap subgenre spreading like an epidemic throughout the East Coast. The aforementioned Cuban Linx and It Was Written, alongside albums like Reasonable Doubt, Conspiracy and Doe Or Die, were making a lot of headlines during that particular period, which definitely had some sort of influence on Mobb Deep's sound. So, Havoc, who was strengthened by his production experiences on The Infamous enough to produce the entirety of this entry, decided to dig into the Mobb's vast collection of classic gangster films to put himself into the right musical mindset, while Prodigy went to work on improving his rhymes even further than the massive overhaul he gave them on The Infamous, thereby fortifying his ability to write metaphorical street tales that much more.

This album repeated the feat of its predecessor of selling five hundred thousand copies, which is even rarer than The Infamous's feat for two releases on an independent record label. Let's see how the end product lives up:

ANIMAL INSTINCT (FEATURING TWIN GAMBINO AND TY NITTY)

Havoc's opening statement sets some pretty high expectations already. But, the Mobb seem ready to make good on his promise if this song is any indication. Short version: This shit rocks. This was the perfect introduction to Infamous Mobb's Twin Gambino, the collective's most skilled rapper, and Ty Nitty, its least skilled member. That is, if you were one of the hundreds of thousands who were completely unaware of Episodes Of A Hustla. Havoc's beat samples The Trammps to brilliant effect. Note: Get used to Prodigy outshining each and every rapper who shares the mic with him on this album. Just saying.

DROP A GEM ON 'EM

Ah yes, the infamous 2Pac diss (pun very much intended). Mobb Deep still have many a 2Pac fan (Quite a few of these people are some of the absolute worst fans in this genre's history, let me tell you) at their throats blaming them for this song remaining on the retail release of this album even after Lesane's murder. You should be directing your hate at Loud CEO Steve Rifkind, people. He's the one who should've handled these matters back then. I'll bet he OK'd this whoring for more sales and shit. As for the song, though? For what it was, it's a fucking smash. Havoc digs as much as his limited MC skills can into 2Pac, before Prodigy dishes out a verbal beating the likes of which is last seen on his duet with Cormega on the latter's Thun & Kicko, where he aims a venomous verse straight for a certain Shawn Carter. The beat by Havoc is a masterpiece of a Whispers loop, punctuated by a perfectly chosen audio byte from R&B legend Aretha Franklin. Yeah, this song is awesome.

BLOODSPORT

I loathed this track when I first heard it, because of the loud-as-fuck drum breaks and the accompanying violins sampled in the beat in a manner that literally shows you how worms digest dead people. Now, those very factors are my favorite aspects about the beat, which I love for how it gets under my skin. Remember that note I wrote earlier on the first song? Exactly. Prodigy violates Havoc's beat, while Hav himself doesn't sound too bad. Score.

EXTORTION (FEATURING METHOD MAN)

The Mobb scores a cameo from reluctant critical darling Method Man, who sounds really mad on here, as if he's pissed he won a Grammy. It's almost as if he regards it as a seal of wackness of sorts. Anyways, leave it to Havoc to turn a Jackson 5 sample into utter dread music. Prodigy spits with that soulless conviction that he's perfected on the previous album. This song is my shit.

MORE TRIFE LIFE

Havoc felt insecure about Prodigy lyrically tearing through shit for the past four tracks and decided this pseudo-sequel was not going to feature his partner-in-rhyme, out of fear that people may completely disregard his MCing abilities. Just you wait till 2008, 96-era Havoc. You'll get all the features that were meant for your partner because he was too much of a bonehead to manage his firearms business right. Anyways, the beat is trademark Havoc. I guess I have to relent in saying that Hav also delivered with the rhymes. I mean, he ain’t no Melachi The Nutcracker, right? Moving along.

MAN DOWN (FEATURING BIG NOYD)
Pizza Dude! Happy Release From Jail Day, and many happy returns! Havoc's beat is more of a sequel to Party Over than it is to Give Up The Goods (Just Step), which works perfectly fine as the three MCs rip shit, though I have to say that Noydy pulls ahead of his hosts by a not-so-small margin. Havoc's hook is a fucking earsore, though.

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT (FEATURING ILLA GHEE)

This song is one where Havoc becomes the second master producer in hip-hop to flip a straight classic out of the opening notes of Gary Burton's Las Vegas Tango, the first being Cypress Hill's very own DJ Muggs. (who never seems to get the credit he deserves. Let's see if we can change that later.) I swear, those notes bring out a side of me that should be locked away in some zoo in South Africa. K bookends the song with two average 16's, while Illa Ghee & Prodigy provide the cream filling. Especially Prodigy, who sounds like he's having the time of his fucking life spitting his quite-long verse in a monotone that sounds hype as hell. May I also add that the hook might have something to do with P's elation, as it's friggin' awesome.

NIGHTTIME VULTURES (FEATURING RAEKWON)

The Chef's second showing on a Mobb outing, where he's brought in to provide that extra lyrical oomph to the project and to add more flame to the fire of comparison between this album's mafioso material and the Purple Tape's. What Cheffy here wasn't counting on was that he was going up against a Prodigy who's form was simply unstoppable. Don't be too hard on yourself, Corey: You never really stood a chance. Hav relents by sticking to the chorus, apparently giving up on lyrically competing with P at this point. His beat is where he truly shines, however, as he brings us a haunted loop that will stick in your head long after you finish the damn song.

G.O.D. PT. III

Mobb Deep's obsession with Scarface samples officially started on this song, their second single. The infernal looping of the sample by Hav brings out something in both Mobb halves that facilitates the direct transplant of their contributions into the back of your brain. Prodigy sets this off like a man possessed, taking his well-known threat game to an unheard level with imagery that forces you to view him as the monolithic MC he is. Said performance rubs off on Havoc, who cannot help but follow suit with a spirited performance by him as well. By now, this album is steamrolling its way into your favorite albums list. Trust me.

GET DEALT WITH
When will the onslaught of awesomeness end? This is the fifth song in a row that is seared into my subconsciousness, no lie. Leave it to Kejuan to bring us a simple piano loop and make it into an east coast classic. Albert's delivery of his thuggery here will sound as if he's really "standin' all up in ya cornea" with immediacy that will send a chill down your spine. Havoc rambles off for a bit at the beginning of his verse, then gets it together with a solid performance. The assault continues.

HELL ON EARTH (FRONT LINES)
Another ominous piano loop, this time for the lead single. First time I heard this, I confess I didn't like it. After listening the entire album again and again an infinite number of times, it gradually climbed into my favorite cuts from said album. This song most definitely contains a standout Prodigy verse. Not the first one, but the second one, as P bookends this song with Hav filling in the singular middle verse. Back to Prodigy: He unleashes a long-ass verse that ought to be etched in gold in my hip hop fall of fame, similar to Sticky Fingaz' verse on Purse Snatchaz, Cappadonna's verse on Winter Warz, etc. Just you wait. I'll build one, I tell ya.

