Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth

The Infamous made Mobb Deep's name. Hell on Earth is the record where Havoc and Prodigy stopped trying to prove anything and simply committed to the bleakest sound in New York. Released in November 1996, it is colder, slower and more claustrophobic than its predecessor, and a lot of listeners now rate it higher.

Havoc produced almost all of it and his palette narrowed to something close to monochrome: minor key piano loops, dust, and drums that never quite swing. "Drop A Gem On 'Em" was the answer record to Tupac's "Hit 'Em Up," pulled from radio after Shakur's death and left on the album anyway. "G.O.D. Pt. III" is Prodigy at his most quotably nihilistic. "Extortion" brings in Method Man, "Nighttime Vultures" brings Raekwon, and "Give It Up Fast" reunites the Queensbridge axis with Nas and Big Noyd.

Recorded largely at Platinum Island and Axis in New York and mastered by Leon Zervos, it is a record with almost no light in it and no interest in finding any. That is precisely why it has aged as well as it has.

Double black vinyl reissue on Loud and RCA, lacquers cut at Nashville Record Productions and pressed at United Record Pressing.