Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth

My Favorite Mobb Album By Far!

To me, Mobb Deep's appeal has always been the ice cold flow of Prodigy.

Although there were alot of lyricists on the east coast at this time who covered similar subject matter (Smif n Wesson, Black Moon, Wu-Tang etc) none of the emcees ever sounded as smooth and calm as prodigy did when he spun his crime narratives.

Prodigy was also extremely descriptive in his stories which made his best work have an ominous, almost horror movie feel. It is great stuff, some of the best lyrics ever written.

In 1996, Prodigy was at the height of his skills. This is my favorite Mobb Deep Album because Prodigy's lyrics are classic on every single cut.

Nighttime Vulture's is one of the great rap songs ever. It's beat was used heavily by other emcees on mixtapes to freestyle over around that time.

The rest of this album is on that level.

Definately a classic. September 19, 2008

The Infamous from 96'

Nice album to reflect on the past to. Still gotta bump this disc from time to time. Havoc was killin' em' on the beats back then. That's when Prodigy was spitting those memorable flows. Ever since they linked up with Fifty tho I never came close to wanting to touch another album. In 96' they "Dropped a Gem on em" tho. -Ya'll rembember. December 20, 2007

An Evil Masterpiece !!!

This album is Mobb Deep at their finest. It is a journey into the heart of darkness. I know everyone likes to mention the beef they were having with Tupac at the time but apart from that it is still a dark masterpiece. Lyrically I will agree that "The Infamous" album was better in terms of subject matter but Hell On Earth is a classic in its own right. Havoc stepped up his production and each beat strikes a cord of death and despair. As usual Prodigy's lyrics are cold and menacing. The whole album is fire, excuse me, hellfire, no fillers.


My favorite tracks are Drop A Gem On Em, diss track with a tight piano, Man Down (love the drum beat on that one), Extortion (love this beat and Meth was on fire), Nighttime Vultures (love the beat and the birds of death in the beginning. Raekwon also had a tight verse), G.O.D. Pt3 (check out the after hours god remix on the cd single if you can still get it), Get Dealt With (I never get tired of this song - it never gets old), of course the title track - Hell On Earth, Give It Up Fast (Nas had a pretty tight verse too), Stll Shinin (I love Hav's use of the church organ on such a slammin beat - no other rap producer was doing this then or since). Apostle's Warning closes the album off nicely.

The other tracks I didn't mention - Animal Instinct, Bloodsport, More Trife Life, Can't Get Enough Of It were all good tracks too. There are no weak songs on here. Each song pulsates with an evil life of its own. Any true hip hop fan should have this in their collection. I've been buying (that's right buying not just listening) to hip hop since 1989 and I've never heard an album like this one before and judging by the way hip hop is now I never will. Bottom line, get this album. (An original copy not a burned one). This is one of those albums you want to have an original copy of while you can still get it. Just make sure you are spiritually grounded when you listen to it because of the darkness that consumes the thing. 5 Stars September 2, 2007

They didn't screw with the formula and it paid off

Mobb Deep started off exactly where they finished after their classic The Infamous. However, this release is even darker and more violent, with a couple tracks taking shots at Tupac (no pun intended) and Erick Sermon and his crew.

Me also being a Tupac fan didn't let the diss tracks bother me, because this album is too dam hot to pass up.

Not overrated, classic, hard-hitting, east coast drums, with some of the craziest lyrics Prodigy and Havoc have ever and WILL EVER spit August 10, 2007

The Infamous Part 2

A year and a half after the release of the classic The Infamous Mobb Deep came out with another critically acclaimed follow up, Hell On Earth. While covering no new ground with their lyrics or topics its still a superb album that gave fans more of the same, which is what they wanted. Lyrically this album is probably a notch under The Infamous and because it came after it is rarely talked about in the same breath, although it is very nearly as good as its predecessor. Where they did step up was with Havoc's production, while the beats follow a similar eerie, haunting type of vibe they are not as sparse as those on The Infamous and are more Cinematic, particularly on the classic G.O.D Pt 3 which superbly samples the Scarface theme tune.

There are several other great tracks and guest appearances, Method Man is fire on Extortion, the title track is great, Still Shinin, Man Down, Apostle's Warning and pretty much every other track on here. Also a quick mention to Drop A Gem On Em, they were the only people to really diss Tupac back after his multiple disses at the end of Hit Em Up (and other tracks). Now while I am a Tupac fan i can fully understand why they chose to hit back at him as the situation was getting completely out of hand, im only surprised others didnt also, it is a good track anyway. A very near classic album that is surpassed in their catalogue only by The Infamous, pick up both of them to hear the definitive Mobb Deep. March 20, 2007

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