bdog08's Full Review: The Infamous [PA] by Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep: The Infamous
There are few albums around that have a lasting impact on rap, and fewer that actually change your life. Mobb Deep’s The Infamous is as much of a industry milestone for making a necessary innovation to a superficial rap form. Gangsta Rap. Gangsta rap has bestowed the dirt over the infectious wound of rap music. For lack of a more detail explanation, gangsta rap is what made rap what it is today and tarnished the raps of yester years. But few rap groups have made something positive out of such a negative sub genre, with Mobb Deep’s The Infamous topping this list as not only the single greatest crime recording but also easily a masterpiece on par with all other musical accomplishments.
The Start of Your Ending (41st Side)
Infamous Prelude
Survival of the Fittest
Eye for an Eye (Your Beef is Mines)
Just Step Prelude
Give Up the Goods (Just Step)
Temperature Rising
Up North Trip
Trife Life
Hectic
Right Back at You
The Grave Prelude
Cradle to the Grave
Drink Away the Pain (Situations)
Shook Ones Part II
Party Over
Meanwhile back in Queens the realness is foundation
if I die I couldn't choose a better location
when the slugs penetrate you feel a burning sensation
getting closer to God in a tight situation: Prodigy
Sometimes I wonder do I deserve to live
or am I going to burn in hell for all the things I did
no time to dwell on that 'cause my brain reacts
front if you want kid, lay on your back: Havoc
These quotes easily give you basic understanding of where the mob is from, and what this album hopes to accomplish. Through it’s overwhelming enface on the graphical nature of poverty, moral corruption, graphic violence and lack of hope, Mobb Deep create a vision much larger then their own lives. Whether this album is detailing their own lives is irrelevant, as it portrays the life of many people whether living in the apartment complex across from Prodigy and Havoc or the poor unfortunate soul’s living on hell in Earth across the sea’s in Africa or Asia. Either way, The Infamous portrays darkness through reality in a way that has yet been unmatched through hip-hop.
This duo’s chemistry is somewhat reminiscent of Bobby De Niro and Martin Scorsese. Prodigy is in the spot light on the mic which is easily transparent from the opening cut “The end of your beginning”, through the finality, the criminal anthem “Party Over” But Havoc is the key piece of the duo, although he is often in the background, his directorial role with the instrumentals and supporting mic skills, make him as detrimental to the success of the project as the lead figure.
Havoc’s production is raw, and smooth, simple yet complex all in one. Before the much-polished Hell On Earth album, Havoc used a different more real approach. This album features simple baselines, and synthesizers, which have a more complex aura then the structure permits. The whole album features a similar structure of minimal baselines with a small synthesizer loop, whether the infamous loop of shook Ones Part 2 which is as haunting as the sadistic lyrics, repeating constantly in your mind, giving a shill down the spinal cord. Then Havoc gives us light flute fading in and out of Temperatures rising and Up North Trip. Hectic has an addicting snare, with a jazzy horn while survival of the fittest and Eye for a Eye have slightly more complex sounds while cradle to the grave returns to simple Beat Box essence. The Q-Tip influenced Drink away the pain, is the single trap that does not fit into the darkness, as it’s jazzy light tone gives you a brief moment to regain your sanity.
Each Track fits together to form a coherence unit, musically and artistically. The lyricism is graphical and haunting yet truthful and understanding. As the introduction stated this album is one of those few true gems that can make you feel extreme emotions. The lyricism grasps my mind into deep thoughts and gives goose bumps down the arm. This is not due to the graphical nature but the true honest views of reality spoken through sincerity which builds a strange bound between the listener and the Mobb, where you can actually be transformed into their world allowing you to feel for these cold, heartless murderers; the characters they portray accurately. Prodigy and Havoc have very typical rapping styles, and techniques with a standard vocabulary; giving you the simple truth without glamorizing the life style.
The center piece of this album is easily the hip hop masterpiece Shook Ones which displays Prodigy and Havoc boosting a more impressive rhyme scheme, while penetrating through your brain with raw raps about living life to die, a life of little value; where any day you may be deceased, leaving no impact because of the tragic nature of life. Mobb Deep even makes it a point to give a introspective question to the listener, Is death the only true way out of pain in life? This album also led to the rap feud between Mobb Deep and 2pac Shakur with the clear jab at 2pac with “Thug Life we still living it” on Survival of the fittest. The excellence inclusions of fellow QB artist Nas; straight off his Illmatic release, Mafioso duo of Ghostface Killah and Raekwon from Wu Tang, and the unofficial third member of the Mobb Big Noyd, who’s introduction is nothing short of stellar all leave a positive impact on selective crew cuts. But it truly is Mobb Deep members Prodigy and Havoc, which made this special, forming their own style, which differs from all artist connections.
As you enter into the world of Prodigy and Havoc, you feel as if you our reading a biography of millions of people who lived this treacherous life, yet never had the chance to tell their own story. Each line may portray the sadistic views of few individuals, which plague urban communities, but as a coherent unit; Mobb Deep is really telling people what really happens, denouncing it by showing the true horror. The pure essence of this album manifests a final product similar to motion picture classic Raging Bull, which was built around the simple emotions of anger, hate; which lead to graphic violence, yet in the end; the character development allows complexity to be born out of a mentality that seemed so primitive.
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