Mobb Deep – The Infamous Mobb Deep [Deluxe Edition]

The Infamous is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Mobb Deep. It was originally released in 1995 by Loud Records. The album features guest appearances from Nas, Wu-Tang Clan-members Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, A Tribe Called Quest member Q-Tip, and Mobb Deep-affiliate Big Noyd. Embedded with hyper-visual lyricism, dark soundscapes, gritty narratives, and hard beats, it marked Mobb Deep's transition from a relatively unknown rap duo to an influential and commercially successful one.

The album produced four singles; "Shook Ones Pt. II", "Survival of the Fittest", "Temperature's Rising", "Give Up the Goods (Just Step)", which all achieved varying degrees of chart success, with "Shook Ones Pt. II" being the most successful.

The album's haunting style, defined by its evocative melodies, rugged beats, and lyrics dealing with crime and poverty in inner city neighborhoods reflected the dark side of New York's urban landscape in a manner that received special recognition and critical praise. Along with albums such as Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Illmatic and Ready to Die, The Infamous... is widely credited as a major contributor to the East Coast Renaissance. Furthermore, the album is credited with helping to redefine the sound of hardcore hip-hop, using its production style, which incorporated eerie piano loops, distorted synthesizers, eighth-note hi-hats, and sparse bass lines.

Source: Wiki

“The reason The Infamous remains so untouchable today goes beyond its individual qualities —the vividness of Prodigy's imagery, or the richness of the Queensbridge slang they introduced —into more rarefied air. With The Infamous, Mobb Deep invented a feeling, one that was more important than any individual word, chorus, or rhyme.  All of New York was embracing degraded production at the time, but Havoc pushed beyond the  low-resolution samples of RZA's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) into near-total abstraction, producing a masterpiece of low, muffled, and malevolent sounds. The stand-up bass sample on "Trife Life" sounds like it has cotton balls behind the strings. The implication of vinyl crackle in "Eye for An Eye" feels like a needle dragging on tendons.  "Q.U. -- Hectic,"  boasts a glowing, pulsing piano echo that feels nearly sentient, like some kind of slit-eyed pet monster Havoc is resting one hand on to keep calm.” - Pitchfork

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