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45-605: The duo disbanded in 2012, but reunited the following year. Prodigy died in June 2017. As of 2023, Havoc is currently working on a new Mobb Deep album. Havoc and Prodigy met while both were students at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan—a school that produced creatives like Calvin Klein , Marc Jacobs , Amy Heckerling , Lee Quiñones , and Fab Five Freddy . In 1991, they became

90-455: A car, and Havoc rapping in the backseat of a car. Havoc recalled: "Everyone on set was hype because the record had gained so much traction. The label, the around the way crew, Prodigy and myself - we were all excited to shoot a visual for the record." He also stated: "The whole video was shot in QueensBridge, which gave it a more grimey edge and authentic feel. My favorite scene is when we have

135-414: A chance to cross paths with him because he passed away," he said. "I saw him from a long distance but I never met him. [I was a] Fan, but didn't even know him." Mobb Deep released Infamy while in 2001 the song " Burn " (featuring Vita ) was perceived as a response to Jay-Z's diss song "Takeover" on The Blueprint , as was "Crawlin'," in which Prodigy's two verses both mention Jay-Z. The album marked

180-518: A dick blower, [you] tryin' to speak the Dunn Language?/ 'what's the drilly' with that though? 'It aint bangin'/ you hooked on Mobb phonics, Infamous 'bonics ." The term "dunn" supposedly originated in the Queensbridge housing projects with an acquaintance of Prodigy's, Bumpy, whose speech impediment prevented him from pronouncing the letter "S," such as in "son." The impediment encouraged him to put

225-480: A diss track entitled " Drop a Gem on 'Em ". "I was happy about it," Havoc told Jack Thriller. "The nigga saying our names. I didn't know what the fuck the beef was about. I didn't even care. I was like damn, did you hear that? 2Pac dissing us. We about to sell some records." Havoc also revealed that Mobb Deep had never even "crossed paths" with Shakur before his death in September 1996. He added, "And we never got

270-487: A double album that included one CD with original new music and one with unreleased tracks from sessions from The Infamous . On June 20, 2017, Prodigy died from accidental choking in Las Vegas, Nevada, while hospitalized for complications caused by sickle cell anemia. Mobb Deep helped popularize the 1990s slang called the "Dunn language," a term first recorded in the 1999 single " Quiet Storm ," in which Prodigy raps: "you's

315-510: A duo that went by the name Poetical Prophets . The name Poetical Prophets was a testament to Prodigy , then Lord-T (The Golden Child), and Havoc 's gravitation toward New York conscious hip-hop . The duo began making a demo tape and employed a guerilla marketing approach to promote themselves. They would find the addresses of record label headquarters on the back of albums, bring a cassette player, and ask passing artists to listen to their music. The only artist who stopped to hear their music

360-636: A duo. However, they were featured in Matty C's July 1991 "Unsigned Hype" column in The Source , which helped promote their demo Flavor for the Nonbelievers . The Source dubbed Poetical Prophets a "dynamic duo ... that are fast making a big name for themselves in talent shows and radio stations in the New York area." The following year, the duo changed their name from Poetical Prophets to "Mobb Deep," in part based on

405-410: A major stylistic change in which the duo moved away from a raw, minimalist, stripped-down beat toward a commercial friendly in terms with such songs as " Hey Luv (Anything) ." This transition fostered accusations of " selling out ." In 2003, the group split with Loud Records and released Free Agents: The Murda Mixtape , in which Havoc and Prodigy proclaimed themselves " free agents " and addressed

450-413: A more atmospheric production style that incorporated samples from classical music, most notably visible on the 1996 album Hell on Earth . As a rapper, he is known for his hardcore lyricism and consistent flow. He also contributed background vocals and a verse on Black Moon 's debut album Enta da Stage in 1993. In July 2009, Havoc was featured alongside in J Dilla 's music video for "24K Rap" off of

495-539: A new single called "Dog Shit," featuring rapper Nas . This was the first official song by Mobb Deep since Prodigy's release from jail. It was produced by Havoc and The Alchemist . On July 27, 2012, Havoc told AllHipHop in an interview that the group was on an indefinite hiatus. According to HipHopDX, Mobb Deep had a falling out after Havoc blasted Prodigy on Twitter , and eventually, a sound clip leaked of him taking numerous shots at his former Mobb Deep partner during their concert at SXSW . At first, Havoc claimed that he

