Survival Of The Fittest - Music
Survival Of The Fittest by Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep
Artist Biography For Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep Was A Hip-Hop Duo Made Up Of Havoc And Prodigy. Both Members Are Natives Of Queensbridge New York Located In Long Island City. They Are Perhaps Most Famous For Their Landmark Album The Infamous And The Accompanying Hit Single Shook Ones Pt. II. 1992–1994 Early Career Prodigy And Havoc Met One Another While Attending The Prestigious High School Of Art & Design In Manhattan. Coming From Similar Backgrounds The Duo Broke Into The Rap Game In 1992. Growing Up In Hostile Environments That Included The Prevalence Of Poverty Drugs And Gang Violence Mobb Deep Attempted To Express Their Life Experiences Through Rapping Circa 1992. Before Havoc And P Were Known As Mobb Deep They Were A Couple Of Teenaged Rappers Known As Poetical Profits. The World First Heard Of Them Via The Source's Unsigned Hype Column And This Is The Demo Track That Was Quoted In That Feature. The Song Would Later See The Light Of Day On Their Debut LP Juvenile Hell. "Flavor 4 The Non Believers" Demo Version They Released Their First Album Juvenille Hell In 1993. At A Time When East Coast Hip Hop Was Dominated By The Jazziness Of A Tribe Called Quest And De La Soul And The Afro-Centric Stylings Of Brand Nubian And Public Enemy Their Style Of Music Eschewed The Popular Conscious Hip Hop Of The Time And Reflected The Harsh Climate Of New York City In The Late-1980s And Early-1990s. Because Both Prodigy And Havoc Were Still In Their Teens At The Time Of Their Debut Many Were Surprised By The Violent Nature Of The Album. Although The Album Was Not Well-Received By The Public It Displayed The Raw Talent Of The Duo The Unique Chemistry Of Prodigy's Lyrical Delivery Combined With Havoc's Melancholy Beats. Through This Unique Style The Duo Were Signed By Loud Records And Began Recording Their Sophomore Album The Infamous In 1995 Which Would Establish The Duo In The Hardcore Hip Hop Community. 1995–2000 Rise To Success Following Its Release The Infamous Became Perhaps One Of The Most Influential Hip Hop Albums Of The East Coast Hardcore Rap Genre. Still At A Young Age The Duo Powered Themselves To The Top Of The Hardcore Rap Scene Through Their Straight Forward Narration Of Street Life. As With Their First Lyrical Production Mobb Deep Portrayed The Struggles Of Living In New York City's Queensbridge. Their Production Also Was Noticed As The Beats Were Often Hard Hitting And Direct A Testament To Havoc Who Produced The Duos' Tracks Almost Exclusively Throughout Their Careers. Furthermore The Hit Single Shook Ones Pt. II Received Acclaim As One Of The Greatest Rap Songs Ever. Their Third Album Hell On Earth Was Released In 1996 Debuting At Number Six On The Billboard Album Chart. The Album Continued Their Portrayal Of Harsh Street Life While Further Pushing Them To The Forefront Of The Hardcore Rap Scene Along With Contemporary East Coast Rappers Such As Notorious B.I.G. The Wu-Tang Clan Collective Jay-Z And Fellow Queensbridge Associate Nas. In 1999 The Duo Released The Highly Anticipated Murda Musik Album. Despite Extensive Bootlegging Nearly Thirty Songs Of Unreleased Material Leaked Onto The Internet And Countless Delays The Album Debuted At Number Three On Billboard And Quickly Went Platinum —further Highlighted By The Popular Single Quiet Storm. Shortly Afterwards Prodigy Released His Long Awaited Solo Album H.N.I.C 2000 In Which The Rapper Collaborated With Other Artists And Producers Including The Alchemist . 