My Gut Reaction: Havoc - 13 Reloaded (November 18, 2014)

13 Reloaded is the fourth solo album from rapper-slash-producer Kejuan “Havoc” Muchita, an artist who will always be identified by his membership in the duo Mobb Deep alongside the late Prodigy. While the description I just wrote, “rapper-slash-producer”, is accurate, it’s not how most people think of Hav: he’s far better known for his musical output than his rhymes, especially when stacked alongside his rhyme partner, who is considered by many hip hop fanatics to be one of the best that ever did it. So the mere fact that he somehow made it to four solo albums is kind of a feat in and of itself: those four albums not being Mobb Deep affiliate The Alchemist-type production showcases featuring fifty guests per project is nothing short of a miracle.

13 Reloaded was released a year and a half after his prior effort, 13, and was considered by many (at first) to be a sequel or a reboot of that original album, even though Havoc never advertised it as such: it stands alone in the man’s catalog. Unlike his previous three efforts, which saw our host attempting to carve out space for himself within our chosen genre as a rapper first, 13 Reloaded was created with the sole purpose of focusing on the production side of things, as he tried to evolve past the Mobb Deep mold with his sound. The man had plenty of practice leading up to the subject of today’s post: he’s sold beats to artists outside of his immediate family such as Eminem, Puff Daddy, Originoo Gunn Clappaz, Nas, Method Man and Redman, and, two years later, Kanye West, all of which are markedly different philosophically and sonically than Mobb Deep, and successfully brought them all into his personal vision of Queensbridge (well, Nas was already there, but the metaphor stands).

13 Reloaded is the first full-length Havoc recorded after the reunion of Mobb Deep: the duo had briefly broken up a couple of years prior due to some internalized anger finally bubbling up to the surface, and 13 infamously was promoted using “Separated (Real From the Fake)”, a Prodigy dis that was a part of the project’s tracklisting up until the very last minute, when Havoc and Cellblock P kissed and made up. There were no such behind-the-scenes issues during 13 Reloaded’s inception, as Prodigy supports his boy’s mission by making a guest appearance on the album proper, as opposed to on a remix of a single like last time.

13 was named as such because that is Havoc’s lucky number, and that album contained thirteen tracks (but not thirteen songs). 13 Reloaded would appear to follow that same logic, but there are fourteen songs on the deluxe edition, so why he couldn’t just come up with another title I’ll never know. I do kind of like the album cover art, though: it’s far more artistic than anything Mobb Deep could ever come up with.

1. BEST OF THE BEST

I really liked the production on “Best of the Best”: it sounds like an extension of the dramatic intensity that comes out in his best work, but with a 1980s twist. Lyrically, our host is saying less than nothing, although he performs that less than nothing in a cadence that resembles Prodigy’s, which makes sense when you remember that Havoc wrote Cellblock P’s rhymes at the beginning of their respective careers. An instrumental for this would be fantastic, as would have been selling this shit to another rapper (the first that popped into my head was Styles P., for some reason). Still wasn’t a bad way to start, though.

2. NOT YOURS

Raise your hand if you’ve ever wanted Havoc to spit over a funky drum loop that resembles a slowed-down version of Amerie’s “One Thing”. If you actually raised your hand, you’re a motherfucking liar who followed a command from a blogger on the Interweb for some reason, but you’re forgiven, as “Not Yours” presents the second Hav beat in a row that reaches outside of his comfort zone, with great results. The instrumental here is fucking awesome, and our host’s two verses exhibit his newly-located inspiration, as he raps as though he put some thought into his boasts and threats. The chorus is cheesy as shit, not so much that any enjoyment is derailed, but enough that one wishes Havoc had hired an independent editor. But still.

3. UNCUT RAW (FEAT. PRODIGY)

The first two-thirds of “Uncut Raw” made me legitimately sad that we will never get another Mobb Deep album. Havoc’s instrumental is propulsive and catchy, and both our host and guest star Cellblock P sound really goddamn good during their solo verses. Prodigy, especially, seems to have fully recovered from whatever malady he was suffering through that affected his rhymes all those many years (I believe the medical term is “apathy”). And then the final verse, which both halves of the Mobb share, hits, and they come across as amateurs. Such a weird contrast. Chop off the last third, and “Uncut Raw” would find a permanent place on my Mobb Deep playlist. Or I’ll just add it anyway. Ah well. At least the beat goes.

4. DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL

I will give our host credit for the beat on “Don’t Take It Personal”: it does exhibit the man’s growth as a producer. It’s just too bad that Havoc’s cover of the Monica standard “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One Of Dem Days)” just doesn’t work from a lyrical standpoint. It commits the cardinal sin of anything within the entertainment spectrum: it’s fucking boring. And so.

5. WHAT I REP (FEAT. SHEEK LOUCH)

The instrumental is less satisfying than everything else we’ve heard thus far on 13 Reloaded, but it does set up an energetic verse from perpetual also-ran Sheek Louch (of The Lox), who always raps as though he needs to prove that he’s worthy of sharing a group with Jadakiss and Styles P. For his part, Havoc spits the first verse and walks away, leaving the door open for his invited guest to burn down the booth. The hook is kind of lazy (the title of this track comes from a Prodigy vocal sample), and I don’t remember a fucking thing about our host’s performance, but “What I Rep” is the Sheek Louch Variety Hour anyway, so it almost doesn’t matter. Almost.

6. DIRT CALLS

A lot of Havoc’s bars on 13 Reloaded sound like he was under the influence of Pusha T during the recording process. This is not a terrible idea: in fact, I’d love to hear King Push over a Hav instrumental. (Havoc seems to be cool with Kanye West, so this collaboration is well within the realm of possibility.) I could have done without all of the breaks for dialogue, but “Dirt Calls” is otherwise a step back in the right direction for our host, and the music fucking bangs. Havoc may have a very lackluster solo career, but at least he’s been attending continuing education classes to develop his ear for beats.

7. WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM

One of the aspects I’ve enjoyed in Havoc’s more successful production work outside of Mobb Deep is its consistency: his work with Big Noyd, Originoo Gunn Clappaz, Cormega, Foxy Brown, etc., all sounded like they would have easily fit into the Infamous Mobb cinematic universe. That made me happy for a while, but Hav is his own man outside of the group setting, and for whatever reason, it feels like 13 Reloaded is the first time he’s ever felt comfortable enough to put himself on display. Or maybe it’s just the first time in his solo career that the gamble has actually paid off. “What’s Your Problem” sounds fucking great from a musical perspective: it’s un-Mobb Deep, but Prodigy would probably still sound good over it as a solo artist. For his part, Hav’s bars are pretty decent on here, too. An entertaining trifle that leads nowhere, but you’ll enjoy the trip regardless.

8. LISTEN TO THE MAN

The beginning is a bit scattershot as Havoc attempts to show a little bit of his process before allowing the beat to breathe, but once the ball drops, “Listen To The Man” kind of rocks. Our host’s flow is calm, collected, and calculating all at once, making one truly want to, um, listen to the man. If this Havoc came out to play on every Mobb Deep track, maybe hip hop heads would be praising both he and Cellblock P equally for their mic work. Not bad, man.

9. FALLEN SOLDIERS (FEAT. CORMEGA)

I appreciate how our host’s instrumental isn’t a simple loop, but an elaborate one with many flourishes throughout. It sounds both respectful and triumphant, a combination that works for subject matter such as an ode to one’s “Fallen Soldiers”. Havoc’s hook is almost insultingly simple, but it cuts straight to the chase, which certainly is something, and his verses manage to get his point across with what approximates sincerity. “Fallen Soldiers” belongs to Cormega, though, his performance a master class in Queensbridge realness: in an alternate universe, Mega Montana would have an Illmatic under his belt, and nobody would pay any attention to Nas. Well, it’s not like Nasir gets that much attention as a rapper these days anyway, especially after promising “Nas Album Done” on a DJ Khaled album two years ago and still not delivering. But in our current timeline, this was still a good track.

10. GET YOUR SHIT

I loved the instrumental, but wanted to drag the chorus out onto the street and beat its ass with whatever I found lying around. It’s some very poor writing, as though our host was watching Adult Swim late one evening and decided to rip this off. However, musically Havoc is swinging for the fences: 13 Reloaded should double as his resume for label execs only familiar with “Shook Ones Part II” to see the man’s range behind the boards. The bars on “Get Your Shit” are whatever, but they mesh well with the beat, so aside from the hook, I have no real complaints. That hook is ass, though.

11. OUTRO (TOP SELLER) (FEAT. FERG BRIM)

Havoc chooses to end the regular program by sitting out “Outro (Top Seller)”, ceding microphone duties to something called a Ferg Brim (allegedly Hav’s cousin and someone who’s been a part of the Infamous Mobb since its inception somehow), who turns in an unimpressive, cliché-laden performance that doesn’t do enough to distinguish the verses from the hook. It took an embarrassingly long time for me to realize that his first few (lengthy) bars were the chorus and not just the inauspicious beginnings of a crappy verse. Ferg then shouts-out his crew, the Doe Boys, at the end, and while I’m sure he was thrilled for the opportunity to boast about his friends on a Havoc solo album, the listener certainly never asked for that shit, so.

The deluxe edition of 13 Reloaded, which, curiously, is the only version that seems to exist, includes the following bonus tracks.

12. TEAR SHIT UP (FEAT. MYSONNE)

Almost as though he knew “Outro (Top Seller)” would be underwhelming, Hav returns to form on the kind-of busy “Tear Shit Up”, a duet with Bronx stalwart Mysonne that also happens to be the longest track on 13 Reloaded at just over four minutes. The instrumental is more basic than some of his other work on here, but it still clicks, unlike the awkward Rakim vocal sample (taken from the original uncensored mix of Eric B. & Rakim’s “My Melody”) during the hook that gives “Tear Shit Up” its title. Mysonne is no Cellblock P, but he doesn’t squander his shot, turning in a decent verse while Havoc claims dominance over the track.

13. CHAMPION WINNER

I mentioned earlier that our host’s flow approaches Pusha T mimicry throughout 13 Reloaded, but the influence is so overt that I wish he had given the “Champion Winner” beat to Terrence for one of his mixtapes that he’ll put out when King Push is, um, pushed back yet again. It is a pretty good instrumental, so that’s no slight to Hav: hell, this is still pretty decent as is. The hook is pretty meh, but there aren’t many rap songs that contain the phrase, “I’m a champion winner / You a microwave dinner”, so there’s that.

14. ALL I KNOW

Although I can easily see how it would annoy the shit out of the listener, I feel that Havoc saved the best instrumental of 13 Reloaded for last. “All I Know” has both the mainstream appeal and an underground sensibility that could have made him a little bit of money, had he chosen to give it to a mainstream (or mainstream-adjacent) artist (I’m thinking Royce da 5’9” or Crooked I for some reason), but wouldn’t inspire complaints of the man selling out. Lyrically, who cares, he wasn’t that great: his subject matter rarely strays from boasts-n-bullshit anyway. But he did sound good on “All I Know”, and yeah, I’m really surprised at his much of this write-up was positive, too.

THE LAST WORD: Havoc intended for 13 Reloaded to be a production showcase, and to that end, he succeeds. The music on here is mostly terrific, so much so that I have a link to the instrumental version of the album below, and I encourage everyone to buy that motherfucker, so that Hav is encouraged to keep doing this shit. As for the lyrics, Havoc was never the best writer of his generation, but he has significantly stepped his pen game up on 13 Reloaded: it’s as though the freedom to explore whatever musical whims he had at any given time inspired him to craft more engaging bars. There are some fucking fantastic tracks on here that deserve their inevitable slots on your Mobb Deep playlist, which is a lot more than I can say about some of Prodigy’s solo efforts: can you remember a single song off of H.N.I.C. 3? I thought not. 13 Reloaded is the finest solo effort in Havoc’s career thus far (as of this writing I haven’t listened to his follow-up, the Alchemist-produced The Silent Partner), and if he’s able to continue exploring his sound, I expect that this new phase in his career will be fruitful. I still would like the man to draft his own production compilation, though: he could Dr. Dre The Chronic it and appear on nearly every track, or he could pull a Statik Selektah and just invite artists from all over the country to contribute, I don’t care which. Hav, get on that shit.

-Max

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