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MOBB DEEP - INFINITE (Official Discussion)

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The Predator:

--- Quote ---Mobb Deep Is Infinite: Havoc On Prodigy’s Legacy, The Alchemist’s Evolution & What Hip-Hop Would Be Like Without “Shook Ones”



(hotnewhiphop)

Havoc offers rare insight into crafting "Infinite" with Prodigy’s posthumous verses, unpacks Nas’s evolution from rapper to generational mogul, and reflects on the enduring power of "The Infamous" nearly thirty years on.

It took about four or five tries to get Havoc on the phone—but that’s something I expected. The rapper-producer extraordinaire and one half of Mobb Deep has always been an enigmatic force: a man who crept through the pissy hallways of Queensbridge projects and quietly turned that into a cornerstone of hip-hop history.

The last time I spoke with Havoc was during the rollout for Wreckage Manner, his collaborative album with Styles P. I remember jumping on a Zoom call where Styles was the only one there at first; Havoc slid in a few minutes later, answered a handful of questions, and bounced. Still, in that short window, there was no shortage of enthusiasm: for the music, for his collaborator, for the craft. He was gracious, kind, and engaged in a way every journalist hopes for when speaking with an artist who’s acutely aware of his own gravitas. It was during that interview where Havoc said, “there's no one that you could rhyme alongside with better than Prodigy.”

Since Prodigy’s passing in 2017, there have been promises of a new Mobb Deep album, but nothing panned out the way fans had hoped for. That is, until Nas announced the Legend Has It series earlier this year: a string of albums to be released under the Mass Appeal umbrella from Slick Rick, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Mobb Deep, among others.

For Havoc, Infinite was a project that he felt needed to happen — unfinished business, he tells me over a Zoom call. After Prodigy’s passing, Hav knew that Mobb Deep and their supporters needed a final hurrah to commemorate a legacy that has undoubtedly shaped hip-hop into what it is today. That’s not even a hyperbolic claim but a testament to how Prodigy and Havoc’s artistic vision since The Infamous has turned their legacy into something carried deep within hip-hop’s soul. However, this process was distinctly different for Hav: it was the first time he had to execute their collective vision without Prodigy by his side.

“The way we used to lock in, I could play any beat for Prodigy, you know, from the best beat to the weakest beat, and he would do a song to it, you know? And that was the process, and that's the process that I miss. Man, it's really tough not having him here,” Havoc tells HotNewHipHop.

The approach to this project was distinctly different. Since Hav doesn’t own Prodigy’s verses, he had to “make things come together” while being extremely mindful of honoring P without his input.

“Any verse that I give you from Prodigy that I'm blessed to have is quintessential Mobb Deep, right? We can't pick, you know?” he continues. “Whatever verse that I present to you from Prodigy is quintessential Mobb Deep. It doesn't get no better than that, and it's just something that I have to work with. But once I get it, I gotta try to at least match his vibe on that.”

We caught up with Havoc earlier this week to discuss the new Mobb Deep album, working with Nas and Mass Appeal, and why artists like the Clipse and Rome Streetz have his utmost respect.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

HotNewHipHop: This has been a project that fans have been waiting on for years, and it feels like one of the most important releases of the year as well. Where did the process begin, beyond just ideating this Mobb Deep album?

Havoc: You know, to me, the process begins, maybe a few years later, after Prodigy passed. I knew that Mobb Deep had unfinished business. I knew that I wanted to send Mobb Deep off with a last hurrah. So I would say a few years after Prodigy passed. But I don't own Prodigy’s verses, so it is a process. And you know, you just have to kind of make things come together.

What were some of the first songs you worked on for this? Especially just given some of the hurdles to get these verses. How did they lay the foundation for the album?

Okay, one of the first songs I definitely worked on was “Mr. Magik.” You know, I usually don't answer questions like that, but “Mr. Magik” is one of those songs that I really like a lot. I got to experiment. I tried at least 10 beats before I got to that beat, and then after that, I settled on it.

What were some of those early feelings for you, or some of the memories you were getting while you were putting this album together in the early stages?