2001–2004 Decline Some Time After The Release Of Murda Muzik Rapper Jay-Z Spoke Out Against The Duo Leading To An Increase In Publicity. At The Hot 97 Summer Jam Show Of 2001 Jay-Z Performed The Freestyle "Takeover" Which He Later Re-Recorded For The The Blueprint LP Dissing Prodigy. He Also Revealed Photographs Allegedly Of Prodigy Wearing A Dance Leotard In 1988. Mobb Deep Subsequently Released Infamy In 2001. The Album Marked A Major Stylistic Change That Saw The Duo Move Away From The Raw Minimalist Stripped-Down Beats Of Their Hardcore Roots Towards More Commercial Fare With Such Songs As Hey Luv. This Transition Fostered Accusations Of "selling Out" — Upsetting Many Long-Time Fans Who Did Not Wish To See Them Veer Away From Their Original Style. Although This Stylistic Adjustment Opened Up Mobb's Audience To A Wider Variety Many Critics And Fans Credit Prodigy's Feud With Jay-Z With Damaging Mobb Deep's Gangster Image And Record Sales Most Evident When Comparing The Platinum-Selling Murda Muzik To Infamy Barely Reaching The Gold Status . Not To Be Fazed Prodigy Noted That His Lifelong Bout With Sickle Cell Anemia And His Beef With Jay-Z Had Changed His Outlook. In 2003 The Group Split With Loud Records And Released The Murda Mixtape Which Proclaimed "Free Agents" On The Cover Addressing The Group's Split With Loud And Search For A New Label. Jive Records Signed The Duo Later In The Year And Subsequently Released Amerikaz Nightmare In 2004 Which Was Seen By The General Rap Audience As A Weaker Release By The Two - Resulting In Poor Sales And The Subsequent Dropping Of The Duo From Jive. 2005–2017 In The Spring Of 2005 It Was Announced That The Duo Signed With G-Unit Records. This Came As A Surprise To Many As 50 Cent Aimed A Sly Diss At Them On The "Piggy Bank" Track. The Duo Made It Known That This Was Not The Case As Havoc Stated In An Interview "Mobb Deep Isn't Gonna Change And When We First Got Here 50 Was Like 'Listen I Want Y'all To Keep Doing What You Been Doing.' That's It." 50 Cent Has A Connection To The Duo As He Grew Up In Nearby Jamaica Queens And Also Has Used Havoc As A Producer For Several Different Beats. The Relationship Became Deeper Than Business As The Mobb And 50 Cent Got Tattoos To Pledge Their Loyalty To Each Other. Prodigy Has The Words "G-Unit" Tattooed On His Right Hand And 50 Has "Mobb Deep" Tattooed On His Wrist. Upon Signing To G-Unit Both Prodigy And Havoc Were Given New Porsches For Two Artists Who Have Received Very Little Monetary Compensation In The Past. They Recorded Their Album Titled Blood Money Which Was Released On May 2 2006. The Album Featured G-Unit Members 50 Cent Lloyd Banks Tony Yayo And Young Buck. This Marks Their Seventh Release And Has Vaulted The Duo Into The Hip-Hop Spotlight. As One Of The Most Recognized Names In Hip-Hop At The Time It Was Expected For G-Unit To Help Mobb Deep Attract A New Fanbase. As Havoc Stated Shortly After The Deal “As An Artist You Want To Be Able To Reach The Furthest Audience As You Can. We Put In Hard Work On Our Previous Albums And Still Hit Our Core Fan Base. The Difference This Time Around Is That More People Will Hear This Product This Time.” Despite This Many Of The Mobb's Longtime Fans Were Skeptical As G-Unit Is Known For Their Mainstream Crossover Music And Feared That Mobb Deep Will Conform To This Style. The Album Was Released To Mixed Reception Mainly From Fans Regarding It As One Of The Duo's Weakest Albums. In 2007 Prodigy Was Sentenced To Serve Three-And-A-Half Years In Prison For Illegal Possession Of A Firearm. Originally Facing A Mandatory Sentence Of 15 Years In Prison Prodigy Struck A Deal With The Prosecution And Pleaded Guilty In Exchange For The Shorter Prison Sentence. He Would Later Be Released From Prison In March 2011 With Mobb Deep Releasing Their First Official Project In Five Years Black Cocaine Eight Months Later. To Celebrate The 20th Anniversary Of Their 1995 Album The Infamous The Duo Released Their Final Album The Infamous Mobb Deep In 2014 Featuring A Second Disc Of Unreleased Songs And Remixes From The 1994-95 Sessions Of The Infamous. They Would Also Put Out Their Overall Final Project