Mobb Deep

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Members
Havoc (Born Kejuan Muchita, May 21, 1974 in Queensbridge, Queens, NY)
Prodigy (Born Albert Johnson, November 2, 1974 in Hempstead, Long Island, NY)

Other Group
Riflemen:
Jayo Felony (A.K.A. Bullet Loco & Peer Pressure) (Born James Savage, in San Diego, CA)
Kurupt (A.K.A. Young Gotti) (Born Ricardo Brown, November 23, 1972 in Philadelphia, PA)
40 Glocc (Born Lawrence White, December 16, 1979 in Galveston, TX)
Mobb Deep
~Havoc (Born Kejuan Muchita, May 21, 1974 in Queensbridge, Queens, NY)
~Prodigy (Born Albert Johnson, November 2, 1974 in Hempstead, Long Island, NY)

See Also: Jayo Felony, D.P.G., 40 Glocc, Big Noyd & G-Unit

Albums
Mobb Deep - Juvenile Hell
Mobb Deep - The Infamous
Mobb Deep - Hell On Earth
Mobb Deep - Murda Muzik
Mobb Deep - Infamy
Mobb Deep - Infamous Allegiance Pt. 1
Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare
Mobb Deep - Black Cocaine
Havoc - The Kush
Havoc - Hidden Files
Prodigy - H.N.I.C.
Prodigy - Return Of The Mac (Advance)
Prodigy - Return Of The Mac
Prodigy - H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
Prodigy - H.N.I.C. 3
Prodigy - The Bumpy Johnson Album

Mixtapes
Mobb Deep - Free Agents: The Murda Mix Tape
Mobb Deep - The Mixed Tape Before 9/11
Mobb Deep - The Dunn Language

Also Featured On...
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X

A
The Alchemist - Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2
The Alchemist - 1st Infantry
The Alchemist - The Chemistry Files
The Alchemist - The Alchemist's Cookbook EP (Prodigy)
The Alchemist - Chemical Warfare (Prodigy)
The Almighty R.S.O. - Doomsday: Forever R.S.O.
America Is Dying Slowly

B
Charli Baltimore - Cold As Ice
Lloyd Banks - Mo' Money In The Bank (Prodigy)
Barbershop 2: Back In Business
Beef (Prodigy)
Benzino - The Benzino Project (Prodigy)
Big Noyd - Episodes Of A Hustla
Big Noyd - On The Grind
Big Punisher - Capital Punishment (Prodigy)
Black And White (Prodigy)
Black Moon - Enta Da Stage (Havoc)
Mary J. Blige - The Making Of A Queen Volume One
Mary J. Blige - Soul Is Forever: The Remix Album
Bulworth (Prodigy)

C
Cam'Ron - ...Harlem's Greatest (Prodigy)
Capone-N-Noreaga - The Best Of Capone-N-Noreaga: Thugged Da Fuck Out
Cormega - Raw Forever (Havoc)
The Corruptor
Frankie Cutlass - Politics & Bullshit
Cypress Hill - 'Till Death Do Us Part (Prodigy)

D
DAS EFX - Microphone Master (Vinyl Promo)
DAS EFX - Remixez
Def Squad - El Niño
Dilated Peoples - Heavy Surveillance
DJ Clue? - The Professional
DJ Clue? - The Professional 2
DJ Kay Slay - Underground Part 1: Well Connected (Havoc)
DJ Kayslay - Streetsweeper
DJ Muggs & Chace Infinite - The Last Assassin Mixtape (Prodigy)
DJ Muggs - Take Aim
DJ Premier - Crooklyn Cuts Volume III: Tape A
Domo Genesis & The Alchemist - No Idols (Prodigy)
Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood
DMX - Mixtape

E
Tha Eastsidaz - Duces 'N' Trays: The Old Fashioned Way
E-Money Bags - I'm The Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit' (Prodigy)
EPMD - We Mean Business (Havoc)
Essential Underground Hip Hop
Essential Underground Hip-Hop 2
Essential Underground Hip-Hop 3
Evidence - Cats & Dogs (Evidence)

F
40 Glocc & Zoolife Present Concrete Jungle (Prodigy)
40 Glocc & Spider Loc - Before The Graveyard Shift (Prodigy)
40 Glocc - Big Bad 4-0: New World Agenda (Prodigy)
40 Glocc - Seedz Of Makaveli
Foxy Brown - Ill Na Na (Havoc)
50 Cent - No Mercy No Fear (Havoc)
50 Cent - The Massacre
FunkMaster Flex Presents The Mix Tape Volume 1: 60 Minutes Of Funk
Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap Present The Tunnel (Prodigy)