The earliest feelings that I was getting were like, yo, you know, I really want to satisfy the supporters more than anything, because they've been waiting for a while for a Mobb Deep project. So I was really insecure in that regard, like making sure that I satisfy the true Mobb Deep fans.

Was there a particular moment where everything clicked? A moment where you were like, “Yeah, I'm on the right path with this project.”

I would have to say the day that I flew to L.A. and just got with The Alchemist. I knew I was where I was supposed to be because he was playing me some phenomenal songs that he already had and that he would later change to make even better. I think that was the time when I was like, “Yes, we're going in the right direction.”

You’ve mentioned that there were moments on this project where it felt like Prodigy was making premonitions. Was there one verse in particular that gave you chills or that felt eerily prophetic?

I would have to say “Pour The Henny.”

That’s the one I was thinking, too.

Yeah, you know, on “Pour The Henny,” man, you hear Prodigy say, “I did songs with Mary J. Blige and Nas, my n***a,” you understand what I'm saying? And then he says, “I lived a full life. Don't cry for me.” I mean, [chuckles] I just got to stop there.

You touched on The Alchemist earlier. He has said he's learned a lot by watching you, and he's considered one of the greats in his own right. As somebody who saw him in his early stages and witnessed that development, what's it like seeing him produce today? And how did working with him help bring this album to life without Prodigy by your side?

You know, watching The Alchemist come to where he is right now, to the position that he is, is something that, as a producer, you want to see other producers that are coming up–you want to see them reach that level. So I have known Alchemist for a long time. I always knew he was dope. I always believed in him. And it's something that you definitely want to see, you know? It's just so dope. It's like, wow. Like, he's still–because, you know, a lot of people don't have strong beliefs in hip-hop, especially when it's sample-based, right? Everybody wants to do these interpolations of hip-hop that don't really sound like hip-hop, and to have somebody like Alchemist and me to still be doing hip-hop, but, like, heavy sample-based is the sight to behold.

In terms of just the community that Alchemist has brought up and the people that you've influenced, do you think hearing that type of production, the more sample-based production, does that give you more faith in just the future of hip hop?

No. And the reason why you would think I would say yes, but I'm going to say no, because I never left off the sample-based hip-hop. The Alchemist never left off the sample-based hip hop, and what I believe is “what goes around comes around.” So I always knew it would come back around to the sample-based [sound], always. I mean, that's how hip-hop started.

As both a producer and a rapper, how was it like balancing the production and the writing for this project compared to previous Mobb Deep albums?

The one significant thing was that Prodigy wasn't here. You understand what I'm saying? You know, all the other projects, Prodigy was here. So he wasn't here, so we really had to be mindful of that and pick the best Prodigy verses.

If you don’t mind diving into it, what was the workflow like between you and Prodigy on previous Mobb Deep albums?

Ah, man. I miss him dearly. I miss him so much. The way we used to lock in, I could play any beat for Prodigy, you know, from the best beat to the weakest beat, and he would do a song to it, you know? And that was the process, and that's the process that I miss. Man, it's really tough not having him here.

“Against The World” really set the tone perfectly for this album and the campaign for this album’s release. And of course, it has just the quintessential Prodigy shit-talking toward the end of the song. Even after his passing and then the creation of this project, how does that kind of delivery reinforce Infinite as a true Mobb Deep statement?

Listen, you got to think about it like this: any verse that I give you from Prodigy that I'm blessed to have is quintessential Mobb Deep, right? We can't pick, you know? Whatever verse that I present to you from Prodigy is quintessential Mobb Deep. It doesn't get no better than that, and it's just something that I have to work with. But once I get it, I gotta try to at least match his vibe on that.

What was the message you wanted to convey with the music video?

With this video, I wanted to convey that, look, Mobb Deep is here. We’re going out with a bang. Prodigy is not here, obviously. We’re not trying to make it like he's here. Like to trick the audience, but it's like, we want to let you know that, yes, Prodigy is not here, but you know, we’re still going to give you a video anyway. We're going to give you a good product, and we're going to let you hear the best of Prodigy.

