Soundtrack Soundcheck: Mobb Deep

This was not supposed to be an annual feature on the site, but I guess I did get kind of distracted with all of those other reviews this year. Ah well, anyway, today we’re going to talk about some songs Mobb Deep handed over to the soundtrack gods for financial gain.

Unlike the other two subjects in this series, OutKast and Gang Starr, I actually do have additional projects from the duo of Havoc and the late Prodigy that I can still write about. (Sort of.) So in addition to this being my way of finding an outlet to discuss specific songs that some hip hop heads may not be altogether familiar with from their favorite artists, I’m using today’s Soundtrack Soundcheck to avoid writing about the other Mobb Deep stuff I’ve had in my pile since, oh, I don’t know, let’s just say forever.

At least this series gives me the excuse to finally talk about certain Mobb Deep songs that we never would have discussed otherwise.

Since I most likely don't have the same two readers I did when I first kicked off this series, or hell, I probably don’t even have the same two readers I had in fucking November, I’ll provide a tiny bit of structure. "Soundtrack Soundcheck" isn't a review of any hip hop soundtrack, but instead an opportunity to focus on the songs a specific artist or group have exclusively contributed to oftentimes random films. I won't include any songs from compilations produced for films that star the artist in question or any of their affiliations (Mobb Deep’s contributions to the Get Rich or Die Trying soundtrack are off the table for now, as they were signed to 50 Cent’s G-Unit Records before that project dropped), and there's no need to talk about that time Marshall Mathers rapped over the beat to “Shook Ones Pt. II” in 8 Mile because, I mean, come on. What I'm most interested in is the thought process behind the decision to donate the track versus hoarding it for their own projects.

What follows is a list of all of the soundtrack-exclusive songs I was able to locate from Mobb Deep. I inevitably missed some, but that's what the comments section is for, right?

BACK AT YOU

FROM: Sunset Park

Not to be confused with “Right Back AT You” from The Infamous, “Back At You” is an underrated sleeper in the Mobb Deep pantheon, and is certainly the only reason for anyone to ever actually purchase the Sunset Park soundtrack. (Which I did, because of the Ghostface Killah contribution (“Motherless Child”) that ended up appearing on Ironman anyway, those fuckers, but I quickly shifted my allegiance to this.) Over some subtle boom bap that is fucking flames, Hav and P amiably discuss retaliation toward their enemies for perceived slights (I mean, it’s right there in the hook: “What the fuck you say, I’ll be right back…”) whilst plotting to expand their empire. “Back At You” has stellar performances from both Havoc and Prodigy, and has kept its spot on my Mobb Deep playlist ever since its release in 1996, no lie. I remember even being excited when, finally realizing what they had been sitting on, Elektra Records released “Back At You” as a single, even though cleaning up the chorus dilutes the track’s potency a tad.

HOODLUM (FEAT. BIG NOYD & RAKIM)

FROM: Hoodlum

Another burner from the Mobb, although I will admit the looped-up instrumental grew tiring for me this time around. Weird. Anyway, “Hoodlum”, of which only the clean version is readily available (you’ll have to do some digging to unearth the curse words, or you can do what I did, and start a hip hop-related blog where you directly ask the readers for help locating it), features more stellar performances from Hav, Cellblock P, and Rapper Noyd, whose excitement just couldn’t be contained, as he interrupts Havoc’s chorus to kick off his own verse with, “Surprise! Open your eyes!” Then again, Noyd does share his stanza with Rakim Allah, better known as The Guy All of Your Favorite Rappers Try To Emulate, If You Happen To Be Of A Certain Age, so it makes sense. For his part, Rakim sounds fine, if a bit detached from the street bars provided by everyone else: imagine hearing the GZA at the end of pretty much any Wu-Tang Clan posse cut and you’ll understand what I mean. And no, I didn’t just say The Genius is on the same level as Rakim, calm the fuck down.

MOBB OF STEEL (FEAT. BIG NOYD)

FROM: Steel

Now this song sucks. Havoc provides a strangely uplifting, positively radio-friendly backdrop for a violent song that still manages to shout-out the star of the movie “Mobb of Steel” was ostensibly recorded to promote, and absolutely none of this shit works. Big Noyd, who opens the track (or, to use Cellblock P parlance, “broke the neck off the song”), does his best to ignore the adult contemporary street shit coming in through his headphones, but to no avail, as he can’t help but to fumble the ball, leaving both Havoc and Prodigy open down the field with nothing to do. “Mobb of Steel” was so terrible that Havoc could have straight-up included a verse from Shaq and there wouldn’t have been any difference in the song’s quality level at all.

FEEL MY GAT BLOW

FROM: Slam

Originally recorded for Murda Muzik but shuffled off to that magical land made up of motion picture soundtracks after rampant bootlegging infamously (I see what I did there) caused Hav and P to retool their project, “Feel My Gat Blow” is likely the one song on this list that everyone will be familiar with, as it spread like wildfire an STD a third failed attempt at a bad joke fairly quickly upon release. Over a practically jaunty little Havoc number, both halves of Mobb Deep get to the point, delivering short bursts of violent, menacing energy (with Cellblock P almost certainly indirectly attacking Noreaga and possibly Capone with the final lines of his first verse), while the ridiculous one-bar hook merely showcases the duo’s impatience. Still dig this one today, too.

NEVER GOIN’ BACK

FROM: Any Given Sunday

Likely recorded for the aborted Murda Muzik soundtrack to the film of the same name (at least if Cellblock P’s final words are any indication), “Never Goin’ Back” is another dose of easy-listening MObb Deep that some hip hop heads tend to characterize as “mature”, whereas I just see it as “really fucking boring”. Subject matter-wise, Hav and P both claim that they’ll “never” revert back to their old selves, given their then-current station in life, but my issue with “Never Goin’ Back” is that neither artist sounds particularly engaged with the material. I have no doubt they’ll never return to street hustling, but this song doesn’t make me give a damn whether they do or not, you know?

