'Prodigy & the H-a-v-o-c, from the QBC, putting cowards where they sposed to be...' (The Infamous - Mobb Deep)

Member Name: Sugar Matty O

Product:	The Infamous - Mobb Deep
Date:	15/09/01 (299 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Insightful, Resentful, Essential

Disadvantages: -

Any darker and this LP would come attached with night-vision goggles. Havoc and Prodigy are hip hop’s twilight henchman unleashing brutality to new sullen, cheerless levels that made the bazooka-fuelled lyricism and baggy jeans-suede Timbs strut of The Infamous such a dazzling sophomore trailblazer. Mobb Deep’s themes of looking after their own while toying with personal hells and ensuring the streets are swept away under dense of layers of breathless vocalism invite listeners into a doomed world illuminated by the clarity of some sparkling wordplay.

The bass-heavy marching anthems allowing for very little relaxation and time to think positive make The Infamous a strangely rousing, engaging collection of street hymns where optimism is scared to show itself. The propelling of the Mobb into the big time having fully realised their potential owes itself to the cynically stone-faced attitudes mirrored by equally hostile production that for the majority trudges heads down, blinkered by this darkness. The Start Of Your Ending is precisely the kind of downhearted spiral into something resembling oblivion as an opening stretch of ominous, oddly touching keys and clinical drums has Hav and Pee prophesising with slick melancholy. Survival Of The Fittest’s basic piano loop harnesses Havoc’s own problems dealing with the thug’s lifestyle (‘Lord forgive me/the Hennessey got me not knowing how to act/I’m falling and I can’t turn back’) as Prodigy counter-attacks in addressing the military-precise operations his clique run (‘my crew’s all about loot/f*ck looking cute I’m strictly Timb boots and army-certified suits’). The story-told ambush of Trife Life’s vividly depicted vehement vocab has the duo bossing in tandem and highlighting how trivial and materialistic gang-banging really can be as a snaking bassline backdrops shock tactics opening ears as much as widening eyes (‘…he
tried to play tough so I put one in his brain/even though I took his life all I wanted was his chain’). You can almost visualise the cold stares coupling a vice-like microphone grip as unfazed by the actions of outsiders, Mobb Deep continue to issue warnings served with intense intent. Shook Ones is regarded as one of MD’s defining moments in paying homage to its hometown, such is the lyrical assault laid down with syllables being set upon like rabid hounds over deceptively inviting keys and another fierce undercurrent of bass awash with a vocal experience that at the time belied their youthful years (‘I’m only 19 but my mind is old/and when the things get for real my warm heart turns cold’). Cradle To The Grave similarly holds its own as a snarling bass swerves through mournful horns and another clinical break heralded by a poignant yet violent opening accounting for the unpredictability of just who your friends and foes really are. The speaker-switching shimmerings of Party Over has Hav and Pee remaining defiant through the bleakness as the street remains the wrong place to be at the wrong time, as vocally Mobb Deep spar at a rate of knots that most others would get tongue-tied with, ensuring that speed of delivery isn’t sacrificed for intensity and insight of their tales of gangsta grimness.

The Infamous allows only brief deviation into lighter territory. Drink Away The Pain, where the spouses of the pair are compared to hitting the bottle in a major way, has the guesting Q-Tip’s metaphorical label battle diverting from the usual mud-slinging on an almost jaunty, upbeat slice of horn-lead sedated aggression. Give Up The Goods is more toe-tapping than head-knocking with Big Noyd joining forces with his fam, although holding heat and hustling for riches still prevail. The ultra-moody Q-U Hectic however quickly restores pessimism, has atmospherics sounding armageddon-esque and occasional brass riffs possessing the r
eflectivity of The Last Post as the ‘I’m a-blast you before you blast me’ mentality extends its perturbing intimidation.

A storming series of recollections born and raised in the projects that fails to ‘crack a smile cos ain’t a damn thing funny’ makes The Infamous a triumphantly turbulent trip into the minds of those stalking the streets with an unbeatable bragging swagger. Unrelenting, unrepentant hip hop that draws on darkness for inspiration but whose only offered light is the flash of gunfire, the masterly conceived verbal complexities that swarm over the gritty backing gives Havoc and Prodigy a positive notoriety the title The Infamous suggests. Burgeoning, bludgeoning brilliance...

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