An EP Called Survival Of The Fittest In 2015 Which Featured An All New ESPN Remix Of The Classic 1995 Single As Well As A Few Brand New Songs. On June 20 2017 Prodigy Died At The Spring Valley Medical Center In Las Vegas Nevada Due To Complications Related To His Sickle-Cell Anemia. Technique Early On Mobb Deep Gained Their Critical Acclaim For A Dark Dynamic Grimey Sound With Haunting Melodies--Havoc's Production--That To Many Represented "street" In A Way Not Done By Many Or Any Before. Additionally Prodigy's Penchant For Starting Off A Verse With An Attention-Grabbing Line Writing Compelling Rhymes Based Heavily On Queensbridge Slang And A Rambling But Clear Delivery Appealed To Fans On The Lyrical Aspect. For Some Time Prodigy Was The Star MC Of The Duo Havoc Sounding Less Focused On The Lyrical Aspect And More On Production. This Continued Until The Alchemist Was Brought In To Do A Few Beats For Each Album After Which Havoc Seemed To Begin Concentrating More On His Verbal Prowess Slowly Developing His Own Style. After The Beef With Jay-Z Prodigy Changed His Style Rhyming Words Less And Slowing Down His Delivery While Havoc Increasingly Contributed More To The Rhyme End Of The Duo. After Being On Independant Labels Such As LOUD And Then A Larger Label JIVE Styles From The Grimy Gritty Styles From The QB Duo Changed Greatly Much To The Despair Of The Mainstream Fans Never Fully Recovering From The Jay-Z Beef They Were Forced Into The Limelight And After Releasing The Street Wood Effort Of Infamy Never Reclaiming The Status Of The Best Kept Secret. Signing With G-Unit Seems To Have Worsened Their Career And Blood Money Their First Album Released On G-Unit Only Sold Approximately 110 000 In Its First Week Coming In At #3 On The Billboard 200.
Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Survival of the Fittest
Mobb-Deep - The Infamous
Prodigy “We Made That In Hav’s Crib In Queensbridge. We’d Make The Beats In Hav’s Crib But Lay Vocals In The Studio . Or Sometimes We’d Make The Beat In The Crib Write Half Of The Song In The Crib Then Go To The Studio And Finish It. That Was One Of The Ones Where Hav Ain’t Really Like The Beat. He Was About To Erase That Shit. There’s A Lot Of Joints Like That Where He Was About To Trash Them And We Had To Change His Mind. I Was Out Somewhere On The Block Chilling Probably I Came In The Crib And Hav Had The Beat Playing. “I Was Like ‘Damn. What The Fuck Is This?’ He’s Like ‘It’s Some Bullshit I’m About To Fucking Scratch This Shit And Do Another One.’ I Was Like ‘Nah Don’t Scratch That Nigga Hold Up. Let Niggas Hear This.’ And I Called Niggas Over Like ‘Yo Listen To This Fucking Beat This Nigga Just Made.’ And Everybody Was Like ‘Yo That Shit Is Crazy.’ Then We Both Just Started Writing Rhymes To It And It Came Out Good. We Knocked That Out All In One Day. So I Had To Save That One. “Hav’s Pops Was A DJ So Hav Had A Lot Of Records From The ‘70s And The ‘80s. We Both Had A Good Record Collection. Hav Was Already Listening To Records Before I Met Him. He Was Trying To Sample On A Cassette Player Hit Record Pause Record And Pause And Making The Beats Like That. When He Met Me We Bought The Equipment. That’s When He Started To Really Get Into Making Beats. I Actually Showed Him How To Sample How To Do This And How To Sequence The Shit. Once He Got The Hang Of It He Just Went In And Started Going Crazy." Havoc “I Was Just Making Beats In My Crib In The Projects. We Had Already Put Out ‘Shook Ones’ And Our Confidence Was Up. At That Time I Was Into Sampling A Lot Of Jazz Records So I Found This Loop. I Put It Together. I Tried To Make It Sound As Crispy As I Could When We Were In The Studio Recording It. “I Remember My Cousin Ferg Being In The Studio. He Was From Brooklyn He Was Running The Streets Wild And He Was Like 16 At The Time So I Said ‘Yo Go In The Booth And Just Go Ad-Lib Behind The Chorus.’ And He Was Just Like ‘Yeah Thug Life We Still Living It.’ And This Is Way Before Tupac Started Saying ‘Thug Life’ And I Don’t Know If He Felt Like He Came With That First. But This Is From The Heart When We Did That We Didn’t Know Nothing About No Tupac. My Little Cousin Went Back There And Did The Hook And The Shit Was Dope. He Wasn’t An Actual Rapper At That Time. I Know He Used To Write His Little Rhymes But That’s Not Actually Why I Put Him In The Booth—I Put Him In There To Get That Raw Unbiased Energy. “ That Was Our Thing. We Were Just Straight Hood. It Wasn’t No Pretty Boy Shit. It Was Like ‘Yo Let’s Throw On Our Timbs.’ It Didn’t Get More Harder Than That. We Weren’t The Kind Of Muthafuckas That Was In The Mirror For Like A Half An Hour Nah. Nine Times Out Of Ten We Wearing The Same Pants For The Week. We Had Our Timbs With Our 40s On The Block. It Wasn’t A Gimmick. That’s What We Was Wearing.” Matty C A.K.A. Matt Life Executive Producer And A&R For Loud Records “The Original Version Of ‘Survival Of The Fittest’ Had James Brown Going ‘Gotta Get Over Before We Get Under!’ During The Chorus And That Had To Come Out. What The Publishers Wanted For That Little Sample Wasn’t Worth It. That Was My First Time Dealing With Those Issues And Helping The Group Make Those Calls About What Was Worth Keeping.” Schott Free Executive Producer And A&R For Loud Records “I Remember Leaving The Office And Going To The Studio With Havoc. He Was Smoking A Thousand Cigarettes While Chopping Away At Something And He Had Had The Drums Up For A Minute. I Remember He Caught That One Piano Piece Lovely. The Whole Crew Was Like ‘Oooo.’ He Came With The Rhyme And Format And Everything Like That. “Then Tip Gets A Hold Of It. Tip Leaves The Loop Just Like It Is—the Same Way That Havoc Caught It—but Then Just Infiltrates It Entirely On The Drum Situation. It Intensifies The Entire Record. If You Ever Hear The Original It’s Ill It’s Gloomy It’s Street But It’s Nowhere As Huge As Tip Made It When He Just Changed Up The Drums. He Just Implemented That Over The Loop That Hav Had And Then Just Added So Much On Top Of It."
50 Similar Tracks:
Mobb Deep - Shook Ones, Pt. II Mobb Deep - The Start Of Your Ending 41st Side Nas - N.Y. State Of Mind Big L - Put It On Nas - Nas Is Like Big L - MVP The Notorious B.I.G. - Who Shot Ya? - 2005 Remaster Rakim - When I B On Tha Mic Mos Def - Ms. Fat Booty Gang Starr - Full Clip Gang Starr - Mass Appeal Souls Of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks On Me 50 Cent - Many Men Wish Death Jay-Z - Dead Presidents II Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A "G" Thang Snoop Dogg - Gin And Juice Raekwon - Ice Cream feat. Ghostface Killah, Method Man & Cappadonna Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M. Cash Rules Everything Around Me feat. Method Man, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck & Buddha Monk The Pharcyde - Runnin' The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By Dr. Dre - Keep Their Heads Ringin' Mos Def - Hip Hop Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya 50 Cent - In Da Club OutKast - ATLiens A Tribe Called Quest - Check The Rhime Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - They Reminisce Over You T.R.O.Y. The Notorious B.I.G. - Hypnotize Ghostface Killah - One 2Pac - Dear Mama Jay-Z - Heart Of The City Ain't No Love Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M. Cash Rules Everything Around Me Radio Edit 2Pac - Do For Love Ghostface Killah - Mighty Healthy Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain OutKast - Elevators Me & You Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says Black Star - Definition Westside Gunn - No Vacancy The Roots - What They Do Griselda - Dr Birds Big Punisher - Twinz Feat. Fat Joe Westside Gunn - Versace GZA/Genius - Living In The World Today Black Star - Thieves In The Night Warren G - Regulate Warren G - Regulate feat. Nate Dogg
