Untitled Document

Exclusive Mobb Deep/G Unit album playback

By Noreen Kara

50 Cent brought the infamous Mobb Deep to his G-Unit label last year. Already established as one of hip-hop’s greatest duos, there was some speculation as to how the move would reflect on the Mobb’s music.

In town for 50 Cent’s ‘Get Rich of Die Tryin’ movie premiere, Prodigy and Havoc made use of their international visit and held their own album listening party for their new record ‘Blood Money’.

Gathered in a West London nightclub, the night kicked off with a track called ‘Put ‘Em In Their Place’, the album’s lead single. The rest of the LP followed a similar pattern – up-tempo records, almost similar to 50’s debut, ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

“There’s so many hot songs on this album,” 50 Cent declares. “We’re working hard for y’all man.” One of the album’s hot points is the Havoc-produced ‘Creep’, which is one of Mobb Deep’s personal favourites from the album. “Flex, easy on the bomb, let the n*ggas hear the flow,” Prodigy raps.

On ‘In Love With The Moula’, Mobb Deep use the metaphor of money to represent a female – a technique that 50 Cent uses on ‘Baltimore Love Thing’ from his own album.

“This record right here, we’ve got the opportunity to take it back to what real hip-hop is. So much has gone on that’s not traditional hip hop. Before it was all like ‘Down, down baby…’ and ‘I’m not always there when you call, but I’m always on time’,” 50 sings, mimicking Nelly and Ja Rule songs, “But now hip hop is back to that street element.”

Despite 50’s strong statement, he plays us the commercial ‘Give It To Me Baby’, a weak R&B-inspired song.

Long-time collaborator The Alchemist gets a look in on the boards on the banging track, ‘The Infamous’. The album also features guest appearances from the G-Unit roster, including Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and of course 50 Cent.

50 declared at the start of the session that he wouldn’t be playing a Mary J. Blige track and a Dr. Dre-produced one, but he couldn’t resist giving us a listen to the latter. ‘Nightmares’ sounds a little more ‘experimental Dre’ than his usual trademark beats. However, 50 did warn that it’s not yet been mixed.

So have Mobb Deep switched their style to fit in with the G-Unit camp? 50 states, “There’s a big difference between Mobb Deep and all the other projects that I work on. Buck and Yayo and everyone else I watched them grow gradually to where they at now but Mobb Deep are already together.” That said, it’s clear that Mobb Deep have managed to keep their classic style standing strong and only falter very rarely.

‘Blood Money’ is out on March 21, 2006, in both the US and UK.

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	Exclusive Mobb Deep/G Unit album playback By Noreen Kara 50 Cent brought the infamous Mobb Deep to his G-Unit label last year. Already established as one of hip-hop’s greatest duos, there was some speculation as to how the move would reflect on the Mobb’s music. In town for 50 Cent’s ‘Get Rich of Die Tryin’ movie premiere, Prodigy and Havoc made use of their international visit and held their own album listening party for their new record ‘Blood Money’. Gathered in a West London nightclub, the night kicked off with a track called ‘Put ‘Em In Their Place’, the album’s lead single. The rest of the LP followed a similar pattern – up-tempo records, almost similar to 50’s debut, ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’. “There’s so many hot songs on this album,” 50 Cent declares. “We’re working hard for y’all man.” One of the album’s hot points is the Havoc-produced ‘Creep’, which is one of Mobb Deep’s personal favourites from the album. “Flex, easy on the bomb, let the nggas hear the flow,” Prodigy raps. On ‘In Love With The Moula’, Mobb Deep use the metaphor of money to represent a female – a technique that 50 Cent uses on ‘Baltimore Love Thing’ from his own album. “This record right here, we’ve got the opportunity to take it back to what real hip-hop is. So much has gone on that’s not traditional hip hop. Before it was all like ‘Down, down baby…’ and ‘I’m not always there when you call, but I’m always on time’,” 50 sings, mimicking Nelly* and Ja Rule songs, “But now hip hop is back to that street element.” Despite 50’s strong statement, he plays us the commercial ‘Give It To Me Baby’, a weak R&B-inspired song. Long-time collaborator The Alchemist gets a look in on the boards on the banging track, ‘The Infamous’. The album also features guest appearances from the G-Unit roster, including Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and of course 50 Cent. 50 declared at the start of the session that he wouldn’t be playing a Mary J. Blige track and a Dr. Dre-produced one, but he couldn’t resist giving us a listen to the latter. ‘Nightmares’ sounds a little more ‘experimental Dre’ than his usual trademark beats. However, 50 did warn that it’s not yet been mixed. So have Mobb Deep switched their style to fit in with the G-Unit camp? 50 states, “There’s a big difference between Mobb Deep and all the other projects that I work on. Buck and Yayo and everyone else I watched them grow gradually to where they at now but Mobb Deep are already together.” That said, it’s clear that Mobb Deep have managed to keep their classic style standing strong and only falter very rarely. ‘Blood Money’ is out on March 21, 2006, in both the US and UK. Return To Concert Review Archive
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