When the group Mobb Deep first landed on the hip-hop scene they didn't make much of an impression.
After meeting at the High School of Art and Design in New York City, group members Havoc and Prodigy started rhyming together and eventually put out their debut album "Juvenile Hell" in 1993 when they were just eighteen years old. While a couple of the tracks were successful, album sales were low and critical acclaim was sparse, leaving members the duo at a sort of crossroads.
But like many other groups and artists over the years, the duo came together for a sophomore effort that emphatically put them on the map as a force in the East Coast rap game.
Two years after releasing an album critics deemed basically meaningless to the hip-hop genre, the group released "The Infamous" to widespread acclaim and helped fuel the reemergence of East Coast rap. While the album has some great guest appearances, including from Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and Q-Tip, it's the skills of the duo themselves that makes the album influential.
"The Infamous" is filled with illustrative lyrics and gritty beats, and is easily one of hip-hops most realistic and straightforward commentaries of life on the mean streets of New York City. The whole album is filled with excellent tracks, but in my eyes "Temperature's Rising," "Survival of the Fittest," "Eye for a Eye (Your Beef Is Mines)" and "Shook Ones Pt. II" stand up above the rest.
"Shook Ones (Part II)" was the first single released from the album and was considered to be an instant classic when it came out. The track takes the viewpoint of youngsters fighting over territory in their neighborhood and the lengths they will go to make a buck. The track shows the darker side of the city they hail from and the verses are some of the best on the entire album.
Prodigy is fierce on the track as he raps: "I got you stuck off the realness, we be the infamous/you heard of us, official Queensbridge murderers/the Mobb comes equipped with warfare/beware of my crime family who got nuff shots to share/ for all of those who wanna profile and pose rock you in your face/stab your brain wit' your nosebone/you all alone in these streets, cousin/every man for theirself in this land we be gunnin'."
The chorus of the track is instantly recognizable and helps make the track one of, if not the best song released by the group.
"Survival of the Fittest" is one of my favorite tracks on the album and it has a feel and sound similar to "Shook Ones Pt. II." The track's beat is mesmerizing with its dark piano breaks and is another example of the group's exploration of gritty and realistic themes.
Prodigy is spot on again in this track and paints an illustrative picture of life on the street using some fantastic rhymes and symbolism: "There's a war goin on outside, no man is safe from/You could run but you can't hide forever/from these, streets, that we done took/You walkin witcha head down scared to look/You shook, cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks/They never around when the beef cooks in my part of town/It's similar to Vietnam/Now we all grown up and old, and beyond the cop's control/They better have the riot gear ready/Tryin to bag me and get rocked steady/by the mac one-double, I touch you."
"Temperature's Rising" is hands down one of the best tracks on the album and was the third single released off "The Infamous." The track was produced by Q-Tip and is one of the group's best examples of examining the consequences of street life. The track is interesting in itself as it takes the form of a letter to a friend who was recently locked up behind bars.
The lyrics form a story as the track unfolds as the narrator explains how he is covering up evidence of his friends' criminal behavior. As the track moves on the lyrics reveal the narrator's feelings of paranoia, fearing that the police are closing in on him. The track feels truthful and portrays the true-life reality and emotions involved in crime and its consequences.
One of the best and most illustrative verses comes in close to the end of the track: "But worse, son, you got the projects hotter than hell/Harder for brothers to get their thug on but oh, well/Son, they know too much, even the hood rat chicks/Oh, you heard who did what and why I don't this shit/So stop askin', then I know I'm not goin' crazy/From windows, I see lights flashin' and maybe/Somebody's takin' pictures, you know who that be/Police lovers and neighborhood snitches/They put up pert ice, so everybody's pointin' fingers/And lyin', aiyo son, the temp is risin."
With it's dark production and illustrative lyrics, "The Infamous" helped redefine the sound of hardcore rap and transformed Mobb Deep from virtual anonymity to a commercially and critically successful group. The album is a realistic portrait of New York City and will be remembered as one of the most influential albums to come from the East Coast rap scene.
The album is Mobb Deep's signature work and is a definitive hip-hop classic.
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