Dark and lovely. It’s the rare quality that Compton’s Most Wanted had in the 1990′s during the course of their first three releases, and it’s also one found through the illustrious and amazingly long career of Havoc and Prodigy, known better to most as Mobb Deep. Embarking on their seventh full-length project (not including countless mix CD’s and offshoot projects released in between), Hav and P have linked up with 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew, as Blood Money marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship between two of Queens’ most infamous hip-hop staples.   

     The looming G-Unit influence found on Blood Money may upset some longtime listeners of Mobb Deep, but at the core, this LP continues in tradition of delivering beautifully dark production and the usual armory of Queens-get-the-money shit talking. The LP begins with the vintage sounding “Smoke It”, where Havoc employs a barrage of raucous horns, chopped in classic M.O.B.B. style. The abrasive “Put ‘Em In Their Place” follows, as Sha Money’s symphony of heavy horns animates Hav and P’s hood tales with perfect results. Havoc chimes in again on the sinister “Stole Something”, the brooding “Speaking So Freely”, and the schizophrenic “Creep” (featuring a show-stealing verse from 50 Cent), respectively, each of which find the producer experimenting with new sounds and styles, yet maintaining the classic QB element. 

     Throughout the second half of the album, Mobb Deep uncharacteristically employs a team of outside producers, but things remain on point for the most part. Newcomer Exile delivers an abstractly chopped, pitched, and re-sampled loop for the raw “Pearly Gates”, where Mobb Deep and 50 ask their friends “if I go to hell and you make it to heaven, just get me to the gate, and I’ll talk my way in”. Jonathan “J.R.” Rotem chimes in for “In Love With The Moula”, an infectious, mellowed-out money-lover’s anthem, while Chad Beat conducts “Daydreaming”, a beautifully brooding look back at the Mobb’s past. Alchemist’s only contribution is “The Infamous”, a shameless Wild Style soundtrack jacking, which disappoints only as much as the other terribly obvious sample jacking on Hav’s “It’s Alright”. Yet both cuts still work, despite obvious reworking of tired samples. Topping things off, both of Mobb’s previously released G-Unit club cuts, “Outta Control Remix” (prod. Dr. Dre) and “Have A Party” are included, and fit in the mold perfectly. 

    While not a flawless record, Mobb Deep’s usual consistency is present throughout Blood Money, but it does have its share of missteps. The lousy “Backstage Pass” is road-to-nowhere groupie hoe jam, where Hav and P seem uninspired by guest producer K-Lassik Beats’ track. Meanwhile, Tony Yayo is found struggling through his verse on “Click Click”, while the G-Unit influence weighs a little too heavy on the throwawy club track “Give It To Me Baby”. Both cuts are (dis)respectively found guilty of interpolating lyrics from Geto Boys “Mind Playin’ Tricks On Me” and 50′s “Candy Shop” into lazy (yet….familiar!) hooks. And let’s be frank, Prodigy isn’t the emcee he once was; Hav has now matured into the group’s lyrical leader.

     But these minor upsets don’t spoil the rest of the package. The constant evolution Mobb Deep has undergone during the course of their of ten plus years may upset fans that have been with them since The Infamous (or even Juvenile Hell, yikes). However, when it comes down to it, Blood Money carries on tradition, keeping Mobb Deep infamous to a whole new generation.