GIVE IT UP FAST (FEATURING NAS AND BIG NOYD)
The mob movie sample onslaught continues with the heavily underrated Christopher Walken vehicle King Of New York (A much better movie than Scarface, in my humble opinion) now on the sample-chopping board. Nas continues his successful chemistry with the Mobb, backed by His Noydness, who frustratingly shares a verse with Havoc. I can only imagine how this would be as a Nas/Prodigy duet. It probably would be similar to the awesome Self Conscience on Nas' abysmal QB Finest. But this one's hella good, too.

STILL SHININ'
Havoc's at it again with a magnificent Willie Hutch sample, again bookended by P with Hav filling the middle. It’s really difficult finding an album cut that truly sticks out from the others on Hell On Earth, mostly because the quality exhibited is exceptional. Still Shinin’ is no different, as P torches his warpath of a verse for the jillionth time and Hav delivers a performance that just doesn’t measure up to his partner. Phenomenal song!

APOSTLE'S WARNING
Well, Havoc hasn't run out of good production ideas by the time he made this, obviously. That would unfortunately start the next year with the embarrassing beat he gave Mic Geronimo on Vendetta. Shame, that. Anyway, Michael Jackson's People Make The World Go Round was a good choice to look, although producer Minnesota flipped a much better sample from this song on Naughty By Nature's World Go Round. Havoc gets his adept sixteen in and gets the fuck outta the way of a rampaging Prodigy who rhymes his ass off until the end of the damn song, providing the second display of the night worthy of being etched in gold in my imaginary hall of fame. This was the only way the album should've ended. Alas, there's one more.

Some versions of Hell On Earth came with Shook Ones Part 1, which I already reviewed here, and one more:

IN THE LONG RUN (FEATURING TY NITTY)
This was even more of a dis track towards the Mobb's enemies at the time. More precisely, Prodigy's two enemies 2Pac and Keith Murray (who made amends with P as of this article's writing), as he's the only one doing the dissing, while Hav and Ty Nitty (who's ironically beefing with Prodigy now) provide miniscule contributions again. P’s brilliance is the only attraction here.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Talk about proving doubters wrong. Mobb Deep cement their status as hip hop icons with this album. Although a minor quibble by me is that I wish Havoc kept his pen game as sharp as it was on The Infamous, even though he delivered on a few tracks here, most notably More Trife Life. Not the case for Prodigy, obviously, as the man furthers his transformation into a lyrical monster on this record. Every verse he delivers connects. Every fucking verse. I will say something for Hav, though: His wall-to-wall production on here is his finest hour behind the boards. For some reason, Hell On Earth isn't as memorable to most heads as The Infamous, which mystifies me, as the same ingredients that were on The Infamous are present here. Not only that, but they produce even better results here most of the time, effectively landing this album alongside the Ironmans, the Reasonable Doubts and the It Was Writtens of that time period. Hell, I haven't skipped a single song on here! This would be the last Mobb Deep album that would be released before the advent of the Internet bootleggers, who would massacre the next Mobb Deep album, for better or worse.

WORTH IT?
Mobb Deep should celebrate this work just as much as The Infamous, if not even more so. But that doesn't mean you can't. Own and enjoy this hip hop classic for what it is.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
BACK AT YOU
Off the Sunset Park OST that came out before the start of this album's promotion. This song most definitely did not belong on a soundtrack of a film featuring another legendary rap group (Onyx) and yet this OST also contains Ghostface Killah's Motherless Child, Dogg Pound's Just Doggin' among others. Had this been on Hell On Earth, we would've had another Survival Of The Fittest on our hands, as this song feels like the mafioso sequel to the more popular single's gritty hoodlum roots. Anyways, Havoc pulls another proverbial rabbit outta his hat with his sped-up loop of Isaac Hayes' Bumpy's Lament's first few seconds, transforming the notes into those of a high-energy mafioso theme, properly handled by both Havoc and Prodigy. I was amazed that Havoc represented himself well here, as he's still going for his. Prodigy, predictably, outclasses him by fucking light years, but hearing Hav actively trying to catch up with P on the same record, similar to how he did on GOD Pt. 3, brings me a warm and fuzzy feeling. And the hook's perfect. This song fucking bangs. And we're done.

Plenty of more Mobb Deep to read here... 

Big Noyd - Episodes Of A Hustla (September 16, 1996)

Tajuan Perry must be really good pals with Mobb Deep. How else would you explain him popping up as much as he did on the vast majority of their albums? His early verses in particular, back when Mobb Deep half Havoc actually knew what he was doing behind the boards, really stick out, as he was putting a lot of thought behind the brags & stories he told in those rhymes. Matter of fact, his reintroduction to the game is widely regarded as one of the best verses in hip hop history, no bullshit. That verse alone impressed Tommy ain't my motherfuckin' Boy (Thanks, Max!) enough to come galloping towards Mr. Noyd with dollar signs in their glazed-over eyes. And with the strong emotional support group that Mobb Deep commanded back then, Big Noyd was set for very big things, indeed.



Until he got locked up before the album was finished.



I can only imagine how a label as fucking eager as Tommy Boy to screw a rap artist would react to such circumstances, especially in the 90s. And, since Big Noyd was not yet a household name, Tommy Boy went with the shortest contractual obligation possible: by releasing the songs previously recorded as a mere EP. Big Noyd's career never recovered from that. OK, now that that's out of the way, let's discuss the actual music at hand, shall we?


Since Noyd was introduced to the game by Mobb Deep, who were riding a big wave of success from their sophomore album The Infamous, off which Noyd contributed the aforementioned classic verse on Give Up The Goods (Just Step), and since Havoc of said Mobb Deep's sound was beginning to carve out quite the sizable lane in hip hop back then, it only made perfect sense that Noydy here worked almost exclusively with Havoc for his shortened solo debut. What Mr. Noyd didn't plan, however, was that Tommy Boy were smart in their selection of the finalized EP tracks, as almost all of them featured Prodigy of Mobb Deep contributing a verse or even a hook. Thank you, fuckfaces. That was real nice of y'all. Also, this EP marks the first official introduction of Mobb Deep's weed carrier group known as the Infamous Mobb, which may not be the momentous occasion I'm apparently writing it up to be, although that depends on how much of a fan of Mobb Deep you actually are.



Onwards.



IT'S ON YOU

Skit.



THE PRECINCT (INTERLUDE)

Skit!!!!