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540-587: A personal connection to Mobb Deep, and Havoc provided production on tracks by G-Unit , Lloyd Banks , The Game , and Tony Yayo . Mobb Deep released their seventh album, Blood Money in 2006. It features G-Unit members 50 Cent , Lloyd Banks , Tony Yayo , and Young Buck , as well as Mary J. Blige and Nate Dogg . In 2006, Mobb Deep became the first American hip hop duo to perform in India, via VH1's Hip Hop Hustle. In late 2009, Mobb Deep were released from their contract with G Unit. On April 4, 2011, Mobb Deep released

585-503: A song titled "U da Man." The group saw its first major success with their second album, The Infamous , released in 1995. Mobb Deep catapulted to the top of the hardcore hip-hop scene through Havoc and Prodigy's straightforward narration of street life. In this album, Mobb Deep portrayed the struggles of living in New York City's Queensbridge Houses where Havoc grew up. Following the release of The Infamous , Mobb Deep became some of

630-553: Is a character in Def Jam: Fight For NY . Havoc produced the New York Yankees official 2020 anthem, "Squad Up", that features verses from both Havoc and Method Man . In July 2012, Havoc wrote a series of derogatory comments about Prodigy on Twitter , after Prodigy denied engaging in homosexual relationships in prison. At first, Havoc claimed that his Twitter account was hacked. However, he later confirmed that he wrote

675-620: Is an American rapper and record producer. He was one half of the hip hop duo Mobb Deep with Prodigy . Havoc was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Queensbridge Houses . At a later age, Havoc found out his paternal grandfather was jazz musician Bill Dixon . In his teenage years, he shot a Def Jam employee in the belly by accident. He graduated from the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, New York in 1992, where he met Prodigy . He

720-454: Is featured on the b-side of some releases of "Shook Ones, Part II" and was also included on the international version of the group's album Hell on Earth . The original "Shook Ones" was released as a promotional single in 1994 as the debut single on Mobb Deep's new label, Loud Records . Producer Havoc stated, What made us do a remix or a part two to the first “Shook Ones” was just our nervousness about failing because we had came off of

765-522: Is one half of the iconic hip hop duo Mobb Deep, and in addition to producing nearly the entire Mobb Deep catalogue, has also produced songs for MCs such as The Notorious B.I.G. , Eminem , Nas , Raekwon , 50 Cent , 112 , Method Man , Mariah Carey , Puff Daddy , Kanye West , LL Cool J , Rohff , Big Noyd , Lil' Kim , Capone-N-Noreaga , Foxy Brown , Onyx , and his partner Prodigy on his solo work. In 2005, Mobb Deep recorded for fellow Queens rapper 50 Cent 's record label G-Unit Records and left

810-418: Is told from the perspective of inner-city youths engaged in territorial warfare and struggling for financial gains. The phrase "shook one" refers to someone who may portray themselves as tough, but loses their nerve when faced with conflict or intimidation. The music video shows Prodigy and Havoc rapping in different parts of Queensbridge at different times of the day. It also shows Prodigy rapping while driving

855-499: The Jay Stay Paid album, the video was directed by Derek Pike . In 2010, Havoc produced a beat for Eminem that resulted in a song called "Untitled" which is a hidden track on Eminem's album Recovery and contributed to the iTunes bonus track to Raekwon's album Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang & Bad Meets Evil 's Hell: The Sequel EP . He revealed that he plans to record a new Mobb Deep album with Nas . His third studio album 13

900-541: The Juvenile Hell album, which wasn’t too successful. So, we were kind of paranoid. So, we made the first “Shook Ones” and was like, “Okay, that’s all right. But, let’s try to fuck with this shit again” just to be sure, and we ended up making “Shook Ones Pt. II.” Havoc produced the beat for "Shook Ones, Part II" in his bedroom in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens , New York . The drums were sequenced on an Akai MPC60 and

945-495: The Billboard Album Chart ; the album continued the duo's portrayal of harsh street life while further pushing them to the forefront of Hip Hop scene along with contemporary East Coast Rappers like The Notorious B.I.G. , Jay-Z , LL Cool J , Wu-Tang Clan and fellow Queensbridge rapper Nas . Nas as well as Method Man , Ghostface Killah and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan appear on Hell on Earth . In 1996, they appeared on

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990-621: The Red Hot Organization 's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly , alongside Biz Markie , Wu-Tang Clan and Fat Joe , among many other prominent hip hop artists. This compilation was solely meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, and this compilation was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine. In 1997, Mobb Deep was featured on Frankie Cutlass Politics & Bullsh*t album track title, "Know Da Game," which also featured Kool G Rap . In 1998,

