With an illustrious 10+ year career behind them, the Infamous Mobb Deep have had their ups and downs, not to mention several different shifts in styles, but have more or less always delivered their trademark brand of “murda muzik”. With The Infamous Archives, executive producer J-Love digs deep into the vaults, unearthing music that spans their entire career. 

     Fans who loved Mobb Deep during the “Shook Ones” era will definitely appreciate much of the material on the first disc. Included herein are classic mixtape tracks such as “Everyday Gunplay”  and “In The Long Run”, which still contain the crackle from the original demo tapes they were taken from, but also the unadulterated rawness of Havoc’s early production. Classic white label tracks are included as well, such as “Young Luv” which finds the M-O-B-B jacking Prince’s “If I was Your Girlfriend” for a nasty sex track.  Lost collaborations are also included here, such as “Thou Shall Not Kill”, featuring a show-stealing verse from Snoop, and “QB Meets Southside”, which teams Hav and P up with Onyx. 

    The second disc visits much more recent material, including the crew’s first team-up with 50 Cent, “Bump Dat”. Recorded during the Jive era, this track predates their G-Unit induction, and is truthfully one of the best collaborations between the two.  A pair of familiar Alchemist produced bangers come in the form of “My Priorities” and “Backwards”, proving that the producer brings the best in the millennial, new Mobb Deep. Never let it be said that Havoc hasn’t stepped his game up however, he comes with one of his best recent beats with “Make The Hits”, on which Al himself is even inspired to rhyme. 

      28 tracks deep, there is plenty of room for filler – and make no mistake, its here in abundance – but this is more-or-less a collection of deleted scenes, so it’s to be expected. Longtime listeners of Mobb Deep will definitely want to pick this up, as there are plenty of priceless moments from the crew’s past that until now have remained largely unheard.