RECOGNIZE & REALIZE (PART 1) (FEATURING PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP)

The lead single. Nice move, Tommy Boy. You had to pick the least polished song from the shit. Oh well. It certainly helps that Havoc is on fucking fire behind the boards, which drives Noydy and Berty here into a lyrical frenzy as they attempt to refreshingly outdo each other on wax. The song, while in relatively low quality, sounds great. Nice!



ALL PRO (FEATURING INFAMOUS MOBB AND PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP)

I present to you the iffiest Kejuan Muchita beat from his peak period, a beat which I still prefer over all of his current shit. All of it. Anyways, this sounds as though it was recorded back when Twin Scarface was alive, as Godfather Part 3 (No, really. That's his fucking rap name. Lucked out there, eh?) sticks to adlibs. Oh, and Prodigy and Noyd sound terrific on here.



INFAMOUS MOBB (FEATURING PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP)

Tommy Boy! What the fuck are you doing naming this song after them when they don't appear on the shit? What?! The song was already mixed by Havoc that way?! Then, he must've been coked out of his ass, something he proves on that unintentionally funny-ass hook. Prodigy keeps his wits about him as he delivers some introductory bars a la Raekwon on Ghostface Killah's Motherless Child. Also, similar to that song, Noyd then unleashes a one-verse wonder of threats that sounds pretty good and convincing. After which Kejuan here graces us once again with his dazzling display of balance, as he tries to keep his coked ass from falling to the goddamn booth floor before finishing that travesty of a hook. His beat was crazy nice, though.



INTERROGATION (INTERLUDE)

SKIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



USUAL SUSPECT (FEATURING PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP)

Now this should've been the lead single. Too bad it's the second one. Anyways, this shit sounds straight up fun. Big Noyd weaves in and out of the fairly decent Havoc beat like he was born there. Berty apparently couldn't contain his excitement at Noydy's performance and decides to step in the booth and shout out some of the Mobb's crew in rhyme. You have no idea how refreshing that is, coming from the RZAs, the Bustas and the Fat Joes, ruining a beat with their 45.5 hours of shoutouts on every fucking song.



EPISODES OF A HUSTLA (FEATURING PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP)

If you are a fan of Mobb Deep and somehow haven't heard this song: close this page, go to YouTube and look this song up. This song has that Havoc beat that will slip you outside of the real world and into a trance if you keep listening to it too much. Prodigy sticks with hook duties here, and Tajuan unleashes three excellent verses that show you why he was chosen to be involved so much in the Mobb's music. So, yeah, this song is the shit.



RECOGNIZE & REALIZE (PART 2) (FEATURING MOBB DEEP)

Mobb Deep collaborate properly with their protege. Which simply means that Havoc finally spits his only verse, a proper verse, of the EP. Big Noyd and Prodigy rehash some of the rhymes used on the first version, only that by the time you take notice of said issue, you're already enjoying this shit. Besides, they come with all new rhymes that are just as good later on in the song. This ranks right up there with any Mobb Deep classic cut in their vast catalog.



I DON'T WANNA LOVE AGAIN (FEATURING SE'KOU)

I don't know who this Se'Kou chick is, but she threw me off with her crooning after the hook when I first heard this song. Noydy crops up later on here, spitting an admittedly pretty damn good verse in dedication of a fallen comrade. Havoc's beat sounds appropiately somber, which adds to the theme of loss all present are trying to convey here. Didn't know Noyd had this side to him when I first heard this. Nicely done.



USUAL SUSPECT (STRETCH ARMSTRONG REMIX) (FEATURING PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP)

Even though it says Stretch Armstrong remixed this song, this sounds so much like a Havoc beat that I don't even mind, especially when this version has a more melodic beat than the original. Which isn't that strange since the beat does sample Isaac Hayes, melody extraordinaire. The lyrics remain unchanged, however. I take my statement about the original being lead single material back, as this should've been the lead single.



FINAL THOUGHTS:

It's a damn shame no one copped this back when it first came out, due to the phenomenal job the fuckfaces at Tommy Boy did in promoting this EP. And thank y'all oh so very much for filling this shit up with all those very necessary skits, which contributed oh so very much to the artistic growth of poor Noyd as an MC. Do I sound a bit bitter? You goddamn right I am! Because this EP belongs right up there with Mobb Deep's absolute finest work. Havoc was still a beast behind the boards, and Prodigy played the Tragedy to Noyd's CNN, appearing on 99.999% of the songs present. Both MCs knock the shit out of the park every damn time, which is to be expected of the Mobb back when their chemistry was at its peak. Said chemistry was to continue on Mobb Deep's following release, Hell On Earth, on which a freshly-released-from-prison Noyd is all too happy to reclaim the role of the Mobb's head weed carrier.



WORTH IT? I just wrote that the Mobb were at their peak during the crafting of the songs on this EP. That should automatically translate to go get this shit now. Big Noyd would never sound this good on his own again.



TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Dear fuckfaces at Tommy Boy,



Wouldn't this song have fit better on the 11-track tracklist than any of the three fucking skits present? Of course, my prior statement would only be true if this song bangs, and boy does it ever. Havoc samples Roy Ayers' We Live In Brooklyn Baby, a sample which I will always associate with Smif-N-Wessun as their take on it is the stuff of legend, to great effect. The beat provides Big Noyd the necessary canvas to paint his patented rhymes of street tales. Allow me to add that his calm & slow delivery rips the beat to shreds and forces you to pay attention to his awesome verses. Particularly, the first verse is a tale of revenge reminiscent of Cormega's Dead Man Walking. Noyd's tale is even more impressive since he told said song's entire story without leaving any detail out within one verse. Damn shame that this song only exists in poor quality, but thankfully not too poor, which allows you to hear Noyd and Hav do their motherfucking thing. Loved the Prodigy adlibs in the beginning, too.



More Mobb Deep...

Nas - It Was Written (June 28, 1996)

'Twas the late 1990s, and all through the entertainment industry worldwide, shit was fucking good. Well, except if you're a movie buff. Anyways, some of the very best video games of all time were released in that period, including, among many more that escape me at the moment, the Metal Gear Solid series, the Resident Evil series and the Legacy Of Kain series. Fighting games and beat 'em ups were still very popular as the Tekken series, the Street Fighter series, the King Of Fighters series and its many offshoots were riding high, and my favorite fighting game series of all friggin' time, Bloody Roar, had debuted its first two installments, with BR2 being the series' peak from a presentation standpoint, in said period. Like I said, shit was fucking good.

