This is probably my favorite album. Mobb Deep's "the Infamous...". It came out of basically nowhere in 1995, in the wake of Wu-Tang's debut... a surprise album from two hungry young rappers formerly most well-known (if you can call it that) for a song about girl's asses (Hit it from the back) and a catchy track about the life of a hoodrat trying to stay out of the game (Peer Pressure). Though I wasn't really clued into such things then, I don't think anyone expected a record like this as their sophomore effort.
Fuck where you at kid, it's where you from.
In no uncertain terms, this record is a masterpiece, and along with Wu-Tang's Enter the 36 Chambers and Nas' Illmatic, this record defined and era of New York hip-hop and rap... and this record is better than those. Those three records, along with Only Built 4 Cuban Links and Midnight Marauders probably changed my life, and DEFINITELY changed my whole outlook about music, especially rap music.
Sometimes I wonder, do I deserve to live? And am I gonna go to hell for all the things I did?"
The production is sparse, dark, menacing... brooding. The lyrics are beyond dark, with Prodigy spitting out couplets about lifeless street kids who don't care if they die, how his dark heart pumps foul blood through his arteries... this album paints a picture of street life that is counter (or at least a tangent) to most other mainstream gangster rap albums of that era (and much of Mobb Deep's own output since)... the life of the corner slinger as something dark, regrettable, fucked up. Still boastful. But real. Visceral. Tangible.
I live by the day only if I survive the last night.
I love this album, I listen to it probably on average 2, 3 times a week. I've been listening to it a lot lately (once today, front to back), and decided to talk about it here... you can read the wiki page here and check the rec room for more thoughts on the subject.
KnowwhatI'mSaying? Being that we live the motherfucking Trife Life?
brandon [email] said at 1:44 PM 01-07-2008: This is an excellent post fraught with learning and real-life experience that reveals a deep understanding and respect for your topic. I especially enjoyed the interspersed lyrical quotations, which add drama and an almost multimedia feel to the work, while providing an interesting segueway from one point to the next.
Does 33 1/3 have a vol. dedicated to The Infamous yet? Maybe you can pitch one.
I don't know much about hip-hop. I pretty much wrote it off as Party Rap and Gangster melodrama (oh, and the Beastie Boys) until I was in college (actually, until Wu Tang) and by then it was too big a beast to really wrap my head completely around. I didn't really have any friends that were really into it, so, I just sort of picked up things I liked here and there with no real systematic approach.
A really bad-ass edition to this post would be a comprehensive personal history of your listening experience, and albums you consider significant.
I would then take this list, review the records, and pass myself off as an O.G. fan at parties attended by people unassociated with Killoggs.
brandon [email] said at 1:46 PM 01-07-2008: The problem for me, is, there's such a massive amount of it coming out. That, though it's not difficult to sort out the well-produced and the interesting from the bad. It's really hard to trace influences, come up with a genealogy, and shake out the good without looking like a wonk when confronted by someone with real taste in the genre.
josh [email] said at 3:04 PM 01-07-2008: i am by no means a real head but yeah there is tons of stuff out there. i tend to mostly listen to the stuff i have always liked, and the big artists and the singles.
hip hop is not like it was in the 90s... there is a wide divide between commercial but vacant mainstream rap and conscious rap that has something to say but is not as catchy and listenable. THOUGH there are plenty of artists who bridge that divide i am sure.
milky [email] said at 8:13 PM 01-07-2008: If you not a real head, you sure wrote a review like one.
This album is classic Golden Age hip-hop. It was and is sparse. The lyrics grab you by the bones and just shake you, along with some amazing, albeit basic production.
It was gangster, but they were just kids. George DuBose had them nailed down pat when he described them in an interview...he was THE 90s hip-hop photographer. They were young as hell, not boasting or bragging or suffering from an O.G. syndrome.
Listening to them, you got the sense they were in their 50s, seen shit that would scare Fitty white and could only barely get into it, trapped in teenaged bodies.
This was one of the last hip-hop albums before Master-P ig'nanted the genre, and one of the last good ones before hip-hop died.
It had a production sound as eerie as hell. I'll never forget that. Some keys, a few strings. Beats. Made your hair stand on end on some otha life shit, ya know?
Then they fell off.
And I was OK with that, really. Some of the best hip-hop artists dropped one, maybe two good joints and that was a wrap.
Some artists know when to hit it and quit it. 'The Infamous' is a wonderful snapshot into what I was peeping while everyone was looking for that next big alt-rock/college rock thing. It had the sonic power of Public Enemy, just stripped down. Reminds me of the stable on Wild Pitch...people coming up, shaking you by the skull, and moving on.
Your review was incredible in its simplicity...like the album.
josh [email] said at 9:34 PM 01-07-2008: thanks for the kind words! i am pretty uncertain when it comes to writing. but i love this record. and this era of hip hop.
milky [email] said at 9:37 PM 01-07-2008: As I've said offsite, this is an accessable review, no jargon, not too thick into the culture to put off the average, interested reader.
max [email] said at 10:33 AM 01-14-2008: This was walkman fodder for days in '96. I love this album. Thanks for posting it up. I didn't realize it was missing from my library. I still only have it on tape.