1035-406: The beats from this point forward, although Q-Tip also contributed to the production and mixing. Furthermore, the hit single " Shook Ones Part II ," a remix to the hit "Shook Ones," received critical acclaim. In 2020, The Infamous was hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . Mobb Deep's third album, Hell on Earth was released in 1996, debuting at number six on

1080-404: The duo announced that they had reconciled and were going on tour. Havoc is a playable character in the video game Def Jam: Fight for NY . Shook Ones Part II " Shook Ones, Part II " is the lead single from Mobb Deep 's 1995 album The Infamous . The song is a sequel to the group's 1994 promotional single " Shook Ones ", with similar lyrics, but less profanity. The original song

1125-536: The duo collaborated with reggae dancehall artist Bounty Killer on the track "Deadly Zone" for the soundtrack to Blade , and were a featured artist on the remix of Mariah Carey 's single " The Roof (Back in Time) ," which was based around a sample of "Shook Ones Part II". In 1999, they released the Murda Muzik album, which had the majority of its songs unintentionally leaked due to extensive bootlegging , causing delays as

1170-504: The duo's latest album. He is also working on a joint project Mobb Deep with The Alchemist , announced a few years ago. In December 2019, Havoc went on a "Murda Muzik 20th Anniversary Tour" with Big Noyd and L.E.S. Mobb Deep appear as themselves as playable characters in Def Jam: Fight For NY . Studio albums Havoc (musician) Kejuan Waliek Muchita (born May 21, 1974), better known by his stage name Havoc ,

1215-446: The friendship. Around the May 2013 release of Havoc's third studio album, 13 , Havoc announced that he and Prodigy had been in the studio for over a month working on the duo's eighth studio album which was already "halfway done". He also stated that he will be doing the entire production on the album. On April 1, 2014, the group released its eighth studio album, The Infamous Mobb Deep ,

1260-592: The group recorded new songs to replace the leaked ones. This resulted in delays in the official album release. When the album was officially released, it eventually debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and quickly received Platinum certification and was further promoted by the popular single " Quiet Storm ". Shortly afterward, Prodigy released his solo album H.N.I.C in which he collaborated with fellow artists like ( B.G. , N.O.R.E. ) and producers (including The Alchemist , Rockwilder and Just Blaze ). Mobb Deep

1305-535: The group's split with its old label and its search for a new label. Jive Records signed the duo later in the year through a deal with the group's own imprint. Mobb Deep then released Amerikaz Nightmare in 2004. The record sold poorly and led to the group's departure from the label. Today, as a result of various mergers, all of Mobb Deep's studio albums from 1995 to 2004 are owned by Sony Music Entertainment . In June 2005, Mobb Deep announced they had signed with G-Unit Records . Fellow Queens-bred rapper 50 Cent had

1350-434: The label in 2009, in a mutually agreed-to release. Havoc is renowned as one of the most iconic figures in New York hip hop. Popular music magazine Complex ranked Havoc among the top hip hop producers of 1995 after The Infamous . Beattips.com ranked him as the 24th most influential beatmaker of all time citing his dual abilities of rapping and producing. Following The Infamous , he tweaked his skills and transitioned to

1395-575: The most prolific artists of the East Coast. The album title was inspired by a friend Yamit, a Golden Gloves boxer, who resided on Havoc's block in Queensbridge. Prodigy noted "[Yamit] had 'The Most Infamous' tattooed on his biceps in black ink. We were already Mobb Deep, but he dubbed us the Infamous Mobb Deep." The production of this album was very dark and sample-based thanks to Havoc, who produced

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1440-418: The music video. In 2010 Pitchfork Media included the song at number 25 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s . Rolling Stone magazine placed the song on its list of The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time and their list of the "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time" at No. 215. while Complex ranked "Shook Ones, Part II" at #23 on their list of the 25 most violent rap songs of all time. The BBC placed

1485-607: The other samples were sequenced on an Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus . The song contains a pitched down sample of "Jessica" by Herbie Hancock and "Kitty with the Bent Frame" by Quincy Jones , while the drums were sampled from "Dirty Feet" by the Daly-Wilson Big Band . The Herbie Hancock sample was slowed down and the pitch was altered to create the beat in the song. Havoc recalled that the beat was about to be deleted until Prodigy walked in and convinced him to keep it. The narrative

1530-447: The song at third in their list of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. In 2024, it was voted by Rock the Bells as the greatest Hip-Hop beat of all time. In 1997, the song was sampled by Mariah Carey in her single " The Roof (Back in Time) ". For its single remix, Mobb Deep recorded additional raps and also appeared in the music video. The song appears in the 2002 movie 8 Mile and in