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Biography - Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep Was A Hip-Hop Duo Made Up Of Havoc And Prodigy. Both Members Are Natives Of Queensbridge New York Located In Long Island City. They Are Perhaps Most Famous For Their Landmark Album The Infamous And The Accompanying Hit Single Shook Ones Pt. II. 1992–1994 Early Career Prodigy And Havoc Met One Another While Attending The Prestigious High School Of Art & Design In Manhattan. Coming From Similar Backgrounds The Duo Broke Into The Rap Game In 1992. Growing Up In Hostile Environments That Included The Prevalence Of Poverty Drugs And Gang Violence Mobb Deep Attempted To Express Their Life Experiences Through Rapping Circa 1992. Before Havoc And P Were Known As Mobb Deep They Were A Couple Of Teenaged Rappers Known As Poetical Profits. The World First Heard Of Them Via The Source's Unsigned Hype Column And This Is The Demo Track That Was Quoted In That Feature. The Song Would Later See The Light Of Day On Their Debut LP Juvenile Hell. "Flavor 4 The Non Believers" Demo Version They Released Their First Album Juvenille Hell In 1993. At A Time When East Coast Hip Hop Was Dominated By The Jazziness Of A Tribe Called Quest And De La Soul And The Afro-Centric Stylings Of Brand Nubian And Public Enemy Their Style Of Music Eschewed The Popular Conscious Hip Hop Of The Time And Reflected The Harsh Climate Of New York City In The Late-1980s And Early-1990s. Because Both Prodigy And Havoc Were Still In Their Teens At The Time Of Their Debut Many Were Surprised By The Violent Nature Of The Album. Although The Album Was Not Well-Received By The Public It Displayed The Raw Talent Of The Duo The Unique Chemistry Of Prodigy's Lyrical Delivery Combined With Havoc's Melancholy Beats. Through This Unique Style The Duo Were Signed By Loud Records And Began Recording Their Sophomore Album The Infamous In 1995 Which Would Establish The Duo In The Hardcore Hip Hop Community. 1995–2000 Rise To Success Following Its Release The Infamous Became Perhaps One Of The Most Influential Hip Hop Albums Of The East Coast Hardcore Rap Genre. Still At A Young Age The Duo Powered Themselves To The Top Of The Hardcore Rap Scene Through Their Straight Forward Narration Of Street Life. As With Their First Lyrical Production Mobb Deep Portrayed The Struggles Of Living In New York City's Queensbridge. Their Production Also Was Noticed As The Beats Were Often Hard Hitting And Direct A Testament To Havoc Who Produced The Duos' Tracks Almost Exclusively Throughout Their Careers. Furthermore The Hit Single Shook Ones Pt. II Received Acclaim As One Of The Greatest Rap Songs Ever. Their Third Album Hell On Earth Was Released In 1996 Debuting At Number Six On The Billboard Album Chart. The Album Continued Their Portrayal Of Harsh Street Life While Further Pushing Them To The Forefront Of The Hardcore Rap Scene Along With Contemporary East Coast Rappers Such As Notorious B.I.G. The Wu-Tang Clan Collective Jay-Z And Fellow Queensbridge Associate Nas. In 1999 The Duo Released The Highly Anticipated Murda Musik Album. Despite Extensive Bootlegging Nearly Thirty Songs Of Unreleased Material Leaked Onto The Internet And Countless Delays The Album Debuted At Number Three On Billboard And Quickly Went Platinum —further Highlighted By The Popular Single Quiet Storm. Shortly Afterwards Prodigy Released His Long Awaited Solo Album H.N.I.C 2000 In Which The Rapper Collaborated With Other Artists And Producers Including The Alchemist . 