However, there was one sector of the entertainment industry that I was completely oblivious to, which was the music industry. We simply didn't have in our local stores the variety that most stores worldwide had. All of them local stores we got only cared about the fucking radio hits, and I've eventually discovered what every modern music fan knows by now that radio blows. Over time, though, I found that I've grown quite fond of a particular form of modern music, hip hop. And since then, I've learned that there was a Golden Era of hip hop music, when everyone was creatively competing with each other at the highest level and constantly testing themselves to bring out the very best material they can put out. I'm not going to pinpoint the exact time this era ended, but I will say that ever since 1983, hip hop music has never been the same.

One of the many lynchpins of this genre that was considered essential listening by every single person who came across it was a little piece of work called Illmatic. This album consisted of 9 tracks and an intro, on which one MC waxed poetic about every single thought he could think of for 8 tracks while the ninth was utilized as a duet between him and some unknown dude. After Illmatic's release, though, everybody in hip hop music knew and appreciated that MC, named Nas. Hell, his work was so loved that the nobody who rapped alongside him, AZ, established a full-fledged 20-year career and dropped some quality records of his own during said career. But was this love justified? Listen to the goddamn album and judge for yourself. Key word: Listen. So naturally, the pressure was on regarding the eventual sophomore album very commonly greenlit by the fuckfaces at every label in existence.

Nas' alleged direction, aided by the help of one MC Serch, was to do a full album collaboration with Queensbridge hip hop legend Marley Marl. I'll let that sink in for a moment. But, at the same time, Nas was nagged about something: Constantly brought to his attention was the fact that Illmatic sold zilch off the gate, with it going gold almost two years after its release. That was considered a major catastrophe by the aforementioned label fuckfaces, so they advised Nassy to fire Serch, abandon his direction entirely and head for a new one with dollar signs in his eyes, with the aid of new manager Steve Stoute and production team the Trackmasters. I'm not saying anything here, just mentioning my resentment at not being able to hear that supposed album come to fruition. Back to the subject at hand, Stoute certainly worked his magic, but even he wasn't stupid enough to forget that Nas came from an underground background that had to be catered to and relayed that approach to said Trackmasters. They convinced Nas that an entry in mafioso rap was the way to go. Personal side note: I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for early Trackmasters work, as they've produced the very first hip hop song I've ever heard back in my childhood: The Monstars Anthem off the Space Jam OST, which I still view as a good song. Good times.

Now, ever since Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan's lauded solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... reinvented mafioso rap as a viable, metaphor-filled theme for hip hop music in 1995, many figures in the entire industry jumped right on the bandwagon, resulting in many an abomination by infinitely lesser-skilled rappers who failed to realize that OB4CL was a highly-focused album with many important factors contributing to its success, with the exception of acts such as Nas' boy AZ, who wasn't as successful as one might think with his debut Doe or Die, mainly because of the absence of a proper producer who truly understands how to come up with an original image using said theme and whose production matches AZ's lyrical skill. Now, on the flipside, there were some who understood enough of the mafioso rap formula to come up with their own successful visions, such as, oh I don't know, HHT’s lord and savior Jay-Z, who released Reasonable Doubt to much critical acclaim. Nas' fellow QB natives Mobb Deep, fresh off the success of their sophomore album The Infamous, fit the mafioso theme like a glove as well. So Nas had plenty of influence around him to produce a sizeable entry into the mafioso subgenre.

Enter It Was Written. Nas released the lead single, If I Ruled The World (Imagine That), with red-hot Fugees member Lauryn Hill to the elation of radio stations everywhere, which paved enough groundwork for It Was Written to sell a shitload of copies (to be precise, over two million) in three months, a far cry from the Illmatic sales climb. But, the important quest to ask was: Was the album any good?

ALBUM INTRO
I know for a fact that Nas recorded this out of his ass. Please, do yourself a huge favor and skip this shit.

THE MESSAGE
Nas allegedly aims a diss at both 2Pac and Biggie on a Trackmasters beat sampling Sting? I don't know how they made it work, but this song is awesome. Nas sets the mafioso platform up perfectly for the rest of the album, as well.

STREET DREAMS
I liked this track, as well. This is a continuation of the themes present in the previous song and throughout the album. I'm actually surprised everyone balked at this album while singing the praises of other lyrically similar albums, namely one such album, where an expensive clothing line is name dropped every two seconds on most of said album. I won't say its name, you know the one I'm talking about. This song also heated up Nas' beef with 2Pac, as they both sampled the same source material, although I'll admit that I feel the Trackmasters flipped the Linda Clifford sample leagues better.

I GAVE YOU POWER
Simply put: A hip hop landmark. Nas raps from the viewpoint of an inanimate object, which has been done before and since. Which doesn't really matter, though, if the execution is fucking brilliant. All this is possible, of course, with DJ Premier's wizardry as he concocts a brilliant slow-driven 20-second loop from Eric Gale's Forecast that transforms into a breathtaking beat sampling the legendary Ahmad Jamal. This time, Nas chooses to lyrically embody a gun and lets loose with some of the greatest lyrics & concepts ever put to a Primo beat. This was awesome.

WATCH DEM N****S (FEATURING FOXY BROWN)
The Trackmasters are back sampling hip hop lynchpin Bob James in a beat that provides Nas a canvas for painting a vivid portrait of betrayal. This hit in all the right notes and as a plus, Foxy Brown is restricted to the hook. Yay!

TAKE IT IN BLOOD
2Pac’s former best friend, the late Stretch, produces a gem of a beat sampling soul band the Fantastic Four, complete with a sweet Kool Keith sample, that one can only appreciate when listening through the entire album and not skipping to the fucking singles. Nas re-enters his lyrical home turf when bragging and throwing in some cultural references and he sounds fucking great doing so, which is to be expected. You have no idea how happy I am that he kept this style from his debut.

NAS IS COMING
Here's where everybody is brought to a freaking halt. What in the blue horsefuck is Rommell Young doing on a Nas album? Nevertheless, I'm of the camp that the song sounds great, even if Nas' second verse is absolute gibberish. Dre really dug deep for Nas, as he sampled, among other things, two seconds from a fucking Scooby Doo episode. I guess RZA's outlandish approach to production got his creative juices pumping and he wanted to flex some production muscle. I repeat, this is a great song. (Disagree? Comment section. Now.)

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION (FEATURING THE FIRM)
Poke & Tone return to the fold with Dave Atkinson to lay down a beat worthy of The Firm's only commercially released track. I'm talking about the real Firm lineup, of course. AZ, Cormega & Nas sound like relatives who've been practicing their verses for the school play for 16 years, meaning that their chemistry is undeniable, and Foxy Brown allegedly recites her ass off. Yeah, because allegedly her rhymes were never hers, as they were allegedly ghostwritten by Jay-Z. Personally? I believe the allegations and I will not be convinced otherwise. (Don't like what you're reading, Foxy? Voice your discomfort in the comments section!)