G
The Game & Snoop Dogg - Westside Connection (Prodigy)
The Game - Compton King (Prodigy)
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
G-Unit - Elephant In The Sand (Prodigy)

H
Hardball
Henchmen - Bullet Proof Love Volume 1 (Prodigy)
Hip Hop Game Presents Angeles Records Winter 2006 Sampler
Hoodlum

I
In Too Deep

J
Jim Jones - Capo (Prodigy)
Junior M.A.F.I.A. - Riot Musik (Prodigy)

K
Keak Da Sneak - Deified (Prodigy)
Kool G. Rap - The Giancana Story (Advance)
Kool G. Rap - The Giancana Story
Kool G. Rap - Riches, Royalty & Respect (Havoc)
Kurupt Presents Pentagon Rydaz

L
The Last Shall Be First
Lil' Kim - La Bella Mafia (Havoc)
LL Cool J - Mr. Smith (Prodigy)
LL Cool J - All World 2 (Prodigy)
Lyricist Lounge Vol. 2 (Prodigy)

M
Angie Martinez - Up Close And Personal (Prodigy)
Method Man - Tical 2000: Judgement Day

N
Nas - Nastradamus
Nas & Ill Will Records Present Queensbridge The Album
Nas - The Prophecy
Nas - The Lost Album Vol. 1: Last Real Nigga Alive (Prodigy)
Nature - Pain Killer (Prodigy)
1982 (Statik Selektah & Termanology) - 2012 (Havoc)
The Notorious B.I.G. - Born Again
The Notorious B.I.G. - Duets: The Final Chapter

O
One Million Strong
Original Gangstas

P
Palm Trees & Gangstas Vol. 1
Paris Presents: Hard Truth Soldiers Vol. 1
Phil The Agony - Steady Aromatic Mixtape (Prodigy)
Sean Price - Master P (Official Mixtape) (Prodigy)

R
R.A. The Rugged Man - Legendary Classics Volume 1 (Havoc)
Raekwon - The Lex Diamond Story (Havoc)
Raekwon - Unexpected Victory
Rap Or Die Vol. 3 (Prodigy)
The Rapsody Overture: Hip Hop Meets Classic
Ras Kass - Eat Or Die
Pete Rock - Soul Survivor (Prodigy)
Royce Da 5'9" - Defending The Crown Part III: The Coroner

S
ShadyBlock Presents Shady Aftermath Volume 2
Slam
Snoop Dogg Presents: Doggy Style Allstars: Welcome To Tha House Vol. 1
Soul Assassins - Intermission (Prodigy)
The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards 2001
The Source Presents Hip Hop Hits Volume 1
Clinton Sparks - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed
Spider Loc Presents: Bangadoshish (Prodigy)
Statik Selektah - 100 Proof: The Hangover (Havoc)
Sunset Park

T
Tash - Rap Life
Termanology - Hood Politics IV: Show And Prove
Termanology - Cameo King II (Havoc)
Terror Squad - True Story (Prodigy)
Think Differently Music Presents: Now That's What I Call Hip-Hop! 1 (Prodigy)
Thug Radio Mixtape 19: Gonna Make A Change (Prodigy)
Tony Touch - Mic Construction (Havoc)
Too $hort - Pimpin' Incorporated
A Tribe Called Quest - The Lost Demos
Truly OdD - West West...Get Your Bars Up
2Pac & The Notorious B.I.G. - Runnin' (Single)

U
Urban Hip Hop Volume 1 (Prodigy)

V
Violator The Album
Viva La Revolución Volume I: Get Up, Stand Up (Thug Radio Mixtape)

W
Wu-Box: The Cream Of The Clan (Prodigy)
Wu-Chronicles
Wu-Tang Chamber Music (Havoc)
Wyclef Jean - The Preacher's Son (Prodigy)

X
Xzibit - Napalm (Prodigy)

Bio From AllMusic.Com
As golden age rap suddenly gave way to West Coast gangsta in the early '90s, an East Coast variety of hardcore rap arose in turn, with Mobb Deep initially standing tall as one of New York's hardcore figureheads on the basis of their epochal album The Infamous. Released in April 1995, The Infamous was released almost exactly a year after Illmatic and about a half year after Ready To Die — the debut masterpieces of Nas and The Notorious B.I.G., respectively, both albums likewise of momentous significance for East Coast hardcore rap. On The Infamous, Mobb Deep (comprised of Prodigy and Havoc) set the tone for future generations of hardcore New York rappers, from G-Unit to Dipset. Subsequent releases from the duo were likewise influential, especially Hell On Earth (1996). However, by the late '90s, Mobb Deep was no longer setting trends; in fact, they seemed to be following them, and they lost some of their stature as subsequent generations of hardcore rappers arose. For a few years, Mobb Deep struggled to reclaim their commercial standing, until they eventually drifted into the G-Unit camp, where they signed a lucrative deal to join 50 Cent and company. Blood Money (2006), Mobb Deep's first release under the G-Unit banner, rekindled interest in the veteran duo, who enjoyed a substantial uptick in sales and airplay.

