Mobb Deep:
Blood Money

Release Date: 08 May 2006

Reviewed By: Brendan Scott

1. Smoke It

2. Put 'Em In Their Place

3. Stole Something

4. Creep

5. Speaking So Freely

6. Backstage Pass

7. Give It To Me

8. Click Click

9. Pearly Gates

10. Capital P Capital H

11. Daydreamin'

12. Infamous

13. In Love With The Moulah

14. It's Alright

15. Have A Party

16. Outta Control

17. So Ill

Ghostface - Fishscale
Read Review

The last time Mobb Deep gave us an album was in 2004 with the unimpressive ‘Amerikaz Nightmare’, which was aided by the men of that moment - Twista and Lil’ Jon. Following this release, Havoc and Prodigy left their label of around 10 years, Jive, and were subsequently scooped up by Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson and signed to his G-Unit imprint. The result of that deal is ‘Blood Money’.

Despite the chaff, such as ‘Give It To Me’, M-O-B-B’s attempt at being sexy – cue involuntary shudder – and ‘Have A Party’ which, minus the profanities, would fit right in at a children’s disco, this album has some really strong tracks. For instance, the stomping ‘Put Em In Their Place’, which rolls along with super powerful horns put together by Sha Money XL, G-Unit’s in-house producer.

Further along, Mobb affiliate The Alchemist blesses us with another highlight ‘The Infamous’, which compliments the duo perfectly with its slightly sinister yet funky bass guitar, stuttering snares and old school ‘808’ cowbells. Here Prodigy shows a new found hunger and return to form with lines like: “Queensbridge maf*cker we blow your house down/ We the big bad wolfs that eat your food clown/ I ain’t gotta huff and puff, you know my style/ Calm as f*ck I just let my gun wil’ out.”

Probably the best track on ‘Blood Money’ is ‘Pearly Gates’, which uses a sample from the ’70’s soul group The Tavares, over a dumpy and slumping beat. However, this song also best sums up the albums major weakness. Here, 50 Cent’s verse steals the limelight and illustrates that this show is not entirely run by the ‘Infamous’ Mobb. There has been speculation as to how Mobb Deep’s ‘Blood Money’ would end up sounding, and though it doesn’t scream “G-G-G-G-G-G-Unit!”, it definitely shouts it.

Back on the classic ‘The Infamous’, we were presented with two young hoodlums painting a dark and brooding picture of their environment, letting us in on a savage way of life that we could enjoy, voyeuristically. In 2006, however, Hav and P are no longer running around ‘jooksing’ shook ones. Instead, you can almost see them clad in cravats and brogues at Fiddy’s mansion, iced teas in hand, enjoying a nice game of croquet and talking business. It seems Mobb Deep are no longer looking to be infamous, but famous.

There’s nothing especially wrong with this album and to be fair it is far superior to their last two efforts – ‘Amerikaz Nightmare’ (2004) and ‘Infamy’ (2001). All in all there are a few great songs, some good ones and some shoddy ones - as a whole it is cohesive, with a majority of the songs produced by Havoc, and it seems to work. But, it’s not the raw formula that has worked so well in the past and in all honesty there’s plenty of other hip hop albums, old and new, that would be more deserving of your cash when you next go record shopping.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Top 3 Tracks:
Pearly Gates
Put Em In Their Place
The Infamous

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z