THE SET UP (FEATURING HAVOC)
Nas brings Havoc, fresh off discovering his calling as a producer on The Infamous, (even if his production peak was only for like 4 years, said peak was masterful.) to the fold and requests a beat for him to bludgeon to death. Havoc gladly obliges, so in return, Nas places him on the hook for the motherfucker. The end result is something I would've gladly welcomed on a Mobb Deep album. Back when they were in their prime, of course. You will never catch me listening to that fucking Blood Money travesty. Anyways, this song knocks in all the wanted ways.

BLACK GIRL LOST (FEATURING JO-JO)
Oh, was this ever a misfire. Nobody, I repeat, nobody was checking for any rapper to act holier-than-thou and chastise women when he's out getting his fuck on (pun very much intended) with groupies every other night. Even though the beat by P&T and LES was kind of technically proficient with the Stephanie Mills sample, Nas cuts even further and sings the hook in the presence of Jo-Jo. I mean, my dude, what is the point of bringing Jo-Jo from Jodeci, one of the most beloved 90s R&B voices of all time, if all you're gonna give him is a lame-ass outro that sounds simply awkward. Fuck this song.

SUSPECT
LES is out for redemption, bringing with him a beat so deeply rooted in gritty mid-90s NY tradition, especially in its sampling of Chuck Mangione & Quincy Jones, which is thankfully right up Nas' alley. He then takes this opportunity to weave one of the timeless crime stories told in the mafioso subgenre, thereby establishing himself as one of its grandmasters. Seriously, props to all parties involved in this masterpiece.

SHOOTOUTS
I swear, it's like the Trackmasters are mostly remembering their origins as producers of Kool G Rap's classic Ill Street Blues, as they sample the famous opening blaring horns from The Avengers 1965 TV series theme then follow it up with brilliant use of the prevalent Al Green sample. Furthermore, this track is lyrically a continuation of the winning form of the previous song, with Nas weaving another epic crime tale for your listening pleasure. Nice!

LIVE NIGGA RAP (FEATURING MOBB DEEP)
Mobb Deep finally grace this album with their overdue presence. And their chemistry with Nassy here is infectious. Havoc returns behind the boards for a magnificent beat on which Prodigy sets us off with an immortal verse he originally wrote for CNN's classy response to Tha Dogg Pound's seminal New York, New York, conveniently titled LA, LA (Do yourself a favor. If you've never heard LA, LA yet, get the Kuwait Mix version, as Marley Marl’s beat is fucking bananas.) And you know what? He was wrong to abandon that song and jump on this one, even though this is still dope as fuck. Anyway, his verse takes the cake early on, as Havoc and Nas play catch up, with Nas yielding better results than P's partner, as usual. Still, all who was featured on this song made it the classic it's supposed to be.

IF I RULED THE WORLD (IMAGINE THAT) (FEATURING LAURYN HILL)
The lead single and the song responsible for It Was Written's massive commercial success. You know, aside from the promotion, the tours, the public appearances, the press conferences, the interviews, etc. The Trackmasters straight up jacked the first loop of Whodini's Friends for this beat, and I'll admit, Nas freaks it better than the source material. Yes, he carved his own identity into the beat, doing so with the aid of the ever-talented Lauryn Hill on the vocals, who chooses to interpolate both Kurtis Blow and The Delfonics and somehow makes it work. Thereby providing the opportune canvas for our host to wax poetic about his dreams of ending the ghetto prison, with some rap cliches thrown in for good measure. For what it was, this was pretty damn good.

Almost every version besides the US CD version has the following track:


SILENT MURDER
Stretch RIP returns for my favorite track on this entire album with a surprisingly haunting loop of a Soul II Soul sample, on which Nas spits rhymes of various imagery about life in the ghetto mixed with sly social commentary as only a true hip hop poet can.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
A ton of people hate this album and vilify it as the point where Nas' lyrics fell off into irrelevancy. I say to every single one of them: Give me some of what you're smoking. ALL of your favorite mafioso albums weaved the exact same picture as this album here, with Nas sometimes even besting his peers. Nas paid proper respect to the standard set by Raekwon's Purple Tape by crafting his own mafioso vision with the highest of focus. And, because every human piece of work is flawed, there were some slip-ups. But they sure as hell didn't detract from the overall experience. It certainly helped that Nas had the Trackmasters heighten their focus on the overall sound of this album to match his, with the remaining guest producers all doing a phenomenal job. So, while cohesion was never one of Nas' strong points in album crafting, here I say: This album is by far the Nas album I revisit the most. Yes, even more than Illmatic.

WORTH IT?
You bet your sweet ass, it is. Don't let the negative hype fool you: This is a quality album that deserves to be in your collection.

See more Nas here. 15 cents per adult and 8 for the chilluns. Don't be shy.

Mobb Deep - The Infamous (April 25, 1995) & 1994 Sessions (April 1, 2014)

I'm killing it with the consistency, I know. Paint that shit gold.

In truth, this post has caused me physical pain from the amount of times it got deleted, no joke. Every time I rewrite my thoughts, something happens to my device which causes me to sink into a day of depression, until today. Among some other personal shit I'm going through. So, like I said, paint that shit gold.

Story time: I'm playing Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. (Tell me if you know where this is going.) I switch over to The Liberty Jam radio station. I hear an ominous loop of reverbed hi-hats and snares. Then, DJ Clue shouts with his ever-annoying voice: "NEW MOBB DEEP!!" (even though the game was set in fucking 1998.) Keep in mind that by this point I don't know what the hell a Mobb Deep is. Then I hear Shook Ones Pt. II for the first time, and my mind is officially blown. Who are these people? And how do they pull off sounding so menacing so effortlessly? Especially the first cat, I remember wondering. There was something different about his delivery, as you can literally hear his conviction and you feel like he already knows he's got you in the palm of his hand. And what can I say about the beat that hasn't been said already by many a better writer than I? I go to my safe haven, Wikipedia, and I find out Mobb Deep is a group made up by Havoc & Prodigy. Wait a minute, those two names ring a bell. Oh yeah! it's the two thugs who were constantly beating the tar out of my created fighters on Def Jam: Fight For NY!

And that's how I became a Mobb Deep fan.

Albert Johnson and Kejuan Muchita were in the pickle of all pickles when their debut album Juvenile Hell, the one shot they placed all of their hopes and dreams on was a colossal clusterfuck of a failure. (Even though looking back now, it wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. In fact, I found parts of it quite entertaining.) Not only did their label 4th and Broadway cast them away in the cold, lonely wastelands of no-deal-land, everyone who was on board the project seemed to disassociate themselves with the group. Furthermore, hip hop acts like Biggie, Def Squad and the Wu-Tang Clan were quickly taking over the radio in a triumphant stand for mainstream East Coast hip hop while the likes of Jeru The Damaja, O.C. & fellow QB native Nas were the new critical darlings. And during our duo's plight, they also realized they had limited funds for them to make the music that they wanted, what with them being unwanted free agents with no money to pay for a hot beat for them to spit on. In short, Mobb Deep felt like the end of their career was almost upon them. Almost.

In the most unpredictable of ways, our duo went back to the drawing board. There they found out the two most important reasons Mobb Deep is a hip hop landmark today: 1. Prodigy, who was more into production, found out Havoc had an untapped genius as a producer. 2. Havoc, the MC of the group, noted that out of nowhere, Prodigy transformed into a lyrical phenomenon. Production-wise, it might've been the fact that Hav's younger brother, a kid who went by the name of Killa Black, was a fugitive around that time that pushed Kejuan to recognize some of the darkest, most soulless sounds ever to be put to wax in many old melodious hits. Killa Black, who would take his own life a year later, would be immortalized on various future Mobb songs alongside Twin Scarface, one of the Mobb's close crew and the identical twin brother of Infamous Mobb member Twin Gambino. Prodigy's sudden lyrical talent, however, came so suddenly that it caught everybody by surprise. Turns out, it was the result of a particularly nasty bout with sickle cell anemia, a condition P was born with. P wrote his heart and soul on his rhymebook when he was in the hospital. So, in reality, Mobb Deep already had everything they ever needed. They would go on to record a crucial demo, put together by The Source senior contributor Matty C and his partner & fellow A&R Schott Free. DJ Stretch Armstrong of the famous Stretch & Bobbito Show, also a fellow A&R, played a certain track from the demo called Patty Shop which caught the attention of Loud Records, headed by Steve Rifkind. Loud knew a goldmine when they found one, and when they heard said song they immediately greenlit a single deal. The result? One hell of a scorcher by the name of Shook Ones, released by Loud in 1994 and thereby sending the aforementioned Steve Rifkind into a frenzy of hype and excitement, along with whoever had the friggin privilege of hearing that track. A full album deal was greenlit afterwards, which allowed our heroes to release its sequel Shook Ones Pt. II to the unsuspecting masses, who gobbled the shit up. So much so that they flocked over to the single that followed like those pigeons from the Home Alone 2 scene where they attack Joe Pesci & Daniel Stern. Which was good because Survival Of The Fittest is just as much of a classic as Shook Ones, if not even more so. Then, came the album.

The Infamous sold more than five hundred thousand records in the US in exactly two months, a feat which is unheard of today by a hip hop act. In another spoiler, allow me to add that it did so for a good goddamned reason.

THE START OF YOUR ENDING (41ST SIDE)
Havoc succeeds with Mobb Deep's identity reinvention from the very first second you hear his sampling of Grant Green's Maybe Tomorrow. Which is somehow supposed to mean that the beat is friggin' awesome. Both K and Bert sound so far ahead of their past selves it's not even funny. Upon further investigation, I've come to the conclusion that I may have sold Havoc's pen game a bit short and I'm man enough to admit it.

THE INFAMOUS PRELUDE
You duped the consumer good there, Loud. For a moment, a guy would think he's finally getting an skit-less album. Of course, now they know better.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
Nobody approach me when this song is on. You might not recognize me from the trance I'm in. My humble sentiments are that mainstream hip hop should kindly go fuck itself in the most uncomfortable, inappropriate & undesirable way possible for not making songs half as good as this anymore. Remember those two halls of fame that I talked about earlier? Well, Havoc & Prodigy cement their rightful place in said halls of fame with this song alone. Prodigy delivers what many people consider his most memorable verse with a conviction that simply escapes most rappers now, as you can hear the lifelessness in this at-the-time young man's voice with every line he spits, a terror that can only be experienced when paired with the right beat. And let me tell you, Havoc provides a now-classic instrumental built around one of the most unrecognizable loops in hip hop history. So unrecognizable, in fact, that it became the stuff of legend until Havoc finally revealed the source material only a few years ago, a mere second from the opening piano solo of Skylark by the Barry Harris Trio and Al Cohn. Trust me, this is an experience that will haunt your dreams.

EYE FOR AN EYE (YOUR BEEF IS MINES) (FEATURING NAS & RAEKWON)
Lyrically, Havoc is predictably the weak link here and his verse is dope as fuck. What does that tell you about the lyrics on this song? Havoc once again finds the briefest of loops in Al Green's Wish You Were Here and brilliantly transforms it into the soundtrack of torture. Nicely done.

JUST STEP PRELUDE
Apparently, TaJuan Perry aka Big Noyd aka Pizza Dude was famous for freestyling about hood life. This was one of those sessions, coupled with an equally amazing lyrical showing from P to no music, which becomes an acapella by definition. Skip it, I won't tell.

GIVE UP THE GOODS (JUST STEP) (FEATURING BIG NOYD)
Apparently Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest fame had a heavy hand in helping Havoc craft this album's sound. Even though I initially disagreed with that bit of trivia, it's not really that far off since Tip is a musical genius. Anyway, he has only three production credits on the album, so he definitely helped. Even though all of his contributions on the album are dope as fuck, this one's by far the best. His Esther Phillips loop is instantly recognizable to many hip hop heads along with a famous Skull Snaps audio clip sprinkled throughout, and both Mobb halves do their part very well, but the show belongs to Pizza Dude as he follows his hosts' footsteps in successfully eradicating any memory of his real debut on Juvenile Hell. This verse was responsible for his Episodes Of A Hustla EP, which you know I'll review later on, God willing.

TEMPERATURE'S RISING (FEATURING CRYSTAL JOHNSON)
The second Q-Tip beat of the album is built around a Patrice Rushen Where's The Love loop to excellent effect. I'll have to admit, I feel that Crystal Johnson should be known much more than she is, as her vocal talent is undeniable, plus her Leon Ware cover is brilliant! The Mobb's take on what I call the One Love formula works for me because instead of an incarcerated comrade, they're speaking to one who's on the run (read: Killa Black) during the course of their tribute. And I'm pleased to state that both do an equally good job. And how many people find it cool that Tip produced both odes to absent comrades discussed here? Not as good as Just Step, but still pretty fucking awesome.