2001–2004 Decline Some Time After The Release Of Murda Muzik Rapper Jay-Z Spoke Out Against The Duo Leading To An Increase In Publicity. At The Hot 97 Summer Jam Show Of 2001 Jay-Z Performed The Freestyle "Takeover" Which He Later Re-Recorded For The The Blueprint LP Dissing Prodigy. He Also Revealed Photographs Allegedly Of Prodigy Wearing A Dance Leotard In 1988. Mobb Deep Subsequently Released Infamy In 2001. The Album Marked A Major Stylistic Change That Saw The Duo Move Away From The Raw Minimalist Stripped-Down Beats Of Their Hardcore Roots Towards More Commercial Fare With Such Songs As Hey Luv. This Transition Fostered Accusations Of "selling Out" — Upsetting Many Long-Time Fans Who Did Not Wish To See Them Veer Away From Their Original Style. Although This Stylistic Adjustment Opened Up Mobb's Audience To A Wider Variety Many Critics And Fans Credit Prodigy's Feud With Jay-Z With Damaging Mobb Deep's Gangster Image And Record Sales Most Evident When Comparing The Platinum-Selling Murda Muzik To Infamy Barely Reaching The Gold Status . Not To Be Fazed Prodigy Noted That His Lifelong Bout With Sickle Cell Anemia And His Beef With Jay-Z Had Changed His Outlook. In 2003 The Group Split With Loud Records And Released The Murda Mixtape Which Proclaimed "Free Agents" On The Cover Addressing The Group's Split With Loud And Search For A New Label. Jive Records Signed The Duo Later In The Year And Subsequently Released Amerikaz Nightmare In 2004 Which Was Seen By The General Rap Audience As A Weaker Release By The Two - Resulting In Poor Sales And The Subsequent Dropping Of The Duo From Jive. 2005–2017 In The Spring Of 2005 It Was Announced That The Duo Signed With G-Unit Records. This Came As A Surprise To Many As 50 Cent Aimed A Sly Diss At Them On The "Piggy Bank" Track. The Duo Made It Known That This Was Not The Case As Havoc Stated In An Interview "Mobb Deep Isn't Gonna Change And When We First Got Here 50 Was Like 'Listen I Want Y'all To Keep Doing What You Been Doing.' That's It." 50 Cent Has A Connection To The Duo As He Grew Up In Nearby Jamaica Queens And Also Has Used Havoc As A Producer For Several Different Beats. The Relationship Became Deeper Than Business As The Mobb And 50 Cent Got Tattoos To Pledge Their Loyalty To Each Other. Prodigy Has The Words "G-Unit" Tattooed On His Right Hand And 50 Has "Mobb Deep" Tattooed On His Wrist. Upon Signing To G-Unit Both Prodigy And Havoc Were Given New Porsches For Two Artists Who Have Received Very Little Monetary Compensation In The Past. They Recorded Their Album Titled Blood Money Which Was Released On May 2 2006. The Album Featured G-Unit Members 50 Cent Lloyd Banks Tony Yayo And Young Buck. This Marks Their Seventh Release And Has Vaulted The Duo Into The Hip-Hop Spotlight. As One Of The Most Recognized Names In Hip-Hop At The Time It Was Expected For G-Unit To Help Mobb Deep Attract A New Fanbase. As Havoc Stated Shortly After The Deal “As An Artist You Want To Be Able To Reach The Furthest Audience As You Can. We Put In Hard Work On Our Previous Albums And Still Hit Our Core Fan Base. The Difference This Time Around Is That More People Will Hear This Product This Time.” Despite This Many Of The Mobb's Longtime Fans Were Skeptical As G-Unit Is Known For Their Mainstream Crossover Music And Feared That Mobb Deep Will Conform To This Style. The Album Was Released To Mixed Reception Mainly From Fans Regarding It As One Of The Duo's Weakest Albums. In 2007 Prodigy Was Sentenced To Serve Three-And-A-Half Years In Prison For Illegal Possession Of A Firearm. Originally Facing A Mandatory Sentence Of 15 Years In Prison Prodigy Struck A Deal With The Prosecution And Pleaded Guilty In Exchange For The Shorter Prison Sentence. He Would Later Be Released From Prison In March 2011 With Mobb Deep Releasing Their First Official Project In Five Years Black Cocaine Eight Months Later. To Celebrate The 20th Anniversary Of Their 1995 Album The Infamous The Duo Released Their Final Album The Infamous Mobb Deep In 2014 Featuring A Second Disc Of Unreleased Songs And Remixes From The 1994-95 Sessions Of The Infamous. They Would Also Put Out Their Overall Final Project An EP