Mobb Deep

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  • Hell On Earth
    Hell On Earth
    Hell On Earth

    Mobb Deep’s 1995 sophomore album The Infamous put the duo on the map. But it was 1996’s Hell On Earth that cemented them as part of the vanguard of New York City-style street rap. With Hell On Earth, partners Havoc and the late Prodigy do for Queensbridge “thug life” what Martin Scorsese did for the Italian-American mob in his films—giving us a picture of a violent, high-stakes way of life that’s as bleak as it is action-packed. The album’s opening track, “Animal Instinct”, features a remorseful refrain—“Tired of livin’ life this way/Crime pay, but for how long/’Til you reach your downfall”—that made it clear Mobb Deep's “diamonds and guns” lifestyle had consequences. It’s no coincidence that the haunting track “G.O.D., Pt. III” features a sample of “Tony's Theme” from Scarface—a movie that, much like Hell On Earth, focuses on the meteoric rise and tragic fall that serves as the centre of so many crime stories. The cold, aggressive tone of Hell On Earth was inspired in part by real-life tragedies, as both members had lost close friends and family members in the mid-1990s. Adversity also came in the form of an unsolicited beef, with Mobb Deep being called out on 2Pac and the Outlawz’ incendiary “Hit ’Em Up”—a nasty diss track in which Pac pokes fun at Prodigy’s battle with sickle cell anaemia. Mobb Deep retaliated with Hell On Earth’s flagrant “Drop A Gem On ’Em”, released as tensions between East Coast and West Coast artists were reaching a fever pitch. “Drop A Gem On ’Em” made the rounds on local mixtapes and radio shows as a promo single, leading up to the album’s release. Thankfully, the beef stayed on wax—but Pac would be killed in Las Vegas in the fall of 1996, before he and the group could make amends. Beyond the drama, Hell On Earth is defined by the sinister soundscapes created by Havoc—the album’s sole producer—and the quotable verses delivered by Prodigy, then at the peak of his powers. His rhymes on cuts like “Still Shinin’”, “Nighttime Vultures” and the album’s title track put him in the conversation about who was the best rapper alive, alongside the likes of Nas and Biggie (JAY-Z wouldn’t enter the proverbial chat until a few years later). Appearances from fellow New York rap luminaries Nas, Raekwon and Method Man—not to mention cameos from Mobb Deep’s own Infamous Mobb family—make Hell On Earth a perfect snapshot of 1990s thug-rap, from the duo who coined the phrase “shook ones”.

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About Mobb Deep

Mobb Deep's murky, graphically detailed hip-hop made them one of the 1990s' most celebrated acts, every bit the artistic peer of stars like Notorious B.I.G. and Wu-Tang Clan. Havoc and Prodigy grew up in the New York borough of Queens but met as teenagers at Manhattan's High School of Art and Design in the early '90s, bonding through music. Their raw, unpolished debut, Juvenile Hell, got their feet in the door, but 1995's follow-up, The Infamous, forged their distinctive identity. Havoc produced haunting, suffocating sounds, and Prodigy delivered relentlessly violent, nihilistic rhymes with stone-faced intensity and inventive slang. Cinematic street credos like "Shook Ones (Pt. II)" made them a symbol of the toughness of East Coast hip-hop's golden era. Subsequent years saw beefs with 2Pac, Jay-Z and Nas, but Mobb Deep never let up creatively: Hell On Earth (1996) was even more venomous than its predecessor, and Murda Muzik (1999) featured the canonical "Quiet Storm (Remix)" with Lil Kim. In 2006, the duo signed to G-Unit Records and released Blood Money, scoring assists from 50 Cent while adding sheen to their cavernous sound. They closed the decade on hiatus due to personal issues, releasing music individually until reuniting for 2014's double-disc, The Infamous Mobb Deep. Their eighth and final album was a completionist's bliss—17 new songs revived their signature street Darwinism, and a batch of rare and unreleased 1994 sessions from the aforementioned The Infamous satisfied nostalgists. Prodigy died in 2017 after lifelong struggles with sickle cell anemia, and Havoc told Apple Music it feels "incomplete" to reminisce without his partner. But as acts like Roc Marciano and Griselda emulate the creepy melodies and unflinching menace that Hav and P pioneered, Mobb Deep live on.

FROM
Queens, NY, United States
FORMED
1993
GENRE
Hip-Hop/Rap

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