UP NORTH TRIP
After a useless excerpt from the Fatback Band's To Be With You, Havoc (allegedly) returns behind the boards for this beat which samples I'm Tired Of Giving by The Spinners. I will say that my former argument would be weak against one who's of the opinion that Q-Tip had more of a hand than what was credited and who uses this song as an example thereof. Then again, I am a blogger, so I just have to be stubborn about my opinions or other bloggers will call me a lazy-ass flunkey. So, Havoc's (alleged) beat inspires Prodigy to yet another riveting display, while Havoc, while nailing the flow part, is stuck with random goddamn threats, thereby can only look weak in comparison. His verse tries to get across, before Prodigy's verse guts it from behind shinobi-like. P has said in the past that Illmatic had a big influence on him sharpening his pen, and it fucking shows. P carries the lyrics of this song like a champ.

TRIFE LIFE
The numerous Norman McConnors samples serve as the foundation for a Havoc beat that is utilized by the Mobb to describe the thuggish roles some females play in 'hood life'. And even though Hav & P both paint very vivid pictures about said subject matter, the fucking beat takes center stage for me. This, unlike the previous song, is undoubtedly a Havoc beat as it weaves the samples together in a clear statement of its maker's talent. He even lets the beat ride RZA-style, which I always like when the beat is this good.

Q.U.- HECTIC
This Havoc beat serves as foundation for a lyrical competition between both Mobb halves, as they go back & forth for a bit, trading excellent verses with each other, until Havoc eventually relents to Prodigy's prowess. P then takes to the mic and opens one of the most vivid windows into the ghetto thug's mind ever written. Props to Havoc throwing the famous Quincy Jones sample used previously on Shook Ones Tha Dos on here, as it somehow added to the brilliant final product.

RIGHT BACK AT YOU (FEATURING GHOSTFACE KILLAH, RAEKWON & BIG NOYD)
Havoc sets a very prominent Les McCann loop as the foundation for this posse cut that I always argue with people about when trying to determine the best posse cut on this album. This song is my choice because I'm a big fan of the unique back & forth style used on here by Rae & Ghost which previously debuted on the Chef's Heaven Or Hell as a tribute to EPMD. Add Big Noyd's continuing winning form from his last appearance on this album and you have one of the greatest posse cuts in hip hop history.

THE GRAVE PRELUDE
...

CRADLE TO THE GRAVE
The previous skit should've been included into this track, as it's too goddamn short to be given its own space on the tracklist. Anyway, it serves as a plotline for a revenge tale brilliantly written by Prodigy. Havoc, on the other hand, exhibits why I think he should've stuck to the boards when he commits to the story for only his second verse. His remaining lyrical contribution are, once again, random thuggery, which really detracts from what could've been a classic staple in hip hop. It really deserves such a title given P's writing, as I swear, he seems like he's gaining momentum with his pen game with each passing song. Havoc deserves credit for the haunting beat built around the briefest of Teddy Pendergrass notes. This song is still very good, but it could've been so much more.

DRINK AWAY THE PAIN (SITUATIONS) (FEATURING Q-TIP)
Q-Tip's final production showing on the album warrants a verse from the legend that fits right in between his many contributions to the genre. Hell, this whole song sounds like a Tribe song. In fact, I'm adamant that this track was Tip's brainchild. Hav & P dedicate their verses to their preferred liquor brand of choice, depicting them as the most desirable of women. Whatever, Tip takes this song, weaving a crime tale using various clothing brands as the characters. Now we know where Lupe Fiasco got his influence for that Twilight Zone joint off his Fahrenheit 1/15 mixtape series. The beat was an awesome yet very characteristic loop of Mr. Tip using a prominent Headhunters sample.

SHOOK ONES PT. II
Other than the ingenious meshing of samples ranging from Quincy Jones to Herbie Hancock, please refer to track #3 for further review. Seriously, every attribute about that song applies here. Oh, you still want more? OK, story time: (Hey, you wanted more.) Listening to The Liberty Jam radio station in GTA:LCS, I always gravitated to this song here's depiction of the criminal youth thought process through the present thuggery. I was particularly struck with how Prodigy, 19 at the time, sounded like the most apathetic human being without even trying and I always asked myself: What makes someone reach that mindstate in society? What can someone possibly go through that would make him that heartless at that age? Havoc adds an equally harrowing verse, yet he lacks the conviction P displays. This song is a hip hop staple for a good reason.

PARTY OVER (FEATURING BIG NOYD)
This album closer depicts a point in time where Mobb Deep and their cronies were having fun in a way simply not possible anymore, given the Mobb's recent meltdown. Over a loop taken from the fucking awesome Lonely Fire by Miles Davis, Hav, P & Noyd all swiftly interchange verses of threats & tales of violence in one smorgasbord of action-filled wizardry. Prodigy hits full throttle with his imagery here, and there's no doubt left in your mind that you'll remember this dude's lyrics for a long time. Album over.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Like I said in the first review, what can I say more than what's already been said? The Infamous sold 500,000 copies in exactly two months, and you know what? It's worth every fucking cent & should've sold more. I can only pity those few who actually listened to Juvenile Hell first, then wrote these two off. For Havoc & Prodigy, as everyone already knows by now, pull off the hip hop image reinvention of the fucking century. Havoc and Prodigy switch their previous roles as producer and lead MC respectively, and hip hop, nay, art is all the better for it. Prodigy exhibits a mastery over words that is rivaled by a very select few MC's, and Havoc produces masterpiece over masterpiece on this album showing a consistency that mainstream rap simply isn't aware of. Props to the two shits. Much props.

WORTH IT?
If, by some freak incident, you're into hip hop and don't know this album, do what I originally did and stop browsing NOW! Go and fucking stamp this shit into your head. Then, you just might be able to clean toilets here. This album is worthy of its place among the great hip hop albums of the mid-90s, and it certainly did enough to make Mobb Deep a hip hop household name.

I had to compensate for my absence, didn't I?
For the people who're currently balking at the goddamn screen, asking: (Y U nO reeViEw CD1?) I say, leave this blog now. You won't like it. Anyway, the abovementioned classic fucking album certainly had its share of stories, unreleased cuts & throwaways. I've decided said throwaways are worthy of shedding some light on, especially when Mobb Deep themselves think they're worth your time, evidenced by the fact that this is part of an official release by the duo. CD2 of our couple's 2014 double album The Infamous Mobb Deep, comprised of masters found on old floppy disks, mind you, is almost too unfair to CD1, which is composed of all new material. (Show of hands: Who's old enough to remember floppys? No one? Thought so.) It's simply impossible to stack the two CDs against each other, as they were made by entirely different people, in my eyes. So, how is this CD really expected to end? Read on, motherfucker.

