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00:00good music you can't stop it no matter what if you got good music if you got
00:29the songs is going to eat right through all that bullshit like acid and that shit is going to
00:34shine this is the music business you know I mean it's not about nothing else but your music all
00:41people want to know is what kind of songs can you make you know what I'm saying as long as you're
00:45making good music that feeds the people that's all they care about at the end of the day
00:59walking with your head down scared to look you're shook cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks
01:04they never around when the beef cooks in my part of town it's similar to Vietnam now we all grown up and old
01:11and beyond the cops control
01:12all deep our story is unique just all our experiences that we've been through it's not
01:27normal you have to paint a picture for somebody to actually see it taking experiences that was
01:34happening you know around me at the time dudes getting robbed shot you know I'm saying selling
01:40drugs here and there drinking New York is the Empire State this is the the front line you over
01:52saturated in this one little area that's what makes New York so crazy New York will force the
01:58best to come out of you or force you to fold up there's New York is New York City there's Queens
02:03there's Queensbridge and then there's the sides of Queensbridge Queensbridge you know is the biggest
02:09projects in America in the world is bound to just be the cradle of creativity if you're a hip-hop fan
02:18you're ultimately going to go back to Queensbridge the thing that I had as a plus on my side was
02:30actually being from Queensbridge there was a history of MCs coming out of that one project the ratio of
02:39MCs they came out of there compared to New York City was just like ridiculous you think like it's
02:44some playground where there's like at the daycare you learn how to drop 64 bars this for some reason
02:51the rappers that come out of there just so ill it's just a long list of MCs that represent Queensbridge
02:56Me and Pete met back in 1989 yeah me and I met at the high school art and design in Manhattan I used
03:13to see Pete around in the hallways you know what I'm saying and he used to have on you know the truck
03:18jewelry and all that the back then he was called the golden child you know what I'm saying because
03:21he had to have high flat top it's crazy he was a little like a interesting figure come to find
03:30out we both had the same interest in rhyming I already like his rhyme style we started hanging out and took
03:35him to his neighborhood I took him around my way and we started getting a little cool we started making
03:41demo songs together while we were in school we used to cut out and go to Coney Island to the studio we
03:47use in Brooklyn we made like maybe like 50 60 songs you know I mean real quick like the way that we
03:55clicked you know what I'm saying it was like a no-brainer like yo we might as well just make a group
04:00I had a demo deal I was signing job records at the time I went with prodigy up to job records they gave
04:13him a little room set up and all of that they they wasn't interested in dealing with me and half they
04:18just wanted me so I was like listen I'm out of here I walked away from that deal thought over
04:25we just took all the necessary steps we felt that we needed to take to get a record deal go around
04:36to the labels and you know one of our favorite labels was Def Jam it was the biggest and best label
04:40at that time we would stand outside in front of Def Jam because we couldn't go in and we just wait to
04:46see artists come out I remember hearing Havoc tell the story that when they were outside hustling a
04:51demo Q-tip came out of Def Jam was the only rapper that you know that they recognized who was like
04:57yeah I'll listen to your tape boom Q-tip and now we inside of rush management we started going to
05:02all the industry parties we started getting invited out and everybody's like oh yo these little dudes is
05:07dope you know what I'm saying we started knowing a lot of people in the music industry we started
05:12meeting a lot of people we had met this dude named Matty C so we played a demo for Matty they came must
05:20have been at least 10 15 deep into the source offices sat down played a couple of songs you know I was
05:29stuck immediately I remember lines from the first demo they played me he had a line that said baby grand poobah
05:36little Rick the ruler and in my pocket is the crazy fat bag of Buddha Matty basically has some
05:44connections over there at 4th and Broadway next thing you know we all 4th and Broadway cool
05:49we was mad young people just threw us around lawyers accountants and was telling us what to do
05:59unfortunately there's always this constant conflict between the creative side and the business side we
06:08didn't know we thought that that was what you know what you do when you get a record company oh you go
06:11over here you do that you try to make this kind of record and to please them and you know we kids so