I wanted to touch on a few of the features. The Clipse’s appearance on “Look At Me” is fantastic, and Push has been very vocal about the influence that Mobb Deep had on him. What elements of Mobb Deep do you see in the Clipse?

You know what I see? Consistency. That's the element that I see. That I see in Mobb Deep, that I see in the Clipse. Consistency in a group that, no matter what they go through, that would never break up.

Did that consistency make it easier to work with them on this track?

I mean, the Clipse made it easy. I only had to ask them once. I said, “Hey, can I get a you know, verse from you?” And they said, “What?” Before they could say yes, they sent the track back.

That’s amazing.

I mean, it truly was amazing. And what was more amazing was that they were working on a phenomenal project without even spilling the tea about it.

Oh, so this was in the middle of them working on their album?

They gave me a verse. And I had no idea that they were putting out an album.

So what was your reaction when they dropped their album earlier this year?

Oh, my God. I was like, what a gift to hip hop this is. And it also raised the bar to what I was about to put out.

I mean, I feel like when we get to the end of the year, we’ll be looking at this Mobb Deep album and the Clipse album as two of the best, you know what I mean?

For sure, for sure. And I just want to shout out my new radio station on Shade45, because every time I'm airing on Shade45 at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, I'm playing the Clipse.

Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Big Noyd, and Nas all appeared on The Infamous. Why was it important to bring them back alongside newer voices like Jorja Smith and H.E.R.?

I mean, you know, without those people that you just mentioned, there is no Infamous album, right? There is no Infamous album. So I wanted to bring it as close as I could to an Infamous album, and I think that I did it.

I mean, we’re hearing everyone at their highest level of rapping, and obviously, the production is amazing as well. I think it’s a real gift to hip-hop fans.

And you know, I follow your sentiments exactly. Listen, the attention around this album, I couldn't even ask for better. What we’re about to do right now, like, right now, I'm in the studio, and I got Live Nation here, and we’re in rehearsals for the 30th anniversary of the Infamous album, and everybody's excited. So I've never seen this before. The only time I ever seen this before is when we made The Infamous album.

How did this idea come about to bring this album to Mass Appeal as part of the campaign they’ve been running this year alongside albums from Raekwon, Ghostface, Nas, and more?

I mean, look, we got into the fold. I was happy to get into the fold of what Mass Appeal was doing. And, you know, I trusted Nas. I trusted him. It was all about trust. And he's doing Slick Rick, he's doing De La Soul. He's doing all these people, you know. Nas is like… [he] might be the entrepreneur of our generation, you understand what I'm saying? To be part of that was just phenomenal.

What were his early sentiments about this project? Just based on the relationship, I would imagine he was very passionate about releasing this album under Mass Appeal. What were some of those early conversations with him like, or some of the things he said about this project?

The conversations that me and him had about having this project, I'm always going to keep private, you know? Of course, I'm not going to shit on the interview that I'm doing right now, but I'm going to keep it private. I will say this: he was super supportive of putting out a Mobb Deep album, and I think it was very special to him, which helped me make the decision on making sure it was on Mass Appeal.
MTV Presents Sucker Free Week With Mobb Deep

Pitchfork just released their top rap albums of all time list, with The Infamous topping it. It made me think about the parallels between Illmatic and The Infamous. How do you think those two albums painted a broader picture of Queensbridge at the time you were all growing up?

Check it out, it paints a broader picture, because at that time, our paintbrush wasn't that vocal or that big, you understand what I'm saying? So whatever we said during that time, you have to believe, right? Because it was unfiltered, right? Like, it's like, yo, this is Nas you’re talking about. This is Mobb Deep you’re talking about. It's very, very unfiltered messages. So I think within the rap game, like I don't even think you could get a better partnership. Between Mobb Deep and Nas, it’s like the realest partnerships you ever could get. And when they get this album, I think they’re going to feel that. I don't even have to say that. Nas don’t got to say it. Nobody gotta say it. Just listen to the album.

