Mobb Deep - Juvenile Hell

In the early '90s, as the West Coast was still dominating the hip-hop scene thanks to constant classic records from the likes of Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and others, the East Coast was beginning to come together in the depths of the underground to make an attempt to regain the hip-hop throne that they built in the first place. Artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas and Redman were all rising up out of New York to battle for hip-hop stardom with incredible and highly impressive records, a theoretical battle that would of course become very real as 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. decided to have a very intense and in the end very tragic public feud. The mid '90s were about to become what are unanimously considered the best years in hip-hop history, as everyone was making sure to make the absolute best music they could to help their coast to the top. And one of the defining East Coast artists from this era would be legendary Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep.

Unlike Nas and Biggie, however, it would take the Mobb, who consisted of rapper/producer Havoc and rapper Prodigy (R.I.P.), until their second album to get the props they were desperately searching for from the hip-hop world. Their first effort, the 4th & Broadway release Juvenile Hell, went as undetected as a cricket in the centre of a wheat field, and those that did hear the effort tended to see the album as a promising start from two MCs who still had a long, long way to go before they reached legendary status. The project itself was pretty generic as an early '90s East Coast release - it had a lot of simplistic bassy and/or jazzy beats, call-and-response hooks and incredibly elementary rhymes from P and Hav, MCs who would go on to be considered some of the best to ever hold a mic, especially the former of those two. The thing differentiating it was the surprisingly violent lyrical content, which could have probably been predicted by the aggressive cover art. 

The album was largely produced by Havoc, who was still making those generic beats at this time, and hadn't yet reached his status of being one of the best producers in the game. However, we did also have some more well-known names in the shape of DJ Premier and Large Professor, both of whom contributed one instrumental each, and then there were some other chaps on here too that didn't bother to think up of a producer alias. As for features, though, there was only one, "the infamous..." Big Noyd, ironic as no-one outside of Mobb Deep fans have actually heard of him. The album was fairly short though, so I guess more guests than that would have been overkill. Still, a Q-Tip or Busta Rhymes feature would have been nice, but you can't have everything.

So, is this project worth checking out, or does it deserve to be left in the pile of "irrelevant debut albums" along with Words From the Genius and Infinite? Let's have a look.

Side note: tracks credited as being produced by Mobb Deep are most likely done entirely by Havoc, as Prodigy isn't a producer, and doesn't claim to be.

1. Intro (prod. Mobb Deep)

Fans of The Infamous and Hell On Earth will already be turned off by this spoken intro, something missing from those two classic efforts, but still, at least there's a nice instrumental in the background.

2. Me & My Crew (prod. Keith Spencer & Dale Hogan)

I have to say that this is definitely one of the better songs on this album. The bassline and jazzy sound effects in this instrumental (provided by Keith Spencer and Dale Hogan - c'mon guys, you can be more creative with the names than that) are pretty nice, and both Havoc and Prodigy deliver some excellent verses on this one, with great lines including "I catch wreck with the Einstein's intellect, and get stupid like a Stimulated Dummies mix". I'm not a fan of the hook at all, and the song's a little too long, but still not a bad way to open the album.

3. Locked In Spofford (prod. Paul Shabazz & Kerwin "Sleek" Young)

This one is a lot slower-paced than the previous track, and has a much more boom-bap sound, which I definitely appreciate a lot. Also, I find it interesting how they're locked in Spofford, which is a juvenile detention centre and not a prison - they were really young when they made this. While I found "Me & My Crew" more engaging on initial listens to this LP, I now tend to find this the better track, that fits with the Mobb Deep sound to a much better extent. P's verse is also one of his best on here.

4. Peer Pressure (prod. D.J. Premier)

The aforementioned DJ Premier beat, and it's pretty damned good, if not astonishing like one might expect. These lyrics also sound completely different from the messages presented throughout the rest of this thing, and also more like they were written in '83, not '93. Still, I do think this one stands out quite a bit from the rest of this album, and the production is still great - just not Preemo great. Also, I believe P's verses on here were written by Havoc, which is funny as they're actually better than the ones Hav spits here, especially the final one, which is actually pretty damned dark. "I'm glad it's finally over and I'm finally dead!!" (emphasis on the final word there also makes it that much worse, as it sounds so fun, but the lyrics are dark as hell).

5. Skit #1 (prod. Mobb Deep)

Absolutely no idea what's going on here.

