Twenty years ago today, Mobb Deep released The Infamous, their sophomore album that is now considered a hip-hop classic.
Two years prior, the New York duo released their debut album, Juvenile Hell, a commercial flop that led to them being dropped by their first label, 4th & Broadway. Taking more creative control and producing a majority of their second album, Mobb Deep put out The Infamous.
The album went on to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and it spawned two entries into the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Shook Ones Pt. II" and "Survival Of The Fittest."
While recently discussing the making of the album with Complex, Havoc revealed that he nearly trashed the two songs.
"I just popped the sample up and I almost even erased it because I didn't even really like it too much," he said, in reference to "Shook Ones Pt. II." "[Laughs.] At that time I was always in the house alone by myself making beats and sometimes if I didn't have somebody to co-sign it, I'd be like, 'F**k it, whatever.'"
The track that later became "Survival Of The Fittest" faced the a similar fate until Prodigy convinced his partner to let the rest of the crew hear it and they ultimately began writing verses to the track.
Last year, the two MCs decided to reunite to give their fans The Infamous Mobb Deep. The double-disc album revisits and pays homage to their critically acclaimed breakthrough album.
Disc two of the album, The 1994 Infamous Sessions, features 14 unreleased cuts from the making of 1995's The Infamous. It also includes the original recordings of tracks like "Temperature's Rising."
XXL gave the album an "XL" rating with high marks for beats and lyrics.
Any thoughts on Mobb Deep's The Infamous 20 years later? What's your favorite track from the album? Sound off in the comment section below.