06:17we did it when we was working on juvenile hell we didn't master our sound yet the things that were on our
06:24mind was the childish things you know I mean money sex drugs just having fun and wanting to be a
06:31celebrity without knowing what it takes to really accomplish that goal and keep it the first album
06:37juvenile hell it didn't really resonate with fans too much unless you're a really really deep hip-hop
06:42fan it came and went and you might not have known I can tell you that in my hood I kind of felt that
06:52kind of like pushback because they seen that we came out with you know juvenile hell it ain't work
06:57and you know people like to look at you like huh like yeah whatever yeah you don't say like yeah
07:03you're trying to rap or whatever tell me how that feel you don't say that's like going to school with
07:08holes in your shoes you know what I'm saying and everybody like hi look at you you know and you
07:13just were wearing Gucci's last week you know I'm saying so we got dropped and reality hit us like a ton of
07:21bricks wrecking tanks you know what I'm saying wrecking don't do nothing now backs is against
07:26the wall it didn't feel like the party was over it felt like we got kicked out the party and now we
07:31got to fight to get back in this motherfucking
07:33at that time we were trying to prove ourselves to the world because we had just gotten dropped we
07:49just put out a flop album called juvenile hell when we was only like 16 years old at the time my mind
07:54wasn't there all the way I was sitting in the projects in my mom's career 41 15 apartment 3a man
08:0340 bottles everywhere you know saying and just like let's do some more mentally we were in a place
08:11we was like yo man we got to get it together man this is what we want to do with our life next thing
08:17you know Matty C Scott free you know saying they started some label with Steve Rifkin loud records
08:26which was Steve Rifkin's sort of upstart label at the time the A&R's were Matt life and Scott free who
08:32were editors at the source we got the opportunity to work at loud records we were facilitators man like
08:38we were bridging gaps at the time they were known for just not being jaded not really they were just about
08:46the music so we went in started making new songs and we brought it back to Matty like yo check our new
08:52shit out from the day I heard the demo I was just happy to have the opportunity to be a part of that
08:58next real movement and classic hip-hop yeah first of all who gives these two kids a second chance nobody
09:07gets a second chance but they could hear something and they brought us in the office it was just really
09:16a cubicle inside of the RCA building they was like gun-ho about the whole thing the whole time you
09:22know I'm saying so everything this was perfect we have free range to do anything that we wanted like
09:29musically you know I mean and that was the basis of assigning to loud records is that they was like
09:35yo just here take this money go in the studio do whatever you want that's true man you know mob got
09:44their money and got the ability to make the record that they wanted they switch labels they join loud
09:50and it actually went the opposite of most artists they kind of polish up but moving to loud actually
09:57unpolished mob deep I just said let's just do us we can't go wrong with that I'm trying to show the
10:07world you know what we could bring to the table and how we were different than anything else that
10:13was out there I was basically like screaming at life just venting I feel like mob deep was always
10:21the guys that were actually sitting on the bench in the courtyard in Queensbridge sort of living that
10:28lifestyle hand-to-hand killer B that's Havik's brother rest in peace he was one year younger than me
10:36you know I'm saying he was like the wild one and holding it down and shooting and doing this down
10:41the dirt and um you know he passed away unfortunately you know I'm saying too early
10:49this is not just the fun parts of dark street thug life this is like the ugly parts of it too there was
11:05lots of paranoia and deep depression I just found myself finding samples that was dark you know and
11:15I was just more compelled to those it was an intense feeling in the music that I was trying to make
11:22Havik's gonna make a dark beat because you know he's not thinking no happy thoughts in his head you know
11:29I'm saying the lyrics is gonna be dark for the same reason they got more gritty on the infamous and it
11:37also matched with louds sort of invention of the street team there was a different way to promote it
11:45through hip-hop already built-in culture of graffiti it was like vandalism what if you were from the outside
11:54where there'd be stickers and signs posters vans that were wrapped with their logo or you go to a
12:03club and it'd be like mob deep stickers thrown all over the floor if you see it on the street then you're
12:08that much closer to it then if you you know see it on TV nobody wants that they want word of mouth and I
12:15think that that really helped mob deep build their sort of mystique we were fortunate enough to have
