Havoc

As one of the less-heralded architects of '90s hardcore rap, Queens native producer-MC Havoc (born Kejuan Muchita) never received the same level of credit accorded to Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, but his productions on his albums with Prodigy as Mobb Deep -- especially 1995's classic The Infamous -- were among some of the starkest, grimiest, and deceptively musical beats of the era. Havoc didn't keep his work strictly to Mobb Deep releases. He granted early productions to Nas' It Was Written and Nastradamus, Capone-N-Noreaga's The War Report, the Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death, and Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day. While Mobb Deep remained on ongoing concern throughout the 2000s, Havoc also issued his first proper solo recordings, including The Kush (2007) and Hidden Files (2009). His Mobb Deep partner chipped in on a track for each album. A rift between the two preceded 13 (2013), an album named after Havoc's lucky number. It benefited from verses delivered by Royce da 5'9" and Raekwon and was quickly trailed by a production-oriented release, 13 Reloaded (2014). A full-length collaboration with the Alchemist, The Silent Partner (2016), arrived the same year Havoc landed a pair of co-production credits on Kanye West's The Life of Pablo. ~ Andy Kellman