Prodigy (Albert Johnson, born November 2, 1974) and Havoc (Kejuan Muchita, born May 21, 1974) grew up in Queens, specifically the Queensbridge area, yet met in Manhattan, where both were students at Graphic Arts High School. Their shared love of hip-hop resulted in a natural companionship, and while they were still teens, the two young men had themselves a record deal with 4th & Broadway, a major rap label affiliated with Island Records. In 1993, the label released Juvenile Hell, a confrontational album featuring noteworthy production work by DJ Premier and Large Professor, who both within a year's time would move on to produce the debut of another young Queensbridge rapper, Nas. Not much came of Juvenile Hell, however, and it would be two more years before Mobb Deep would return.

When they did return in 1995, it was on a different label, Loud Records, and with a significantly developed approach. The Infamous featured a mammoth street anthem, "Shook Ones, Pt. 2," but it was a solid album all around, featuring also the in-house production work of Havoc and a couple high-profile features (Nas, Raekwon). The Infamous was more hardcore than its two key stylistic predecessors, Illmatic and Ready To Die; the beats were darker and harder-hitting while the rhymes were downright threatening yet still inventive and crafty. Moreover, there were no crossover hits like "Big Poppa" or "Juicy." In fact, there were no light moments at all. The Infamous was an uncompromising album for the streets, and it was championed as such.

A year later, in 1996, Mobb Deep returned with a follow-up, Hell On Earth, which was a little slicker than The Infamous yet still emphasized hardcore motifs. It spawned a couple hit singles that were given appropriately theatrical videos. At this point, hardcore rap was at its peak, with Death Row Records flourishing on the West Coast and a legion of New Yorkers jumping into the scene, following the lead of Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and Mobb Deep. So when it took over two years for Mobb Deep to return with a new album, Murda Muzik, not released until April 1999, the rap landscape had changed significantly. Mobb Deep now had significant competition, and since Murda Muzik offered few innovations and lacked the spark of the duo's past two albums, it was met with some disappointment. By and large, fans enjoyed it, yet the album didn't appeal beyond the already established fan base, as the album only offered one major hit, "Quiet Storm." The following year, Prodigy released a solo album, H.N.I.C. (2000). It got a lukewarm reception, appealing to the duo's fan base yet spawning no hits.

When Mobb Deep resurfaced, in December 2001 with Infamy, they showcased a new willingness to reach beyond their fan base. "Hey Luv" was issued as a single, and it was the first Mobb Deep song to flirt with R&B crossover, or even to mention love, for that matter. The song got some airplay, thanks in part to its hook, which is sung by the R&B act 112, and its video, which played up the song's air of seduction. Nonetheless, Infamy proved to be a relative disappointment commercially, and it seemed like Mobb Deep was beginning to see their popularity erode with each passing year. It didn't help, either, that around this time the duo — and Prodigy, in particular — had been attacked by Jay-Z on "Takeover." And too, that Loud Records would go out of business, leaving Mobb Deep without a label deal. For the next few years, from roughly 2002-2005, Prodigy and Havoc tried to regain their footing. There were one-off albums released via various label arrangements — Free Agents: The Murda Mix Tape (Landspeed, 2003), Amerikaz Nightmare (Jive, 2004), and The Mix Tape Before 9/11 (X-Ray, 2004) — that made minimal impact. By this point, not even the fan base was all that interested; it had been eroded with each passing year, leaving few faithful.