I know you've answered a lot of questions about “Shook Ones” in the past and how you nearly scrapped the beat, but I’ve wanted to ask you: how do you think the trajectory of hip-hop would’ve changed if that song never came out or if you scrapped that beat? When we look back, there’s so many moments attached to that song and that beat, whether it’s Kendrick Lamar at the BET Cypher or the final scene of 8 Mile, right?

It's a beautiful question to ask. We kind of imagine if this didn't hap–that's like asking, like, “what if there was never a Dr Dre?” You understand what I'm saying? But what we do know is that Dr. Dre does exist. We do know “Shook Ones” exist. We know all of these songs exist. Imagine if they never happened, right? And I could ask you the question! It's like this, the world will feel empty.

Interesting. Can you elaborate just a bit on that?

[Laughs] I wasn't trying to elaborate on that, but I will elaborate on that. 

I appreciate it.

[Laughs] Oh, yo, listen, man, yo, like, think about it, right? Like, holy shit, this thing that we’re creating. Like this music that we’re creating, and we’re creating it from experiences, you know? And then to say, like, yo, what would it be like without “Shook Ones?” Like, I can't even imagine a world without that, you understand what I'm saying? What would the world be without Illmatic or Stillmatic? What would the world be like? We know what the world would be like. We wouldn't have it, X, Y, and Z, and then maybe, this will be a different conversation, and that's how important hip hop is. But I think the YNs don't understand that. We’re the only ones that understand, because we’re the only ones that ask the question: what would it be like without this or that, and the third? And if you ask the YNs, they're going to be like, “who?” Right? So it's important that we ask that question, because I love the answer to it, because there's not only one answer.

Do you feel like the young cats will ever grasp or understand the gravity of how hip-hop evolved to where it is today?

No, they'll never fully grasp it, and it's not their job to. It's our job to document and then put it out so they can see it. Let them live their life.

On “My Era,” you talk about all of the rappers that you came up with and the feeling that they gave. In 2025, which artists are giving you that same feeling that you came up in?

Rome Streetz.

Could you say a bit more about that?

The reason why I fuck with Rome Streetz is because I could tell he’s not doing it for the money. He’s doing it because he loves it. And if somebody is doing it because of that, that's an artist of my own heart.
--- End quote ---

The Predator:
When Havoc met Dre -


--- Quote ---Nas appears on SiriusXM’s The Infamous Hour with Havoc

Nas recently appeared on SiriusXM’s The Infamous Hour with Havoc.

During the interview, Nas opened up about collaborating with Mass Appeal and why he wanted to work with Mobb Deep.

Havoc also detailed the first time he met Dr. Dre.

Nas on Collaborating with Mass Appeal

Nas: I kind of have this love hate relationship with the word legend. I’m sure you probably do too, but legend has it is more about the word is on the street about some great shit about to happen. It was a cool thing I felt because Slick Rick would be the first record that came out, so I was thinking like, “Yo, the music I listen to mostly is you, is Raekwon, is Ghostface, is Slick Rick, is De La, is Biggie, is Pac,” and on and on, so that’s just a natural thing for me to want to do to rock with my guys. You know what I’m saying? So, it was not really that deep of a thought. It was more about how to make it happen. Can it happen? ‘Cause this would be like a dream.

Story Time with Havoc & Dr. Dre…

Havoc: I bumped into Dr. Dre at your party, bro. You know, I never met Dr. Dre before?

Nas: Nah. Stop playing.

Havoc: Yo. I’m deadass. I never met Dr. Dre before in my life and to see him, and I had on my shades and he had walked by me and one of my people was like, “Yo, Dre, this is Hav,” but you know, the music is up or whatever. He didn’t even recognize me, who I was, so he just gave me a dap, but later on, 10 minutes later, he came back, was like, “Oh shit n****. I ain’t know this was you.” He was like, “Yo.” I said, I took my shades off and I started talking to him and he was like, “Yo. Man, you brothers inspired me,” and I’m like, I’m looking at this n**** like, “Inspired you?”

Nas Gives His Rationale on Working with Mobb Deep

Havoc: What made you want to grab the Mobb Deep project and when the opportunity came, what was your thoughts on that?