12:21you know experience and resources that were able to enhance their vision so we took control of our own
12:31project and you know that was you know throwing the dice that was rolling the dice right there oh man
12:37it's do or die either do this so you're gonna get a job at Verizon no it's not an option my backs was
12:45against the wall it was like now or never it's like do or die if this don't do nothing then we
12:51could just fucking pack it up by Tom infamous came our mind was like yo we just need to do or die
13:07in our mind is always thinking back to the time where juvenile hell didn't work we can't let that
13:14happen again we had to come out swinging that year that the infamous came out was sort of a turning
13:23point for for the East Coast hip-hop scene before the infamous came out in 93 94 the New York scene
13:29was kind of getting its footing again before that what the West Coast was getting a lot of traction
13:35with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg so New York was kind of feeling like the walls was closing in on us we
13:41need something to kind of go against Snoop like a Snoop and Dre is basically that if this keeps going
13:47they're gonna forget about us if you were from the East Coast if you were from New York where everybody
13:52was very tried-and-true and proud of being the birthplace of hip-hop there was a little bit of
13:58unrest when we saw Snoop and the door panel in the video and they were kicking over like our buildings
14:07and Queens and stomping through New York we looking at the video like it was kind of disrespectful like
14:12in a way oh yeah we was going in we was going in we was like yeah word oh we making a record today you
14:21don't say niggas ain't fuck Mobb Deep I cool check it here we go I heard the Mobb Deep joint it was just
14:34street anthem at the street after man it kind of confirmed that New York like underground hip-hop was
14:42was about to explode I think it reclaimed New York as the hub of hip-hop it was Mobb Deep reasserting
14:52themselves it was a sense of like man we just got our flag back in the sand for that year to see Mobb Deep
15:00kind of take it back in a very aggressive way was also very refreshing it made New York people believe
15:07in New York again when you listen to it now you know how influential it was then as a body of
15:13word Mobb Deep's infamous it's it's a classic album the first track that I heard off of the infamous was
15:20like Manny Shook One's part two when Shook One's rock yeah it would set a precedent in hip-hop it was scary
15:42and it was dark but it was also exhilarating and it was deeply seductive all at the same time
15:50I got you stuck off the realness we be the infamous you heard of us official Queensbridge murderers
15:56tomorrow comes equipped for warfare beware of my crime family who got enough shots to share for all
16:01those who want to profile and post rock you in your face stab your brain with your nose bone
16:06this was music that was like perfect for for MCs to surround too aggressively to really just talk
16:13about the dark realities at a time it's one of the creepiest darkest I'm gonna stab everybody in
16:19the face right now beats to a record ever definitely an aggressive record definitely get some shit
16:27started yeah definitely get some shit started I'm gonna tell you straight up and down radio did not
16:33jump right on that right away the street did so then it made radio feel like we might be behind the
16:40ball a little bit we need to jump on it I don't really remember hearing the songs off the infamous on the
16:46radio because I just remember experiencing them in the clubs and the way that you knew that a song was
16:53a bonafide hit that way was not through radio spins but by the number of fights that would break out as
17:00soon as those first beats came on literally it would just be mass hysteria like chaos and that was definitely mob
17:10this is something that I've never never heard before you gotta respect town these brothers is super
17:17talented man super after shook wins came out and we had somewhat of a certain level of success you
17:25know of course we got to put out another song once they had that momentum going and then it's doubled up
17:30and it just kept going boom drop survival of the fittest is like the perfect second single
17:35there's a war going on outside no man is safe from there's a war going on outside no man is safe from
17:45run but you can't hide forever these streets that we done took I mean that verse it's got to go in the
17:54museum of hip-hop verses I shook wounds was dark but survival of the fittest is even darker than that
18:02it was like the music that didn't represent the kingpin it represented the often forgotten lower
18:13middle-class hustler hip-hop is the sound of the struggle we all understand struggle I think that
18:20that's what resonated with you know fans universally because everybody has that dark place certain
18:27songs make the listener feel like I can be that or that's me they talking about I was mostly looking
