April 25, 1995 was the date of what would later be known as the release date for one of my greatest hip-hop music purchases ever! That day was the release of Mobb Deep’s sophomore album “The Infamous”. With Havoc writing and on production and with Prodigy writing his rhymes for an entire project, Mobb Deep solidified themselves as threat to the current state of the rap game as well as in the streets.

I remember seeing the Shook Ones Pt 2 video skyrocket on The Rap City Top 10 on Saturday. I remember hearing
“To all the killas and the hundred dollar billas” and just being in awe of that being the first words I hear from a rapper. I remember my guy J-Dub having this joint on cassette and we was riding around in the white wagon to the album. It was so influential to my hip-hop love and I can’t deny it as being one of my favorite hip-hop albums ever!

This album is an undeniable classic! 20 years later and the beats and the rhymes have influenced a generations of hip-hop fans and artist. Some of the most memorable bars and verses, in hip-hop history are from this album. There are not many people, who listen to hip-hop avidly, who don’t know what you’re talking about when you say

“I got you stuck off the realness…”
“Rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose-bone”
“Take these words home and think it through, or the next rhyme I write might be about you”
“You shook, ain’t no such thing as halfway crooks”
“There’s a war going on outside no man is safe from”
“Life is a gamble, we scramble for money”
“No matter how much loot I get, I’m staying in the projects, forever”
“Eye for and eye, Your beef is mine”
“From the cradle to the grave”
“Queens get the money…”
“We living this till the day that we die, Survival of the fit only the strong survive”
“Bout to get on some high school ish and start punching n**gas in they faces for living”
“Do your thing, I’ll do mine, kid stay out of my way”

This album was another pivotal change in the sound of the borough Queens. This album much like Nas and Wu albums, gave us lingo, style and mental pictures. This is when East Coast Rap got a little too grimey for the mainstream but thrived greatly in spite of that. This album had hits, anthems, sales and was critically acclaimed.

Mobb Deep is one of the greatest things to happen to hip-hop and that fact starts with this album. The sound and feel of this album not many can create or duplicate. Prodigy used an interlude to kick off a beef with Keith Murray on this album! There are so many moments and you have to listen from front to back to understand.

Albums like “The Infamous” are why I don’t call a lot of albums today classic. Classics have to do more than just sound good. The got to start, stop or change something. The Infamous album does that. In my view, classics shouldn’t remind you of other artist albums. I feel classics should make you want to hear that artist forever and when that artist drops again, you can only compare that artist project to the last one. You can do that with The Infamous album.

My Bottom Line: Mobb Deep is arguably one the greatest rap duos ever and The Infamous album should be in every hip-hop fans top 25 albums of all time.

Yo, I’m finished with what I have to say, y’all can continue on…