EYE FOR AN EYE (FEATURING NAS, RAEKWON & GHOSTFACE KILLAH)
This original take is getting a lot of love from the Interweb, which is totally to be expected. Prodigy uses one of the verses he ended up using for the fucking awesome Gusto by Long Island former lyrical wunderkind A+. P seems to love this verse very much, as it pops up more than once on this album. He has every reason to, of course, as the verse is one of his best ever. Speaking of using verses that pop up somewhere else, Ghostface uses his awesome verse from the Real Live Shit remix off of The Turnaround, a classic album I reviewed earlier on in this blog, and Nas' verse is the same as the final version. So, that leaves the Chef & Havoc as the only ones with verses no one heard until this track's release, and they sound pretty damn good. Especially the Chef. Hav's beat freaks a different part of the same Al Green source for the final version, and still makes it sound dark. Nice!

SKIT
Taken from the Yo! MTV Raps episode where Mobb Deep first made their appearance, accompanied by Nas & Raekwon where everyone spits a verse while rocking Wu Wear. I think it's amazing that Nas & Rae sound like they're absolutely thrilled to spit alongside the Mobb even though it should be the other way around. Still, a skit is a skit.

GET IT IN BLOOD
This song houses Prodigy's other Gusto verse. This verse is equally as potent as the one previously heard on the last song. I have a very strong suspicion that Havoc did not write his rhymes on here, as the imagery present very clearly screams Prodigy. Plus, there's the fact that he spits a verse that we just heard from Prodigy on the fucking previous skit! Props to his beat, though.

GIMME THE GOODS (FEATURING BIG NOYD)
I stopped every thing I was doing once I heard Havoc's beat on here, as this alternate version of Give Up The Goods (Just Step) blows the album version out of the motherfucking water. I cannot stress enough how much this song is flat-out better: The menacing beat, for one, is another one of those addictive beats that you'll hear in your head for months to come. All of the verses are the same, except for Big Noyd's, who unleashes a full-blown crime saga with one long-ass verse with proper attention to detail. His verse alone makes this song my preferred version by a fucking light year.

IF IT'S ALRIGHT (FEATURING BIG NOYD)
Sampling Gil-Scott Heron's Winter In America, this telling Havoc beat houses another collaboration with Noyd, one that the group chooses to speak on the hardships of the ghetto. I must say, either P is writing Hav's rhymes on this disc, or Havoc is a stupid motherfucker for leaving these rhymes on the cutting room floor instead of using them on the final product. That's how much better he is on here. Prodigy is his usual poetic self, of course. So, yeah, this song was the tits.

SKIT MOBB 1995
Another throwback interview, although this one's useless.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST (FEATURING CRYSTAL JOHNSON)
This remix to a goddamn staple of hip hop doesn't really add up, and yet I still fucking love this song. Maybe it's because Crystal Johnson is present on here, although she doesn't really contribute much. The same cannot be said however for both Havoc and Prodigy, who add a ton of new rhymes to the ones already burnt into our brains, and they pull it off in typically awesome fashion. This time, the beat is a more obvious sample of Al Wilson's Medley: I Won't Last a Day Without You/Let Me Be the One. I approve greatly.

TEMPERATURE'S RISING (FEATURING CRYSTAL JOHNSON)
The same Patrice Rushen sample that graced the original does so accompanied by the infamous beginning seconds of the ESG UFO sample for this slightly altered remix, as the end of Prodigy's Now-PG-13-but-still-fucking-awesome verse is a little different and Crissy here brings a different yet better interpolation of Leon Ware's vocals. Other than that, this song's very much similar to its original.

THE BRIDGE (FEATURING BIG NOYD)
The fabled remake of MC Shan's most famous song. Havoc supplies a mellowed out beat with hard-as-fuck drums for the Mobb and guest to wreck shop over. And, even though Hav spits his fairly decent verse from DJ Frankie Cutlass' Know Da Game and Big Noyd raps his ass off again, this is the Albert Johnson show all the way, as he spits one of the coldest fucking verses I've ever heard from the man. Ever.

SKIT
There's a video on YouTube of this skit as Big Noyd spits his verse from Right Back At You with fucking Agallah beatboxing. I didn't know he was down with the Mobb! Still, skip this skit.

THE MONEY
The rhymes we hear here are later used on Das EFX' banging-as-fuck Microphone Master remix, except for an extra Havoc verse that's neither here nor there. The beat, however, is typical early Havoc material, as he works in the Rakim sample between the Funkadelic sample transformed ingeniously by Havoc into an ominous loop. Then the beat simply rides for an additional three minutes while the Mobb chat with the fabled Killa Black among others, which we really didn't need to hear.

THE MONEY (VERSION 2)
Same song, but with a shitty beat and no phone dialogue.

WE ABOUT TO GET HECTIC (FEATURING TWIN GAMBINO)
This was what ended up as Q.U.-Hectic?! This is a completely different song! Seriously, the James Brown Payback sample just does something to a song that massively amps up the energy level, especially if left in the hands of producers like early Havoc. Speak of the devil, His flow on his long-ass verse here is the best I've ever heard from him. By far. Thing is, he's too confused by his verse's own length. Which results in a failed attempt to impress the listener. Oh well, He can find solace in the fact that Gambino didn't do much better. Prodigy, on the other hand, shines in another home-run display of skill. The end product wasn't half-bad.

THE INFAMOUS
The second time P uses this verse on the album, with the first being the Eye For An Eye prototype earlier. Havoc uses his now-famous verse from the final version of Eye For An Eye. We're also treated to a verse unheard from Prodigy which, of course, is dope as fuck. The beat is minimalist in a way that serves the song well. That's all I got.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was fan service at its finest, as Mobb fans will find plenty to dissect here. Whether it be listening to verses unheard or reintroducing oneself to verses featured on other acts' songs. All the while listening to good beats from a time long past in the Mobb's layered history in this industry. Is it better than the end product? Mostly, fuck no. Except for that Gimme The Goods joint. That should've made the fucking album.

WORTH IT?
Oh hell yes. Listening to these songs in raw form offers an entirely different listening experience when you've heard the material on something equally good. Don't miss it.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:
SHOOK ONES
The real song that started a revolution in hip hop music. This was originally released as a promotional single in 1994, then later added to later pressings of Hell On Earth, not The Infamous. Which was pretty stupid. Anyway, this is the darkest Mobb Deep song in their canon, and the way Prodigy sets it off has already become legend. Havoc uses the verse that later ended up on Part 2 but he flows better here. The instrumental is, once again, stuff of nightmares. This song is perfect for workout music simply for the emotions that it brings out of you. You literally feel like you glossed over into whatever demon dimension your favorite Japanese video game houses. In short: this was awesome. And we're done. I have slaved over this post, I tell you.

More Mobb Deep to be found here.