obb Deep is responsible for arguably three of the best hip-hop albums of all time: Murda Musik, Hell on Earth and their undisputed classic The Infamous. Gritty street tracks litter their albums like “Drop a Gem On ‘Em”, “Shook Ones Part Two”, and “The Realest”. In fact, the closest thing that Mobb Deep has to a club hit was the “Quiet Storm” Remix, featuring Li’l Kim, although even that was still a rough and rugged song. Prodigy’s solo album, H.N.I.C. was gritty. The other half of Mobb Deep, Havoc, is always responsible for grimy and hardcore beats. Prodigy is one of the best lyricists in the game, and Havoc is one of the most underrated. So what the hell happened on Infamy?


The guests on past Mobb albums have fit their formula: Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface, Kool G Rap, Cormega, and even Q-Tip spit a verse or two that belonged on the album, and didn’t detract from or overshadow Mobb Deep. Infamy features 112, Lil’ Mo, and Ron Isley. What is going on? “Hey Luv (Anything)” featuring 112 has a nice beat, and 112 does a good job on the hook, but what the hell is Mobb Deep doing on the track? Prodigy rapping about love doesn’t work for me. “Bounce” is an awful attempt at a club jam and comes off making Mobb Deep look like a group with no integrity. Scott Storch has some pretty sweet production on “Live Foul”, but it sounds like something Snoop should be spitting over, not Mobb Deep. The song with Lil’ Mo, “Pray for Me”, and the song with Ron Isley “There I Go Again” are both decent, but neither one is really above average.


And then there are the “typical” Mobb Deep songs. “Hurt Niggas”, “Kill That Nigga” and “My Gats Spitting” are a joke, a parody or caricature of the old Mobb Deep. “The Learning (Burn)” shows the story of most of the album: Good production and a good verse from Havoc, but Prodigy just destroys it with his lazy flow. Yes, Prodigy used to be one of the best in the game. The reason he was so good is that yeah, he was a thug, but he did it gracefully. It sounds stupid, but he had the ability to make a threat with a metaphor, kind of the way Wu-Tang does. However, his verse on “Burn” shows exactly how far he’s fallen: “You a bitch-ass nigga, I had you kill't / All they had was your picture at the funeral / No casket, you bas-tards be missin / My jewels, my whip, my rims be bitchin’ / My guns be the heat that'll make you blister / My mens, my Timbs'll stomp you niggas / No shit, no clip, don't fuck with us / It's no problem, I bring it to the best of them / From the old to the new, and the rest of them / No love, just slugs for ya body dunn / Just pain, just sufferin’, and worst then that / You let me get my hands on you so I'm takin’ advantage / And that shit that you pulled ain't do me no damage / You don't know me, but we bout to change that shit / Wrap that nigga up like a package / Fuck all them niggas, buck all them faggots”. That verse was not only lazy, but it was borderline stupid. Big Noyd and Havoc had some very good verses to start the song, and it has a totally hot beat, but Prodigy just destroys any flow that the song has.


Besides “Burn”, the album does have a few good songs. Ez-Elpee’s production on “Get Away” is very good, and the “Renegade” sounding chorus helps it become the highlight of the album. “Crawling”, Prodigy’s response to “The Takeover”, has a hot beat, and Prodigy’s lyrics are only juvenile in some places. “Clap” has an excellent beat, and the lyrics aren’t too bad either. And finally, Alchemist’s production on “Get At Me” and “So Long” contrast very well with the rest of the album’s production, and Prodigy’s lyrics are low-key enough to ignore and focus on his all-of-a-sudden now more talented partner in rhyme, Havoc.


What happened? Did Prodigy just become complacent and give up? Did Havoc get hungry and start ripping tracks up like never before? I don’t know. The beef between Prodigy and Jay-Z may have had something to do with it, but I can’t tell you. Infamy is a horribly inconsistent album, the worst from Mobb Deep yet, and hopefully not a vision of the future, but a mistake on the path to more classic albums.