ONE OF OURS

FROM: Barbershop 2: Back In Business

Uses the same beat and chorus from what ended up being a sequel, “One of Ours Pt. II” (off of Amerikaz Nightmare), but Hav and P’s original verses are very different, and also Jadakiss doesn’t appear on the O.G. Said Havoc instrumental is simple enough to be effective, facilitating decent performances from an older Mobb Deep who were well into the “we don’t give a shit about quality control” phase of their career. “One of Ours”, inexplicably added to the soundtrack to Barbershop 2: Back in Business, isn’t a good enough song to recommend to anyone, but I’ve heard much worse from these guys, so you two may derive some form of enjoyment from it.

RARE SPECIES (MODUS OPERANDI)

FROM: Soul in the Hole

A standout from the Soul in the Hole soundtrack, a compilation that carries a surprising amount of heat, “Rare Species “Modus Operandi)” is essentially a Prodigy song that happens to feature a lengthy Havoc verse. The instrumental is an upbeat organ looped up over a drum machine, which makes our host sound engaging right off the bat. Hav does just fine, but Cellblock P spits as though he still had something to prove, delivering two extra-long verses with deft and skill which are only derailed at the very end, where he warns potential foes to “speed on, or get peed on.” Yes, I know he probably was going for a play on his rap name with the “peed” thing, but still, it sounds so weird. I still found this pretty entertaining today, though.

PLAY

FROM: Hardball

Interesting, in that “Play” doesn’t, um, play as a throwaway Mobb Deep sacrificed to the soundtrack gods, but as a commissioned song, as they spend the duration of the peppy (not a detriment) Havoc production speaking directly to the children who may have actually watched Hardball (whose soundtrack album dropped on 9/11, yikes) while also expressing interest in wanting to go outside to play in the park. Our hosts turn in curse-free performances that eschew their usual tough talk in favor of reflections on their respective childhoods and why you, the listener, should strive to be better. This was kind of inspiring, in its own way.

BEYOND WHITE LINES

FROM: Empire

The strangest entry of the day comes from the soundtrack for a movie literally nobody has ever seen or heard of even though it stars John Leguizamo. “Beyond White Lines” is also known to some on the mixtape circuit as “White Lines Pt. III” (my guess is that Murda Muzik’s “Quite Storm (White Lines)” and its Lil Kim-aided follow-up serve as the first two parts of this trilogy), and was also likely recorded for the Murda Muzik soundtrack, but we all know how that went. Havoc’s instrumental betrays the sequel-itis, as the rumbling bass underneath was clearly intended to remind listeners of those other songs I mentioned, but this time Hav and P deliver uninspired bars, spitting generic boasts-n-bullshit that are consistent with a lack of effort shown. Hip hop historians may feel the need to seek this one out: I implore you, find something better to do with your time.

I'm including the following tracks in today's post even though they technically aren't Mobb Deep tracks. Instead, they’re all credited to Prodigy as a solo artist. (Apparently Havoc has never contributed a song of his own to a proper soundtrack, but if I’m wrong, let me know in the comments so that I can make the proper edits.)

DON’T BE A FOLLOWER

FROM: Black and White

It’s not strange that Cellblock P chose to go it alone for “Don’t Be A Follower”, a one-verse wonder that he even handled production on, especially as it was released after Murda Muzik but before his solo debut H.N.I.C., back when the Mobb were still thought of as “good” and P would have had a  reason to keep his name in the press. His beat is a single loop that provided enough dramatic effect for his bars, which sound like he was having issues believing in his own words that day in the booth, as they’re delivered with the cold apathy of a man who would love to literally be anywhere else. Not the man’s finest hour. Also, Black and White director James Toback is a sexual predator that deserves all of the bad shit coming his way. That is all.

DRAMA (FEAT. TWIN)

FROM: Beef

Allegedly produced by The Alchemist, “Drama” (or “The Drama”, depending on where you conduct your research) features three… sorry, I mean two-and-a-half verses from prodigy, offered with a gimmicky, stop-start flow, one which guest Twin Gambino mimics when he finally takes to the microphone toward the end. It’s distracting and ultimately doesn’t make for a good song, but at least Cellblock P sounds calculating and alert on here. Twin’s contribution seems barely there, and Alan’s instrumental isn’t very well known for a pretty good reason, so the burden is Prodigy’s alone to bear, and this shit never gels. At least the menace in his voice is palpable: that should give him a couple of points at least.

BULWORTH (THEY TALK ABOUT IT WHILE WE LIVE IT) (PRODIGY, KRS-ONE, METHOD MAN, & KAM)

FROM: Bulworth 

Not really a Prodigy solo song, but as he isn’t considered to be a featured artist on here, we’re running with it anyway. “Bulworth (They Talk About It While We Live It)”, the sort-of title track from the Warren Beatty-raps-for-some-reason movie Bulworth, is a DJ Muggs-produced collaborative effort where four different artists unleash their respective thoughts regarding the media in general and critics specifically, especially those who dare to give them poor reviews because they just don’t “get” it or them. The song itself is fine, and Cellblock P’s disconnected contribution (he likely didn’t record his verse while any of the other participants were sharing the same planet) is alright, but the antagonistic KRS-One performance is the only one anybody will ever remember, followed closely by the mere presence of West Coast stalwart Kam, which caused me to scratch my head when Bulworth dropped, and still does to this very day (I mean, how the fuck did he end up on here?). Method Man also exists. 

-Max