1575-461: The suggestion of Puff Daddy who was courting them to be the first artists on his newly created imprint, Bad Boy Records . In choosing the moniker, Prodigy noted that "we need[ed] something that described how we were living. When [we] got together to hang out, there would be thirty to forty of us, like a mob. The slang we used when we saw a whole bunch of guys together was . . . 'deep.' Both words together sounded good. Mobb Deep." The use of two Bs in

1620-412: The tongue on the two front teeth/palate, making a 'th' or a 'd' sound. Mobb Deep has attempted to claim ownership of this body of slang; additionally, they were going to release an album called The Dunn Language , in 2002, but the project was shelved, due to label issues. On September 15, 2018, during an interview for HipHop4Real , Havoc stated that he was working on a new album Mobb Deep, which would be

1665-465: The tweets and expressed his frustrations with Prodigy in an interview with AllHipHop . He stated that Mobb Deep was on an "indefinite hiatus" until the duo worked out their differences. Havoc later released a diss track aimed at Prodigy, which was titled "Separated (Real from the Fake)". Prodigy did not respond to Havoc's song and even stated publicly that Mobb Deep would eventually reconcile. In March 2013,

1710-467: The whole crew behind us, and Prodigy and myself have on the Hennessy jerseys. I loved those shirts. Prodigy got them made." Havoc also commented: "The most challenging part of making the video was staying awake, because we shot non-stop from early that morning to 7am the next day." While shooting the music video, Mobb Deep got into a fight with a man who was complaining about not getting enough screen time in

1755-538: The word Mobb was done to make the name look even. In 1992, Mobb Deep signed with 4th & B'way Records . They released the single " Peer Pressure " in promotion of their debut album Juvenile Hell . The album was released in 1993 and featured production from DJ Premier , Large Professor , and Public Enemy -affiliate Kerwin Young. Later that year, Havoc made a guest appearance on the Black Moon album Enta da Stage , on

1800-663: Was Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest ; Prodigy recalled, "[Q-Tip] introduced us to Chris Lighty that day and a bunch of people in the Rush Associated Labels in the Def Jam office—that's how we met everybody." Shortly thereafter, Prodigy signed a solo demo deal with Jive Records and had an uncredited feature on the song "Too Young" by Hi-Five , which appeared on the Boyz n the Hood soundtrack . Jive decided not to sign Poetical Prophets as

1845-457: Was hacked. However, he later confirmed it was him and that he had originally denied it because he felt that Twitter was not a place to resolve a beef. He also stated that he had a diss track aimed at Prodigy in the making, "Same Shit Different Day". The song later turned out to be "Separated (Real from the Fake)," which appeared on Havoc's solo album 13 . However, in January 2013 Prodigy said that he

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1890-482: Was part of the infamous East Coast vs West Coast hip hop rivalry, that was fueled and increasingly promoted by the private media. The beef started when Snoop Dogg and the West Coast group, Tha Dogg Pound, released " New York, New York ." Mobb Deep, along with Capone-N-Noreaga and Tragedy Khadafi , responded with the song " L.A L.A " (This song can be found on Capone-N-Noreaga's debut album The War Report ). "L.A. L.A."

1935-736: Was released during rapper Tupac Shakur 's final days of incarceration. Members of Tupac's group, Outlawz , allegedly attended a Mobb Deep concert; they then visited with Tupac over public rumoring that the duo had snubbed them at the concert. Tupac dissed Mobb Deep on multiple tracks, including: " Hit 'Em Up " and "When We Ride on Our Enemies" in which Tupac makes light of Prodigy's sickle-cell disease. Additional Tupac diss tracks include: "Bomb First (My Second Reply)" where Tupac said "You're barely breathin ' " and "Against All Odds," both of which were released on Tupac's posthumous studio album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory . Mobb Deep retaliated on their 1996 release of Hell on Earth , which contains

1980-444: Was released on May 7, 2013. Havoc worked with Kavinsky on his 2013 album OutRun . He wrote the lyrics and sang the vocals for "Suburbia", the sixth track on the album. In 2016, Havoc helped produce " Real Friends " and "Famous", two tracks on Kanye West 's album The Life of Pablo . His original productions have been featured in numerous commercially successful films, well known television series and popular video games, and he

2025-478: Was sure he would record with Havoc in the future. Mobb Deep appeared on Papoose 's debut album The Nacirema Dream on the track "Aim, Shoot". They later reunited and performed for Paid Dues on March 30, 2013; they went on an international 20th-anniversary tour starting in May 2013. On March 22, 2013, the group officially reunited for an interview and explained that music was the most important thing in their lives and that they had been friends for too long to break up

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