![]() ![]() Their sound was immediately distinctive, and evocative of a particular time and season. They paired their rough subject matter with dark, brooding production, handled largely by the group itself. They joined the ranks of Wu-Tang Clan, the Boot Camp Clik, Fat Joe, and childhood friend and Queensbridge compatriot Nas in crafting New York-based street music. The duo didn’t so much as reinvent themselves as they stopped rhyming about being teenagers, but kept on rapping about making a living through illegal means. 2” and “Survival of the Fittest” are still regarded as some of the best hip-hop singles of all time. Their sophomore album The Infamous (1995) became a phenomenon. Mobb Deep retooled its approach in late 1994, after signing to Loud Records. The album was a commercial failure and met with lukewarm critical praise. In 1993, they released their debut album Juvenile Hell, which focused on rhyming about street life, surviving in the Bronx’s Spofford Juvenile Center (aka one of NYC’s kids jails), and dealing with the pressure to sell drugs and live illegally. The pair switched up their image shortly thereafter, fashioning themselves as street-oriented rappers, signing with 4th and Broadway Records. They started recording music while in high school under the name Poetical Prophets, a pair of straight-laced 16-year-old “kid” rappers, and appeared in The Source’s Unsigned Hype column back in 1991. Kejuan “Havoc” Muchita and Albert “Prodigy” Johnson met while attending New York City’s High School of Art and Design. It’s an approach that served Mobb Deep well on Hell on Earth, their third album, released twenty-five years ago this week. There’s something to be said for an artist sticking to their strengths and improving on what made them good in the first place. But all too often, it’s little more than a lot of talk. Music is filled with artists who claim that they are trying to redefine the art form’s boundaries to create something next level with every outing. It’s not always necessary to reinvent the wheel to make a superior album. Happy 25th Anniversary to Mobb Deep’s third studio album Hell on Earth, originally released November 19, 1996. ![]()
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