Called Survival Of The Fittest In 2015 Which Featured An All New ESPN Remix Of The Classic 1995 Single As Well As A Few Brand New Songs. On June 20 2017 Prodigy Died At The Spring Valley Medical Center In Las Vegas Nevada Due To Complications Related To His Sickle-Cell Anemia. Technique Early On Mobb Deep Gained Their Critical Acclaim For A Dark Dynamic Grimey Sound With Haunting Melodies--Havoc's Production--That To Many Represented "street" In A Way Not Done By Many Or Any Before. Additionally Prodigy's Penchant For Starting Off A Verse With An Attention-Grabbing Line Writing Compelling Rhymes Based Heavily On Queensbridge Slang And A Rambling But Clear Delivery Appealed To Fans On The Lyrical Aspect. For Some Time Prodigy Was The Star MC Of The Duo Havoc Sounding Less Focused On The Lyrical Aspect And More On Production. This Continued Until The Alchemist Was Brought In To Do A Few Beats For Each Album After Which Havoc Seemed To Begin Concentrating More On His Verbal Prowess Slowly Developing His Own Style. After The Beef With Jay-Z Prodigy Changed His Style Rhyming Words Less And Slowing Down His Delivery While Havoc Increasingly Contributed More To The Rhyme End Of The Duo. After Being On Independant Labels Such As LOUD And Then A Larger Label JIVE Styles From The Grimy Gritty Styles From The QB Duo Changed Greatly Much To The Despair Of The Mainstream Fans Never Fully Recovering From The Jay-Z Beef They Were Forced Into The Limelight And After Releasing The Street Wood Effort Of Infamy Never Reclaiming The Status Of The Best Kept Secret. Signing With G-Unit Seems To Have Worsened Their Career And Blood Money Their First Album Released On G-Unit Only Sold Approximately 110 000 In Its First Week Coming In At #3 On The Billboard 200. read less
16 Similar Artists To Mobb Deep - Frogtoon Music
Big L Gang Starr Raekwon Nas Wu-Tang Clan Ghostface Killah GZA/Genius Big Punisher AZ The Notorious B.I.G. Kool G Rap Capone-N-Noreaga Redman Rakim Method Man Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth.
Prodigy: “We made that in Hav’s crib, in Queensbridge. We’d make the beats in Hav’s crib [but lay vocals in the studio]. Or sometimes, we’d make the beat in the crib, write half of the song in the crib, then go to the studio and finish it. That was one of the ones where Hav ain’t really like the beat. He was about to erase that shit. There’s a lot of joints like that, where he was about to trash them and we had to change his mind. I was out somewhere on the block chilling probably, I came in the crib, and Hav had the beat playing.
“I was like, ‘Damn. What the fuck is this?’ He’s like, ‘It’s some bullshit, I’m about to fucking scratch this shit and do another one.’ I was like ‘Nah, don’t scratch that nigga, hold up. Let niggas hear this.’ And I called niggas over like, ‘Yo, listen to this fucking beat this nigga just made.’ And everybody was like, ‘Yo, that shit is crazy.’ Then we both just started writing rhymes to it and it came out good. We knocked that out all in one day. So, I had to save that one.
“Hav’s pops was a DJ, so Hav had a lot of records from the ‘70s and the ‘80s. We both had a good record collection. Hav was already listening to records before I met him. He was trying to sample on a cassette player, hit record, pause, record, and pause, and making the beats like that. When he met me, we bought the equipment. That’s when he started to really get into making beats. I actually showed him how to sample, how to do this, and how to sequence the shit. Once he got the hang of it he just went in and started going crazy."
Havoc: “I was just making beats in my crib in the projects. We had already put out ‘Shook Ones’ and our confidence was up. At that time, I was into sampling a lot of jazz records so I found this loop. I put it together. I tried to make it sound as crispy as I could when we were in the studio recording it.