Then came a surprise announcement that 50 Cent had signed Mobb Deep to his G-Unit family and that an album would be forthcoming. First came a quick remix featuring the latest G-Unit signing, "Outta Control," which supplanted the original version when 50's The Massacre was reissued in 2005 as a CD/DVD. Too, Mobb Deep had become omnipresent on the New York mixtape scene, releasing all kinds of streets-only material in attempt to re-establish themselves. It evidently worked, as Blood Money debuted in the Top Ten of Billboard's album chart and brought more exposure to Mobb Deep than the duo had enjoyed since their late-'90s heyday. Not everyone was convinced by the group's makeover, however, as the G-Unit approach was substantially more polished than the Mobb Deep of The Infamous. Still, Mobb Deep found a new generation of younger listeners — the large G-Unit market base, in particular — who were mostly unfamiliar with them. It had been over a decade since The Infamous, after all, and Mobb Deep had been out of the spotlight for years. Then, in early 2008, Prodigy went away to prison to serve a three-year sentence, putting Mobb Deep's future in question. — Jason Birchmeier

Prodigy's Bio From AllMusic.Com
Acknowledged as the more skilled member of the duo Mobb Deep on the mic, Prodigy spent years making a name for himself alongside partner Havoc on acclaimed albums such as Hell On Earth (1996) and Murda Muzik (1999) before releasing his first solo album, HNIC, on Loud Records in late 2000. With this album, Prodigy teamed up with a roster of outside producers such as the Alchemist and Rockwilder, trying to prove his own without Havoc's production to carry him. And even though Havoc did appear on two tracks, Prodigy undoubtedly proved himself to be a visionary solo artist, even going as far as to produce a couple songs himself. Though the album didn't elevate him to the superstar status of Jay-Z or DMX, Prodigy did win the hearts of both critics and fans alike as he had with his work in Mobb Deep, dropping harsh reality-based rhymes about the darker side of urban life with an unbalanced and sedate flow.

Mobb Deep members Prodigy and Havoc originally met while both attending the prestigious Graphic Arts High School in Manhattan as teenagers, thanks to their mutual residence in Queens along with their mutual passion for hip-hop. Still in their late teens, the duo released their debut album in 1993, Juvenile Hell, on the 4th-n-Broadway label. Though the album wasn't that successful from either a financial or critical standpoint, it did serve as a fitting platform for the duo to launch their careers; not only did the duo produce their own beats, but they also crafted their own style: a street-smart poetic approach centering on the ghetto lifestyle surrounding them. Their brutally honest reality rapping and complimentary melancholy beats landed them a deal with the up-and-coming Loud label in 1995, resulting in their first major-label release, The Imfamous.

Propelled to awareness partially by fellow Queens rapper Nas, who took a similar approach lyrically on his championed Illmatic album from 1994, as well as with the aid of a successful single, "Shook Ones," Mobb Deep suddenly found themselves developing a quickly growing cult following. A year later in 1996, Prodigy and Havoc released Hell On Earth; debuting at number six on Soundscan, the album found them fully realizing their approach, dropping both evocative beats and cinematic rhymes that communicated the dark side of New York's urban landscape. And thanks to a grim video for "Hell on Earth (Front Lines)" and theatrical Scarface-like photos inside the CD booklet picturing the duo with guns and a mound of cocaine, Mobb Deep had created an elaborate image for themselves that took hardcore gangsta rap to a new level that the East Coast had yet fostered. It was then no surprise that their succeeding release, Murda Muzik, was heavily bootlegged while it was still in its demo stage, leaking rough versions of the nearly 30 songs the duo had recorded onto the streets and over the Internet.

Months after the bootlegs first leaked and after several pushed-back street dates, Murda Muzik finally dropped, debuting at number three on Soundscan and quickly going platinum on the strength of "Quiet Storm," a song that epitomized the signature Mobb Deep style. Not surprisingly, the album was welcomed by critics, who again applauded the group's lucid cinematics, driven primarily by Havoc's inimitable production. In late 2000, Prodigy finally released his long-rumored solo album, HNIC, which saw the more lyrically gifted member of the group collaborating with outside producers such as the Alchemist and Rockwilder on tracks that didn't depart far from the trademark sullen Mobb Deep style. - Jason Birchmeier

Havoc's Bio From AllMusic.Com
As one half of the duo Mobb Deep, Havoc quickly established himself as arguably the East Coast's premier gangsta rap producer, crafting beats capable of evoking some of the darkest emotions in the human soul. Long affiliated with nihilism and an ominous air, Havoc's beats traditionally employ deep, distorted bass beats and a heavy dose of haunting ambience — strings, piano, synth stabs — in addition to an overall murky elegance. It's a disturbing sound that only RZA and Muggs can even approach. With this trademark sound, Havoc has crafted several successful albums for himself and Prodigy as Mobb Deep, in addition to work for numerous hardcore rappers such as Nas. Along with his revered production style, Havoc has garnered respect for his rapping, a skill he has also made a style all his own thanks to his languid, almost murmuring flow. - Jason Birchmeier