Mobb Deep Have Disses For Jay-Z, Kisses For Your L

[CRONICI]

What a difference a week makes. Prodigy of Mobb Deep dropped the skinny on the group's game plan on October 16, but now he and his partner, Havoc, have changed their minds about retaliating in rhyme against Jay-Z for his song "The Takeover."

The duo now fire a couple of shots at the Jiggaman on "Crawling," which will appear on December 11's Infamy. Prodigy is the most belligerent, calling Jay-Z's decision to show his baby picture on a giant screen at New York's Hot 97 Summer Jam concert a weak move. P also claims Jay was afraid to come to the Source awards, deploring, "Rap's only awards, and you ain't show up."

Mobb's acclaimed tough talk is heard throughout the LP, which is only three tracks away from being completed, according their A&R rep.

Another of the songs in the can, "Kill or Be Killed," features Ronald Isley and is a vintage Mobb street-warfare anthem. One of the few tunes not produced by Havoc (Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg collaborator Scott Storch provides the outer-space G-funk beat), it features lyrics about just wanting to chill but getting tested and having to strike back at cats "misrepresentin' the 'hood." Swerving from testimonial to sermon, Isley sings in his legendary high-pitch voice, "This sh-- is serious ... / So hard for me to walk ... / Sho nuff."

"Clap" ("claps" are slang for gunshots) finds the battle on the streets intensifying and the Queens, New York, natives going into their arsenal of arms. "All y'all get standing ovations with Mack 10," threatens Prodigy. His partner has his back with more "blood talk," rapping, "Like a f---ed barber, I push your wig back forever." Havoc, who produced the cut, drives their point home with his work behind the boards, using an eerie loop of wind blowing and making the drums sound like actual hand claps.

Mobb Deep don't only offer gladiator raps, though. "Nothin' Like Home" is a soulful reflective look at their lives' mistakes. "Drunk in my pain ... / My own worst enemy/ Going against the grain," Havoc woefully admits.

"Handcuffs" is probably the LP's biggest shocker, as the group expand its musical MO and experiment with Southern bounce. Rhyming fast about freeing girls from men who like to lock them down, Havoc declares, "I got the keys to them handcuffs ... / Wanna be free? Throw your hands up."

On the "Hey Luv," which is about trying to woo girls out of their relationships, P promises, "I have much more to give than homey do ... / I just wanna grow with you." His partner is just as shameless, vowing to "kill any misperceptions you have about Mobb Deep." On the hook, guests 112 offer to take women on million-dollar shopping sprees.

Among the songs the group is hoping to finish in the next couple of weeks is an untitled posse cut the Lox have to lay their vocals on and an untitled song with Nas.