Grant JonesWith the arrival of a new Mobb Deep album, I found myself revisiting the Mobb’s shinier, more expensive-sounding albums, “Infamy”, “Amerikaz Nightmare” and “Blood Money”, and they’re not as bad as I recalled. They just feel slightly bizarre when you consider what came before and what transpired later in their career. Their ability to craft, convey and narrate from the underbelly of New York started to dissipate into a sea of riches and bitches. That statement could be assigned to most rappers with a classic 90s LP, but with Mobb Deep it’s all the more noticeable. That’s not to say those albums weren’t good, because they certainly had their moments, but Havoc and Prodigy’s brand is grimy, dangerous and cinematic. “Hell On Earth” was truly menacing. “The Infamous” remains a haunting masterpiece. “Murda Muzik” successfully married their personalities to the mafioso wave. Aside from Prodigy’s solo output – that feels wholly underappreciated (I maintain that 2008’s conceptual “Product of the 80s” is his best work outside of the Mobb’s 90s run) – Mobb Deep albums haven’t been particularly strong for a long time. With “Infinite”, the first Mobb Deep album in eleven years (and the first posthumous one since Prodigy passed in 2017), we’re treated to a record that understands why Mobb Deep are great in the first place. Freed from the formula that labels utilised at the time, there’s no track for the ladies, no track for the club – just how it should be.
Unlike Gang Starr’s “One of the Best Yet”, this album rarely feels stitched together. Prodigy sits naturally alongside Havoc as if he were there in the studio for each song. Many times, Prodigy sounds too good, as if he has been frozen in time. Rumours of AI usage aren’t particularly far-fetched, considering Nas’ investments in AI technology firms like LANDR, the infamous Wu-Tang Clan video for “Mandingo”, and Raekwon’s awful AI-generated video for “600 School”. Hell, the earliest known rapper to dabble with artificial intelligence is Prodigy himself. Back in 2008, the software company Voxonic partnered with Prodigy to use his voice, which he said “sounds incredible”. It probably explains why there are so many AI voice generators online for the Mobb Deep star. Interviews with Havoc and Alchemist indicate the verses for “Infinite” have been resurrected from old recordings, and have categorically said the album isn’t using AI-generated verses, but AI was definitely used in the visualizer for the track “Taj Mahal”. Prodigy sounds slower than usual, but the rest of the record doesn’t reveal further AI implementation. If it has been used, then it’s been done very subtly.
Speaking of “Taj Mahal”, which hasn’t been knocked down, The Alchemist brought us back to the “1st Infantry” days when he would use those sped-up vocal snippets and build something mesmeric. Good Lord. He killed it. Alchemist also laces “Score Points”, “My Era” and the vicious “Gunfire”, which Havoc shows he’s no slouch:
“Uh, word on еverything
Asthma attack n****s with that heavy breathe
Quiet mouse n****s get it, he ain’t even said a thing
Legendary motherfuckers gon’ remember me
Even if you got that Alzheimer’s
Piss on n****s like a panty liner
These wack rappers couldn’t even have me more liver
Gun don’t bust, these little n****s try to try ya
Wise shoot first, question last
Talkin’ to myself, why they test you, Hav’?
Oh, n****s think somethin’ sweet
They mute when the gutter speak
You cowards got them little guns
My burners reach like warheads to foreheads
Meanin’ they all dead, I’m that forebearer
First to let you know we livin’ in a soft era”
On paper, it’s unremarkable, but in audio form, it’s confrontational as fuck. By the time you get to “Easy Bruh”, it’s apparent this isn’t just any posthumous rap album. Where’s the disjointed, offkey blends of old vocals and new beats? Where’s the differing vocal inflection that an emcee with deteriorating health has in their final years? This isn’t that at all.
Hearing Havoc mention “you’ll be sat down like Covid” alongside Prodigy, who has no clue what Covid even is, made me miss Prodigy even more. It’s these little lines that lend “Infinite” its relevance – this isn’t just two old-timers banging on about their early years slinging crack. This feels modern. Sure, there’s plenty of posturing, but it captures the best of the Mobb Deep experience without feeling like its stuck in the past. Havoc’s production, often underrated, is completely different to his peak, yet he goes toe-to-toe with Alchemist and often outdoes him.
Rap nerds will appreciate hearing nods to Boogie Down Productions’ “Jimmy” and Nas’ “Doo Rags” on “The M. The O. The B. The B.”. Anyone who insists on eulogising the 1990s is well served by “My Era” and “Pour the Henny”. The former is a reminder of how spoilt we were in the late 1990s, and the latter is more reflective, with Nas paying his respects shortly after Prodigy’s verse:
“You could be bored to death or either die laughin’
Both while you still livin’, hopeful in high fashion
Talk what I been through in life, what I encountered
It’s sorta like blowin’ a trumpet, makin’ announcements
A sermon that’s disturbin’ to a serpent
A blessin’ to anyone in attendance as soon as you hear the verbiage
I’m mister throw your frame in a stretcher if you deserve it
Reverse prophetic, I saw your truth hittin’ in verses
Whatever come out of Satan mouth is a lie perverted
It’s hell out here, so keep God close on purpose
Life is a small hill to a mountain climber
I’m a ten-time champion, real-life survivor
I’ve been on the ropes a few times
Probably been almost smoked a few times
But everything will evolve in due time
I know that this ending is not the end
Just some new beginnings for P, we pour out some Hen’, we miss you”
“Down For You” with Jorja Smith is the one time the Mobb lighten up, as they revisit their Nas collaboration “It’s Mine”, but this time it’s got a good hook. Is that a controversial take? I much prefer this.
As a Brit, I enjoyed the “watchin’ cricket with my missus” line, clearly a nod to Jorja hailing from the UK, but also a flex on his international stardom. There’s a second version of this track, with H.E.R. in place of Jorja, and features different verses, itself reminiscent of the Mobb’s tradition of double-dipping on singles (“Quiet Storm” and “Got It Twisted” both included alternate versions on the album).
After last week’s mauling of fully generated AI raps, there’s nothing obviously amiss on “Infinite” that suggests the use of AI. Prodigy mispronounces Mariah Carey’s name on “Pour the Henny”, and he sounds rougher on “Clear Black Nights” and “Mr. Magik”, but at this point, I’m nitpicking. What Alchemist and Havoc have done follows on from LL Cool J and Q-Tip’s “The FORCE”. This is just great Hip-Hop. The recent string of legacy acts releasing albums through Nas’ Mass Appeal label has been a bit disappointing, at least to this writer, so having “Infinite” be a record I can play through, and do it repeatedly, feels like a pleasant surprise. I can’t say the same for the Slick Rick, Raekwon or Ghostface records. It’s clearly aimed at Mobb Deep fans, but it had no right to be good, let alone excellent. It’s the best Mobb Deep album since “Murda Muzik”.