Mobb Deep Murda Muzik CD

Parental Advisory

Mobb Deep: Havoc, Prodigy.
Additional personnel: Kool G. Rap, Big Noyd, Eightball, Cormega, Chinky, Lil' Cease, Raekwon, Nas, 8-Ball, Lil' Kim (vocals); Def Jam Blaster (scratches).
Producers include: Havoc, The Alchemist, Epitome Shamello Buddah, Prodigy, Jonathan "Lighty" Williams.
Engineers include: Steve Sola, Jonathan Williams, T-Mix.
Recorded at Soundtrack Studios and The Cutting Room, New York, New York; Urban House Studios, Houston, Texas.
Mobb Deep: Havoc, Prodigy.
Additional personnel: Kool G. Rap, Big Noyd, Eightball, Cormega, Chinky, Lil' Cease, Raekwon, Nas, 8-Ball, Lil' Kim (vocals); Def Jam Blaster (scratches).
Producers include: Havoc, The Alchemist, Epitome Shamello Buddah, Prodigy, Jonathan "Lighty" Williams.
Engineers include: Steve Sola, Jonathan Williams, T-Mix.
Recorded at Soundtrack Studios and The Cutting Room, New York, New York; Urban House Studios, Houston, Texas.
Personnel: Cormega, Infamous Mobb, Kool G Rap, Lil' Cease, Nas, Raekwon, 8Ball & MJG (vocals); Def Jam Blaster (scratches).
Audio Mixers: Omass Keith; Nastee; The Alchemist; Prodigy ; Steve Sola; Jonathan Williams .
Recording information: Soundtrack Studios, New York, NY.
Photographer: Michael Lavine.
After a three-year hiatus and numerous release date pushbacks, Mobb Deep got on their job once again with the punishing release of Murda Muzik. The duo, well-known for their lethal realism both in their infinitely dark yet moving beats and their stark and ruthless crime-rhyme lyrics, continued their grim odyssey with this, their fourth effort. Released amid so much watered-down product, Murda Muzik is an arguable masterpiece in the Puffy and Master P era. Mobb Deep once described their music as the sound of hypnotic thug life. An accurate description, for their music is more than just guns and herb smoking, it taps into the collective sense of fear and horror, the evil in men's hearts, and the struggle for good in the gardens of waste. Mobb music can make you cry, can make you scared, can amplify your inner rage; its depth allows for the gamut of emotional reactions. On this album, primary producer Havoc reached a high level of mastery in his production efforts, a truly signature style of deep bass grooves, piercing organs, ice-cold snare pops, melodic samples, and haunting orchestral snippets. Each song creates its own mood, whether it be a call to stop the violence on "Spread Love" or a call for full-throttle livin' on "I'm Goin' Out." Guest appearances by Raekwon, Lil' Kim, Lil' Cease, Cormega, Kool G. Rap, Eightball, and Infamous Mobb add texture to already bangin' tracks. The album overall can best be described as pure ear- and mind-twisting pleasure and pain. The album will affect you, get under your skin, make you rash up, and then salve you. Murda Muzik is a complete album and a renewal of the truly hardcore movement. ~ M.F. DiBella
MURDAH MUZIK is the forth album from Queensbridge (Queens NY) natives Mobb Deep. Known for street anthems like "Shook Ones Pt. II" and "Survival of the Fittest," Havoc and Prodigy seem every bit as inspired here as they do on earlier recordings. Tracks like "What's Ya Poison (featuring Cormega)," "I'm Going Out (featuring Lil' Cease)," and "Can't Fuck Wit (featuring Raekwon)" show why Mobb Deep's street reputation is as good as it gets. The album also features "Quiet Storm," both the regular and remix versions of which feature Lil' Kim; and an appearance from Kool G Rap on "The Realest," where G Rap shows why he's long been known as a supreme lyricist. Other standouts are "Thug Muzik," "U.S.A. (Alright Then)," and "Let a Ho Be a Ho."

Spin (11/99, p.186) - 8 out of 10 - "...Balancing somber elegy and hardened battle verse is the essence of ruffneck hip-hop art, and nobody writes 'em fiercer than the Mobb..."
Muzik (5/99, p.84) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Laced with a spectacular array of spaghetti western beat, MURDA MUZIK...provides another fix of 'the realness'..."
The Source (2/00, p.95) - Included in The Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year [1999]."
The Source (5/99, p.207) - 4.5 Mics (out of 5) - "...Hav and P have done it again...the Mobb specializes in one thing, and the album's title says it all....Yeah, the tough-talk persists, but not without more of the same self-scrutiny characteristic of the thinkin' thug..."