Mobb Deep

The Infamous is the second studio album by the American Hip Hop duo Mobb Deep, released in 1995. The album features guest appearances from Nas, Wu-Tang Clan members, Reakwon and Ghostface Killah. It marked Mobb Deep's transition from a relatively unknown Rap duo to an influential and commercially successful one.

One of the cornerstones of the New York hardcore movement, The Infamous is Mobb Deep's masterpiece, a relentlessly bleak song cycle that's been hailed by hardcore Rap fans as one of the most realistic gangsta albums ever recorded.

This is hard, underground Hip Hop that demands to be met on its own terms, with few melodic hooks to draw the listener in. Similarly, there's little pleasure or relief offered in the picture of the streets Mobb Deep paint here. They inhabit a war zone where crime and paranoia hang constantly in the air.

The product of an uncommon artistic vision, The Infamous stands as an all-time gangsta/hardcore classic.

180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl

Includes Insert

Includes Hey Luv, Crawlin and The Learning (Burn)

Rap duo Havoc and Prodigy aka Mobb Deep from Queensbridge, Queens, New York returned in 2001 with their 5th album. Resurfacing, after recording Murda Muzik, this time they approached the rap-scene differently, moving away from the minimalistic stripped-down heavy violence hip/hop.

Center of attention during the release of Infamy was the beef between Jay-Z and Prodigy. During the time of release Prodigy (of Mobb Deep) had been the center of Jay-Z's attack on his track The Takeover and Mobb Deep cut the track Crawlin where Prodigy strikes back on Jay-Z calling him H to the know. Tracks like The Learning (Burn) featuring Noyd, Kill That Nigga and productions from Scott Storch (Dr. Dre/Nas/50 Cent) for Live Foul still display the dark beats and straight-up street rhymes Mobb Deep are known for.

The first single of the album was the track Hey Luv featuring R&B group 112. Infamy sold over 800.000 copies in the USA alone, reached #26 in the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

With IV the band succeeds dramatically at emphasizing the theories, emotions, sounds and concepts of their current musical exploration. IV finds the members playing multiple instruments, tweaking, turning and torturing knobs, cutting and chopping the audio itself, and shaping the compositions to create their own unique interpretation of dub as an art form.

As go-to live musicians for both Mike Patton and Matisyahu, Dub Trio has also worked closely with Lady Gaga as her original showcasing band, 50 Cent and G-Unit, Mary J. Blige, Tupac, Yoko Ono, The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Mos Def, Mobb Deep, and many more.

Single releases like "Drive Me Crazy" with Vic Mensa and "Leave
Me Alone" with Shay Lia soon spread his name like wildfire and
gained listens reaching far into the millions. In addition to that
he's produced for artists such as Mobb Deep, Kali Uchis, Freddie
Gibbs, The Internet, & Talib Kweli and remixed the likes of Disclosure,
Pharrell, Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson, and others. Kaytranada
soon cemented his reputation and his sound; an undeniable swing
of the drums comparable to J Dilla's, a signature soulful touch in the
melodies, and a healthy dose of funky bass lines. Last year he was
tapped by the legendary Rick Rubin who has acted as a mentor,
eventually signing him to a publishing relationship.

99.9% will be Kaytranada's first debut album on XL Recordings.
The 15-track album includes guest vocals from Anderson .Paak,
AlunaGeorge, BADBADNOTGOOD, Craig David, Syd, Little Dragon,
Goldlink and more.

Along with Dr. Dre's The Chronic, the Wu-Tang Clan's debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was one of the most influential rap albums of the '90s. Its spare yet atmospheric production -- courtesy of RZA -- mapped out the sonic blueprint that countless other hardcore rappers would follow for years to come. It laid the groundwork for the rebirth of New York hip-hop in the hardcore age, paving the way for everybody from Biggie and Jay-Z to Nas and Mobb Deep. Moreover, it introduced a colorful cast of hugely talented MCs, some of whom ranked among the best and most unique individual rappers of the decade. Some were outsized, theatrical personalities, others were cerebral storytellers and lyrical technicians, but each had his own distinctive style, which made for an album of tremendous variety and consistency. Every track on Enter the Wu-Tang is packed with fresh, inventive rhymes, which are filled with martial arts metaphors, pop culture references (everything from Voltron to Lucky Charms cereal commercials to Barbra Streisand's The Way We Were), bizarre threats of violence, and a truly twisted sense of humor. Their off-kilter menace is really brought to life, however, by the eerie, lo-fi production, which helped bring the raw sound of the underground into mainstream hip-hop. Starting with a foundation of hard, gritty beats and dialogue samples from kung fu movies, RZA kept things minimalistic, but added just enough minor-key piano, strings, or muted horns to create a background ambience that works like the soundtrack to a surreal nightmare. There was nothing like it in the hip-hop world at the time, and even after years of imitation, Enter the Wu-Tang still sounds fresh and original. Subsequent group and solo projects would refine and deepen this template, but collectively, the Wu have never been quite this tight again. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

This is desert-burned blues rock boosted by punk,
soul and hip-hop
- ROLLING STONE

On his 2011 debut Will The Guns Come Out, Hanni El Khatib tried
something he'd never tried before-making a bedroom-style
recording of his then stripped-to-the-skeleton guitar-and-drums
rock 'n' roll mostly for the sheer joy of making it. For his ferocious
2013 follow-up Head In The Dirt, he tried something new again,
showing up at producer Dan Auerbach's analog-dreamland
Nashville studio with nothing but the clothes on his back and an
open mind.

But after Head In The Dirt's release and almost a year of relentless
touring, Hanni knew he needed to go past 'unpredictable' all the
way to 'unprecedented.' He needed isolation, time and the chance
to experiment. So after 30 days locked in hand-picked L.A. studio
The Lair, the result is the album Moonlight-the rarest and most
welcome kind of album, made at that perfect point in life where
confidence, experience, and technique unite to help an artist do
anything they want.

That's why it starts with a song that sounds like a Mobb Deep beat
under a Suicide-style synth drone and ends with an
ESG-meets-LCD Soundsystem gone italo-disco song about life and
death. That's why it collides crushing crate-digger drumbeats
that'd be right at home on a Can LP or an Eddie Bo 45 with
bleeding distorto guitar, bent and broken barroom piano and
hallucinatory analog flourishes. (In fact, some smart producer is
going to sample the drums from this album and complete the circle
of life.) And that's also why Moonlight feels like the album he's
always wanted to make: "What would it sound like if RZA got in the
studio with Iggy Pop and Tom Waits?" he asks. "I don't know! That
was my approach on everything."

It's a personal album in the most primal sense, put together in any
way that worked. Iggy Pop and David Bowie did this kind of thing
on The Idiot, the Wu-Tang Clan did it on 36 Chambers and the
Clash did it three times over on Sandinista. And now it's Hanni's
turn, across 11 new lightning-struck songs, each written and
recorded in its own flash of inspiration. It sounds like an album
made by an endless list of collaborators, but really Moonlight was
more like the first do-it-almost-all-yourself music Hanni ever made,
except after six years recording and touring, he'd learned to do so
much more.

Ferg's big break came that same year when his track Work landed as the key cut on the A$AP Mob's mixtape Lords Never Worry. The announcement that A$AP Ferg signed with RCA came in early 2013 and was followed by an all-star remix of Work with Trinidad James, French Montana, and Schoolboy Q added to the cut. That same year Ferg's Persian Wine single landed along with his solo album Trap Lord.

- David Jeffries (All Music Guide)