Nas: What? You Crazy? It’s Mobb Deep. I mean, it’s Mobb Deep. Mobb Deep is pure. Mobb Deep was original when it came out and it hit the scene, so what you represent set the example for what was to come later in rap music, so everybody took a page out of your book from what you were saying lyrically, what your messages was, being the voice of the streets in a way that nobody could do it, especially at the time. Your production is like the best production in the world. When you mentioned Dre, I see you in the lines of it coming up. You had to probably been listening to all the great producers from Bomb Squad and this one and that one to even have that type of ear.
--- End quote ---

The Predator:

--- Quote ---ICE T
@FINALLEVEL
I've always made it clear that @MobbDeep
 is my favorite group... I was with P and Havoc the night P passed away in Vegas.... This is gonna be a hard album to listen to.. the Love is INFINITE
--- End quote ---

The Predator:

--- Quote ---Mobb Deep – Infinite (Album Review)



(blackouthiphop)

The fourth album in Mass Appeal’s “Legend Has It…” series is none other than that of Queensbridge icons, Mobb Deep. Hip-Hop is still mourning the loss of Prodigy, even 8 years after his passing, which makes the fact that Havoc and The Alchemist have faithfully captured his essence on “Infinite,” that much more meaningful. When the first single appeared, it was evident we’re in store for a proper Mobb Deep album.

Its first single is also the first track.

From the get go, “Infinite” sets the right tone and builds excitement for what’s to come with its powerful opener, “Against The World.” When the first tones reveal themselves and Prodigy proclaims: “I’m back!”, it is clear that you’re about to embark on a pure Hip-Hop journey. As the songs continue to roll in, the diversity of the album starts showing itself. “Infinite” is grimy, raw, unrelenting, yet smooth and dynamic. Each song carries its own vibe, with only slight exceptions, all while holding that specific Mobb Deep feeling.

It is best not to go into too much detail about individual songs, because they’re something every fan should experience for himself. It’s sufficient to say it’s going to be hard not to nod your head to bangers such as “My Era”, “Easy Bruh”, “Look At Me”, and “We The Real Thing”.

 

 

Features are placed at the right moments throughout the album. Each of them adds a different type of flavor to the already great Mobb Deep formula. The star-studded lineup of guests includes 2025 home-runners Clipse, classic collaborator Big Noyd, Wu Tang’s Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, and Queensbridge legend Nas; who appears on three songs. It seems apparent that everyone involved in the album’s creation approached it with absolute love.

“Infinite” encompasses everything that made Mobb Deep such an iconic act throughout the years, and successfully connects it in a whole. It gives you that raw portrayal of street life, paired with compelling lyricism and gritty production, which first cemented Mobb Deep’s place in Hip-Hop. It honors and leaves room for the sounds of their G-Unit era, and even manages to include two R’n’B-styled tracks, with vocals by Jorja Smith and H.E.R. Despite all that, “Infinite” can still surprise you at times, such as with the emotional note of “Pass The Henny.” Both Havoc and The Alchemist have truly worked wonders with the production.

Another thing that the project does sublimely is showcase Prodigy’s timelessness. His presence throughout the album is felt so heartly, that it’s hard to believe those verses were not recorded alongside Havoc’s. Not only have Havoc and The Alchemist shined on the production part, they’ve also created a beautiful tribute to P, who we all know left us way too soon.

Hip-Hop fans can only be delighted with the fact they’ve been gifted a classic Mobb Deep album in 2025, and one which is a powerful reminder that Mobb Deep’s spirit truly is “Infinite.”

You can purchase physical editions of “Infinite” via the Mass Appeal Shop or the HHV Records shop.
--- End quote ---

 

teecee:
This album is yet another example of a classic era duo bringing an updated classic sound and absolutely knocking it out the park.
Dre should be ashamed honestly….i mean, I really enjoyed Missionary, but his refusal to tap into what made him and Snoop so revered in the first place is very frustrating.    This mobb album has all the right features while the Snoop and Dre album had Jelly Roll lol (he actually killed it but I don’t want him on a Snoop album). 
Hopefully Dre gets inspired by this Mobb Deep, LL and Tip, Clipse, Common and PR, and Nas and Premo…

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