Mobb Deep

Mobb Deep were an American hip-hop duo formed in Queens, New York, in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy and Havoc, they are considered to be among the most influential artists in East Coast hip-hop.

Queensbridge's paranoid production aesthetic didn't exist before Havoc engineered it into being—those horror-movie strings and chopped-up soul samples became the sound of East Coast rap's darkest hour, particularly across *The Infamous* and *Hell on Earth*. Prodigy's asthmatic delivery, sharp and conversational despite his physical limitations, paired perfectly with Havoc's dystopian sonic blueprints, creating a template that influenced everyone from Nas (their QB neighbor) to Wu-Tang Clan in the mid-90s. Their beef with Jay-Z over *Takeover* became one of rap's ugliest moments, but it never diminished what they'd already built—a legacy that proved you didn't need flashy production or radio hits to be essential. *Shook Ones Pt.