“I remember my cousin Ferg being in the studio. He was from Brooklyn, he was running the streets wild, and he was like 16 at the time, so I said, ‘Yo, go in the booth and just go ad-lib behind the chorus.’ And he was just like, ‘Yeah, thug life we still living it.’ And this is way before Tupac [started saying ‘Thug Life’] and I don’t know if he felt like he came with that first. But this is from the heart, when we did that we didn’t know nothing about no Tupac. My little cousin went back there [and did the hook] and the shit was dope. He wasn’t an actual rapper at that time. I know he used to write his little rhymes, but that’s not actually why I put him in the booth—I put him in there to get that raw, unbiased energy.
“ that was our thing. We were just straight hood. It wasn’t no pretty boy shit. It was like, ‘Yo, let’s throw on our Timbs.’ It didn’t get more harder than that. We weren’t the kind of muthafuckas that was in the mirror for like a half an hour, nah. Nine times out of ten, we wearing the same pants for the week. We had our Timbs with our 40s on the block. It wasn’t a gimmick. That’s what we was wearing.”
Matty C a.k.a. Matt Life (Executive Producer and A&R for Loud Records): “The original version of ‘Survival of the Fittest’ had James Brown going ‘Gotta get over before we get under!’ during the chorus and that had to come out. What the publishers wanted for that little sample wasn’t worth it. That was my first time dealing with those issues and helping the group make those calls about what was worth keeping.”
Schott Free (Executive Producer and A&R for Loud Records):“I remember leaving the office and going to the studio with Havoc. He was smoking a thousand cigarettes while chopping away at something and he had had the drums up for a minute. I remember he caught that one piano piece lovely. The whole crew was like, ‘Oooo.’ He came with the rhyme and format and everything like that.
“Then Tip gets a hold of it. Tip leaves the loop just like it is—the same way that Havoc caught it—but then just infiltrates it entirely on the drum situation. It intensifies the entire record. If you ever hear the original, it’s ill, it’s gloomy, it’s street, but it’s nowhere as huge as Tip made it when he just changed up the drums. He just implemented that over the loop that Hav had and then just added so much on top of it." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Published: 08 Aug 2023, 05:09
"The Infamous..." Is The Second Studio Album By The American Hip-Hop Duo Mobb Deep. It Was Released On April 25 1995 By RCA Records And Loud Records. The Album Features Guest Appearances By Nas Raekwon Ghostface Killah And Q-Tip. It Was Largely Produced By Group Member Havoc With Q-Tip Also Contributing Production While Serving As The Mixing Engineer. Most Of The Leftover Songs From The Album Became Bonus Tracks For Mobb Deep's "The Infamous Mobb Deep" Album. Although They Are Now Considered A Legendary Group Leading Into The Release Of Their Second Album The Infamous It Was Far From A Given That Albert “Prodigy” Johnson And Kejuan “Havoc” Muchita Would Enjoy Such Long And Fruitful Careers. Their First Album "Juvenile Hell" Had Been A Commercial Flop Although It Did Yield A Minor Hit “Hit It From The Back ” And Led To Them Being Dropped By Their First Label 4th & Broadway. Prodigy Even Admits In His New Autobiography My Infamous Life That Him And Havoc Didn’t Really Take The Songwriting And Producing Process Serious For Their Debut. It’s Understandable Given That Both Were Teenagers At The Time. Besides If It Was The Impetus For What Was To Come Then It Was Definitely A Good Thing. While Only Producing Three Songs On "Juvenile Hell" The Group Produced A Majority Of The Infamous Carving Out A Unique And Unmistakable Sound. Dark Moody Brooding And Sinister The Music Was Apocalyptic And Havoc And Prodigy’s Unyielding And Unremorseful Lyrics Painted A Very Bleak Picture Of What Life Was Like Growing Up In Queensbridge Yeah We Know Prodigy Is From Hempstead Long Island But It’s Obvious He Spent A Lot Of Time In QB . It May Have Been Unnerving To Think That A Duo So Young Could Entertain Such Cold-Blooded Thoughts But Given The Overwhelmingly Positive Response The Realness Seemed To Resonate. The Album Contained Huge Smashes With “Shook Ones Pt. II ” And “Survival Of The Fittest ” And Disseminated Their Unique Dunn Slanguage All Over The World.