Mobb Deep

While most hardcore rap acts are dismissed as lowbrow exploitation, Mobb Deep proved exceptional and at a young age became one of the few to garner unanimous acclaim from all sides of the rap community despite its hardcore style. Initially, the duo - Prodigy and Havoc - were perceived merely as just another hardcore rap act, a role the two actually typecast themselves as on their rudimentary debut album, Juvenile Hell (1993), and their breakthrough album, The Infamous (1995). The startling latter became a touchstone album among the hardcore rap community, driven by the song "Shook Ones, Pt. 2," an anthem for its time. As a result, Mobb Deep became widely known from coast to coast for its hellishly lyrical depiction of New York street life in Queensbridge, the rough housing project the duo called home. Mobb Deep's production style also became widely known, driven by haunting melodies and hard-hitting beats, the bleak aural equivalent of the duo's sullen rhymes. By the end of the decade, Mobb Deep¹s Murda Muzik debuted at number three on the Billboard album chart, exemplifying exactly how far the duo had come without compromising their harsh approach. Mobb Deep scored their biggest crossover hit yet with "Hey Luv (Anything),.' and winning many new fans in the process. Mutually residing in Queens and sharing a passion for hip-hop, Mobb Deep members Prodigy and Havoc originally met while both attending the prestigious Graphic AHs High School in Manhattan. Still in their late teens, the duo released their debut album in 1993, .Juvenile Hell, on the 4th & Broadway label. Though the album wasn¹t that successful from either a financial or critical standpoint, it did serve as a fitting platform for the duo to launch its career. Not only did Mobb Deep produce its own beats; it also crafted its own style of beat-making: a street-smart poetic approach centering on the surrounding ghetto lifestyle. Prodigy and Havoc¹s brutally honest reality rapping and complementary melancholy beats landed them a deal in 1995 with the up-and-coming Loud label, who released The Infamous, Mobb Deep¹s breakthrough album. The Infamous became a touchstone for mid-'90s East Coast hardcore rap beside such similar classics as Reasonable Doubt, Enter the Wu- Tang, and Ready to Die, and " Mobb Deep suddenly found itself with a huge cult following. A year later in 1996, Prodigy and Havoc released Hell on Earth; debuting at number six on the Billboard album chart, the album found the duo further realizing its approach, dropping both evocative beats and cinematic rhymes that communicated the dark side of New York's urban landscape. And thanks to a grim video for "Hell on Earth (Front Lines)"" and theatrical Scarface-like photos inside the CD booklet picturing the duo with guns and a mound of cocaine, Mobb Deep had created an elaborate image for themselves that took hardcore gangsta rap to a new level that the East Coast had yet fostered. It was then no surprise when fans heavily bootlegged Mobb Deep¹s successive release, Murda Muzik, while it was still in its demo stage, leaking rough versions of the nearly 30 songs the duo had recorded onto the streets and the Internet. Months after the bootlegs first leaked and after several pushed-back street dates, Murda Muzik finally dropped in early 1999. It debuted at number three on Billboard and quickly went platinum on the strength of "Quiet Storm," a song epitomizing the signature Mobb Deep style. In late 2000, Prodigy finally released his long-rumored solo album, H.N.I.C., which saw the more outspoken member of the group collaborating with outside producers such as Alchemist and Rockwilder on tracks similar to the trademark Mobb Deep style. On H.N.I.C. and later in an interview with The Source, Prodigy referenced his bout with illness during the time following Murda Muzik. Mobb Deep latest project Infamy was released on Loud Records at the tail end of 2001. Soon after that, Loud was desolved. In February 2003 the duo inked a brand new deal with NY based Jive Records.