After mediocre sales of their first record, Mobb Deep burst onto the scene in 1995 with their critically acclaimed album The Infamous, a raw, personal tale giving insight into their violent inner city lives. The duo were labeled as architects of the hardcore hip hop scene as they led the way in the east coast renaissance alongside the likes of The Wu Tang Clan and Nas.

 

In 2014, they released their eighth studio album The Infamous Mobb Deep a double disc album consisting of both new material and previously unreleased recordings from 1995’s The Infamous. To me, this hailed a potential and long awaited return to their original sound of aggressive and uncompromising lyrics over minimal haunting beats; which is why I was so excited to see this group live at Concorde 2 celebrating twenty years since the release of The Infamous.

 

Leon Flames, a supporting London based artist came on and was greeted by a packed out venue of eager hip-hop heads spanning the generations. They absorbed all the raucous energy he put across in his fast-paced, unconventional and slightly unrefined performance. A combination tailored perfectly to precede the likes of Mobb Deep.

 

Prodigy and Havoc needed no introduction and got straight down to business with the notorious ‘Shook Ones part 2’, setting off an eruption of cheers throughout the crowd. As soon as they started playing, it was clear why they were labeled as such legends in hip-hop. Their flow remained infallible, even as the beat was pulled and Prodigy was left to rap acapella for up to a minute at a time, before dropping the beat back in and watching the crowd explode in awe of the show.

 

The two worked seamlessly together, switching lines between themselves and emphasizing lyrics, as you would expect from a 90’s based hip-hop group that has been together for over two decades. The walls of Concorde shook to the gritty bass lines of timeless classics such as ‘Hell on Earth’ and ‘Survival of the fittest’.

 

The distinct Queens, New York accent, more heavily adopted by Prodigy, was emphasized by the vocal clarity of the performance, an area that often suffers during hip-hop performances. This allowed for the harsh, almost brutal, storytelling to be delivered with the punctual precision you would hope from performers of this standard.

 

Although this was a well-rehearsed, polished performance by legends of the industry, which was thoroughly enjoyable, their new songs lacked the passion that helped establish their previous infamy. Not just lyrically but also in the performance, it felt as though they were going through the motions of a new G-Unit marketing plan and didn’t share the same level of pride in the new as they have in the old. This left an unfortunately bitter aftertaste, with the unshakeable feeling that the once infamous legends of the hardcore hip-hop scene, had sold out.

Elliot Wright