Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth

For some reason, it seems like all the best rappers from the post-Golden Age era of Hip-Hop only had one classic album worth of tracks and rode that out until they hung it up or continued coasting off past glory. Some people throw Mobb Deep into this category too, but I might argue that the follow-up to their classic 2nd recordThe Infamous is nearly on par with its predecessor. Regardless if Havoc and Prodigy attended art school, there's no denying they have a knack for penning gritty narratives of criminal life, drugs and hustling. On Hell on Earth they didn't tamper with the original formula that made them great, but merely elevated the strengths and downplayed the throwaway aspects of their first two albums. The beats are grimy and hard and the rhymes are urgent, clever and seemingly effortless. From the opening of "Animal Instinct," Hell on Earth is a beast that slays and makes me feel like a bystander to situations I've never faced in places I've never been.

Having heard Hell on Earth before any other Mobb Deep records probably has something to do with my affinity for this record, but whenever I listen to it, I think of being 16 and listening to it in my room thinking it was the hardest record ever. Someone on a messageboard I read referred to Mobb Deep as the Cro-Mags of hip-hop and while the obvious differences are apparent, there is a fair amount of truth in that statement. Both recorded two landmark LP's that helped define genres that set the standard for others to follow before falling by the wayside. Regardless of what they are doing now, this record is essential.


Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth