First album by one of the most famous and above all one of the best groups in the history of hip-hop: Queensbridge duo, formed by Kejuan "Havoc" Muchita and Albert "Prodigy" Johnson, born in Brooklyn and Long Island respectively.
The two boys raised in Queens, initially, perform under the name of "Poetical Prophets" and make a demo: they tour several local labels, until they meet Q-Tip, a member of A Tribe Called Quest, who takes the teenagers to Chris Lighty of Rush Associated Labels, a subsidiary of Def Jam. Prodigy gets a deal with Jive Records for a single demo, however, the label doesn't sign the duo, who remain without a contract: this earned them a mention in "The Source" magazine's Unsigned Hype in the summer of 1991, which helped the group find a label. In 1992, they signed a contract with 4th & B'way Records under the new name Mobb Deep and began recording their debut album.
Production is done by Havoc, Dale Hogan, Keith Spencer, DJ Premier, Kerwin Young, Paul Shabazz and Large Professor, but don't worry man, it all sounds the same. While this is sometimes a sign of great work behind the keyboards, here, sadly, it isn't. Music will later become one of the main strengths of the Mobb Deep albums (thanks again, Havoc!), it's still early here. Prodigy is sometimes credited as a producer, but I don't think he played a role in running the beats. In any case, it doesn't matter, because they're not exactly fantastic. They're not even bad, they're just average, typically East Coast of '93, and yes, that's a phrase you read often on hip-hop records this season and which I seem to have frequently wrote myself: boom bap hardcore, hard thumping drum, slower than other records, often midtempo, simple jazzy samples.
There's DJ Premier in "Peer Pressure" and it's not clear that it's a Premier. There's Large Professor in the remix of the same track and there, well, I tell you that maybe you could guess that there's something anomalous compared to the rest: his beat stands out from the others, because he creates a sound carpet that's the most minimal of all in a disc featuring 14 minimal productions. Tight, skeletal, hard and pounding drum machine, decent jazzy sample, raw boom bap. But even here, I don't think you can guess it's a Large Pro rhythm, unless you read the name of the track. I don't know what the other beatmakers' contribution is, the rhythms are those.
Lyrically, Mobb Deep copy, or better, are "strongly inspired" by what other rappers do in the same period, bringing out violent and raw bars, menacing, braggadocio, hardcore, with a bit of street life and fluid gangsta rap. The rapping of both of them is not fully developed, it's good, raw and energetic, sometimes they sound more youthful and regular than usual, but they don't offer classics or particularly exciting cuts in this debut. More than on other albums, the highlights here are very subjective: "Me & My Crew", "Peer Pressure" and "Hold Down the Fort" are some of the best sounding songs. It's not essential listening.
Rating: 6.5/10.
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