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Longevity is not a common thing in Hip-Hop. Nor is consistency. Only an elite few artists can count themselves among those whose careers have lasted ten years or more. Even fewer are those who have released more than five albums, each posting similar numbers. And fewer still are the ones who have accomplished this as part of a group, especially one who’s name comes up in beef at least once a year.
Mobb Deep is part of that elite. Eleven years after the release of their shocking debut Juvenile Hell, Prodigy and Havoc have not only done all of this as a group, but they’re individual accomplishments have been as equally impressive. While his partner was making beats for some of the greatest names in Hip-Hop, Prodigy proclaimed himself the H.N.I.C. Despite the now infamous incident at the 2002 Summer Jam in New York, no pun intended, he’s now added Screenwriter and Co-Director to his list of talents to dismay the haters.
But this is not a farewell article. Mobb Deep is not retired, nor have they broken up. No amount of beef or critics complaints about their lack of growth, Havoc and Prodigy are seemingly on track for global conquest. The highly anticipated Murda Muzik DVD (Koch Vision) is set to drop April 6. And now that they’ve launched their own Infamous Records, a joint venture with Jive Records, Mobb Deep can finally deliver on what their fans have been craving since 2001: a full length album. Recently, Prodigy found time to talk to us about beef, politics, parenting and the continually growing career of Queensbridge’s favorite sons.
I know you guys are about to drop the DVD, that’s real big. Tell me a little bit about the movie itself.
The movie is the first movie shot in Queensbridge. I wrote it. Starring the whole Mob Deep family, Infamous family, the whole Queensbridge. It was shot out in Queensbridge, and plus out in Red Hook, we did some scenes out there.
How long all together did it take y’all to put everything together?
To get everything together? It took like maybe like the whole three years. Three years of shooting and getting everything we needed
So where’d the idea come from? I mean, obviously it’s a little autobiographical, right?
Yeah, it’s just… it’s a fiction story I made up; I wrote the script. But it’s also based on true things that *****s go through, you know what I’m saying? So it’s got a lot of real to it.
So who all can we expect to see in there?
You got Queen Pen, she did something in there; Chinky, she’s part of the family; Alchemist; Big Noyd; Twin Gambino; Tim Lord; Nas; John Otto, John from Limp Bizkit; umm… It’s a few people in there.
I know that it was originally scheduled to come out sooner than this, so what was the hold up behind that?
We was just going through a bunch of legal matters to get, to actually get it out there. So once we cleared all that up, then it was just a process of finding distribution. And the buzz was already crazy, cuz it’s four years that we’ve been talking about it, na mean?
Going into this you already had two, three albums under your belt. How was the process of making the movie different Prodigy: from recording an album?
Yeah. It’s like, it’s more intricate. It’s a lot of things you gotta deal with as far as producing a movie. It’s a lot of things, you know?
Let’s talk about the album, Amerikaz Nightmare. June 30?
Yeah, Amerikaz Nightmare. I don’t know, it’s gonna be June sometime. We don’t got a solid date yet, but it’s definitely gonna be June.
And how’s this one different from your previous albums?
It’s just, you know… You just grow with Mobb Deep, you see where we at now. You na mean, see what we doing now
And of course you’re with a different label?
Yeah
And how’s that?
We with Jive. They gave us a joint venture, so we got our own label now, Infamous Records. It’s a joint venture with Jive.
So you’re happy with your label situation?
Yeah, definitely
Any collaborations on the new album?
We got Nate Dogg on the joint… who else is on there? Oh, we did a joint with a few people. We did a joint with Lil’ Jon; and we did a joint with Nelly, we did a joint with with 50. But a lot of stuff ain’t make the album. We just picked like the most fire ones out of everything and put those out. But as far as production-wise, you know, it’s like 90% Havoc. You got, Alchemist did a couple of joints, and Red Spyda, Kanye West, Lil’ Jon.
Mobb Deep is part of that elite. Eleven years after the release of their shocking debut Juvenile Hell, Prodigy and Havoc have not only done all of this as a group, but they’re individual accomplishments have been as equally impressive. While his partner was making beats for some of the greatest names in Hip-Hop, Prodigy proclaimed himself the H.N.I.C. Despite the now infamous incident at the 2002 Summer Jam in New York, no pun intended, he’s now added Screenwriter and Co-Director to his list of talents to dismay the haters.
But this is not a farewell article. Mobb Deep is not retired, nor have they broken up. No amount of beef or critics complaints about their lack of growth, Havoc and Prodigy are seemingly on track for global conquest. The highly anticipated Murda Muzik DVD (Koch Vision) is set to drop April 6. And now that they’ve launched their own Infamous Records, a joint venture with Jive Records, Mobb Deep can finally deliver on what their fans have been craving since 2001: a full length album. Recently, Prodigy found time to talk to us about beef, politics, parenting and the continually growing career of Queensbridge’s favorite sons.
I know you guys are about to drop the DVD, that’s real big. Tell me a little bit about the movie itself.
The movie is the first movie shot in Queensbridge. I wrote it. Starring the whole Mob Deep family, Infamous family, the whole Queensbridge. It was shot out in Queensbridge, and plus out in Red Hook, we did some scenes out there.
How long all together did it take y’all to put everything together?
To get everything together? It took like maybe like the whole three years. Three years of shooting and getting everything we needed
So where’d the idea come from? I mean, obviously it’s a little autobiographical, right?
Yeah, it’s just… it’s a fiction story I made up; I wrote the script. But it’s also based on true things that *****s go through, you know what I’m saying? So it’s got a lot of real to it.
So who all can we expect to see in there?
You got Queen Pen, she did something in there; Chinky, she’s part of the family; Alchemist; Big Noyd; Twin Gambino; Tim Lord; Nas; John Otto, John from Limp Bizkit; umm… It’s a few people in there.
I know that it was originally scheduled to come out sooner than this, so what was the hold up behind that?
We was just going through a bunch of legal matters to get, to actually get it out there. So once we cleared all that up, then it was just a process of finding distribution. And the buzz was already crazy, cuz it’s four years that we’ve been talking about it, na mean?
Going into this you already had two, three albums under your belt. How was the process of making the movie different Prodigy: from recording an album?
Yeah. It’s like, it’s more intricate. It’s a lot of things you gotta deal with as far as producing a movie. It’s a lot of things, you know?
Let’s talk about the album, Amerikaz Nightmare. June 30?
Yeah, Amerikaz Nightmare. I don’t know, it’s gonna be June sometime. We don’t got a solid date yet, but it’s definitely gonna be June.
And how’s this one different from your previous albums?
It’s just, you know… You just grow with Mobb Deep, you see where we at now. You na mean, see what we doing now
And of course you’re with a different label?
Yeah
And how’s that?
We with Jive. They gave us a joint venture, so we got our own label now, Infamous Records. It’s a joint venture with Jive.
So you’re happy with your label situation?
Yeah, definitely
Any collaborations on the new album?
We got Nate Dogg on the joint… who else is on there? Oh, we did a joint with a few people. We did a joint with Lil’ Jon; and we did a joint with Nelly, we did a joint with with 50. But a lot of stuff ain’t make the album. We just picked like the most fire ones out of everything and put those out. But as far as production-wise, you know, it’s like 90% Havoc. You got, Alchemist did a couple of joints, and Red Spyda, Kanye West, Lil’ Jon.
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