18:35to see what their world was like it's real life stories man you can hear it is sincere it's not phony
18:44about it you know I mean it's nothing exaggerated about it and then it is just all just real life
18:50stories man we're talking gritty robbery super street super street corner you know there's only a few
19:03people who've had albums like that it was it's probably one of maybe five records I think well
19:08like game-changers it made a lot of other rappers change they thought of what hardcore rap was I have
19:17always wanted to make an album that sounded like that I was just happy to complete the record get
19:25some spins and just get a little notoriety out of it but the ultimate would be it lasting as long as it
19:33did I remember loud throwing like some special event at some paintball games that we had it was us mob deep
19:42Wu Tang against the loud staff and some radio people and we was just shooting paintballs we was going
19:49crazy in the forest and we had a dinner afterwards and they presented us with a gold plaque my first
19:57gold plaque in my whole life like tears wanted to come out my eyes I was like word I was like
20:03niggas went gold I was like get the fuck out of here how do you go from selling like 80 negative records to
20:14five hundred thousand you know I'm saying it's like mission accomplished
20:18have I got to get there but I could take a long way though I don't know nah just just jump on the van
20:35wick that's all and then take that to the grand central and get off the exit right before the
20:41right now we roll in the Queensbridge you know I'm saying 41st side preferably that shit is his own
20:51animal out there the infamous is definitely that soundtrack you know I mean to our youth
21:01when we was growing up the soundtrack to Queensbridge
21:06this is my block right here Queens is our home man this is this is where it all started for us you
21:15know I mean so it's only right that we had and doing what we got to do you know I'm saying
21:21give back that love and and just keep the formula going this is where it all started that we got the
21:28most successful rappers in the game you know I'm saying yeah you put all the rappers together from
21:34Queens we sold the most records in hip-hop you know I mean this music had a longevity that had a long
21:42shelf life like you're gonna go back 20 years from now you're still gonna be bumping Strict One's part
21:46two the infamous is one of those records that still it sticks around I always was a person that dreamed
21:52big and I knew one day we'd be sitting talking about an infamous album ten years later because
21:58that's something that I always thought about even then we have a foundation you know we have fans
22:06that love what we do got the EP out right now just dropped it's called black cocaine it's a warm-up
22:13project you know just to get the people ready for the mob deep album which is called mob deep we kept
22:19the same work ethic if it ain't broke don't fix it mob deep for whatever reason can still connect back
22:27to that original feeling and I don't know what that is that is that that's that's the $64,000 question
22:34it's how did they would not be in cliche keep it real I mean what's interesting about me and have
22:40is just the longevity of the partnership and the music that's like the real key point I think because
22:47a lot of groups they just don't last they don't make it usually is from personal feelings or whatever
22:54they you know they couldn't get past whatever issues there was and and see the bigger picture
23:01the way that we was able to survive a lot of the ups and downs and label changes this that and the dirt
23:07sometimes it's beyond me you know what I mean but I could tell you one thing it wasn't easy
23:13what you're here for if you're not here to make classic music I'm just here to leave something
23:20that's gonna be played 40 30 50 60 years from now
23:23to all the killers and a hundred dollar billers
23:35for real because you ain't got no feelings
23:40I got you stuck off the realness we be the infamous you heard of us official queen's bridge murderers
23:58tomorrow comes equipped for warfare beware of my crime family who got enough shots to share for all
24:04those who want to profile and pose rock you in your face stab your brain with your nose bone you all
24:09alone in these streets cousin every man for they self in this land we be gunning and keep them
24:14shook crews running like they supposed to they come around but they never come close to I can see it
24:20inside your face you're in the wrong place cowards like you just get their whole body laced up with
24:25bullet holes and sucks speak the wrong words man and you will get touched you can put your whole army
24:30against my team i guarantee you it'll be your very last time breathing your simple words just don't
24:35move me your minor we major you're all up in the game and don't deserve to be a player don't make me
24:40have to call your name now you're cool it's february my gunshots to make you levitate i'm only 19 but
24:46my mind is older when the things get for real my warm heart turns cold enough
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