6. Hold Down The Fort (prod. Mobb Deep)

Probably the best instrumental presented on this album so far - the drums are the same as they have been on previous cuts, but that bassline is just nice. P and Hav both have some incredibly smooth flows over this one too, which sound a lot better than their flows on "Peer Pressure". Unfortunately, the lyrics themselves are pretty generic, and the hook is as annoying as being in a tent with someone snoring, and let me tell you: that's pretty fucking annoying. There are some nice bars here though - "my name is Prodigy and I'm known to cause Havoc!"

7. Bitch Ass Nigga (prod. Paul Shabazz & Kerwin "Sleek" Young)

Apparently serves as inspiration for Prince William's famous catchphrase. Hopefully that joke entertained you more than this song entertains me, because if not, then maybe it's time for me to give up. This shit is dull.

8. Hit It From The Back (prod. Mobb Deep)

This surprisingly explicit song also became the most popular single from this whole album, and I would say that it definitely aged better than most of this thing, at least production-wise. The flows on this one are a lot more Wu-Tang than The Fresh Prince thankfully too, but unfortunately the explicit lyrics do kind of bring this one down, as well as the fact that the first verse is repeated in its entirety at the end of the song. Still, this one is very well produced, and the flows are nice, so I'll give it the pass.

9. Skit #2 (prod. Mobb Deep)

Not so much a skit as a musical interlude, in which Prodigy appears to hype up and introduce a verse that never actually gets spit. Random.

10. Stomp Em Out (feat. Big Noid) (prod. Mobb Deep)

I guess Big Noyd used to be spelt "Big Noid"? Anyway, this was actually my least favourite cut on the album upon first listen due to the overly positive horns that keep coming in (and the repetitive hook, but then again that's been par for the course throughout this whole album), however I now find it to be a pretty great track. It doesn't stand out that much, and the weird reggae breakdown in the middle was as unnecessary as adding a hunk of raw rotten meat to your meticulously crafted lobster dish, but then again this one has a nice bassline and a brilliant Big Noyd verse that washes into the depths of the sea those from Prodigy and Havoc on this song. What a performance.

11. Skit #3 (prod. Mobb Deep)

Instrumental interlude, and the only skit here that I found necessary.

12. Peer Pressure (The Large Professor Remix) (prod. The Large Professor)

Shouldn't this remix with the exact same lyrics as the original be a bonus track? Whatever, this is still fairly enjoyable, even though I personally prefer the original version.

13. Project Hallways (prod. Paul Shabazz & Kerwin "Sleek" Young)

Similar to "Bitch Ass Nigga" from earlier, this Havoc solo track (the only solo cut on this album) is dreadfully boring, and does absolutely nothing to stand out except for having a hook that's as corny as a corn on the cob (and no, I can't be bothered to think of a better metaphor).

14. Flavor For The Non Believes (prod. Paul Shabazz & Kerwin "Sleek" Young)

Nope, I have not misspelt that title - it truly is that nonsensical. Thankfully, this song brings the momentum back to this album, with a nice-ass bassline, some great flows and a hook that doesn't annoy the shit out of me like the rest of them on this album do (I don't know why that is, as it's just as repetitive). There are some nice lines on this one too, such as "'Cause I'm flippin' like pages in a Word Up! Magazine" and others. Honestly a very solid way to close out this record.

While this album has a lot of tracks that I do find enjoyable, it's still very clear that Mobb Deep were a work in progress at this time, as this effort barely stands out amongst a crowd of early '90s hip-hop records. Both Prodigy and Havoc sounded pretty similar on here, and their voices certainly aren't that engaging, meanwhile the lyrics themselves are always pretty boring and derivative, aside from the storytelling on "Peer Pressure". The best thing about the pair of them are their flows, which sound real nice over these instrumentals a lot of the time, but once again it's not something that makes them stand out very much at all. The hooks on this album are consistently godawful too, seemingly always consisting of the song title being shouted out repeatedly until my ears are bleeding and falling off. The production on here fairs a little better, as the bassy beats that fill most of this LP up are always pretty nice, even if the drums seem to sound exactly the same each time. There are a couple of really dull and forgettable beats on here for sure, but for the most part it seems Havoc, Kerwin Young, Paul Shabazz and the others had their act together for this one behind the boards, so that's a good thing. However, I don't know if this really requires a full listen unless you're a big Mobb fan who wants to know what they sounded like when they first started up - this definitely should not be your first Mobb Deep album, as it'll give you completely the wrong impression of what they're about. Still, I find this to be a fairly solid effort, and if you're into old-school stuff, then check out some of the best tracks for sure. While not groundbreaking or one of their best, this is still a solid debut album.

Best Tracks: Me & My Crew, Locked In Spofford, Peer Pressure, Hold Down the Fort, Stomp Em Out, Flavor For The Non Believes

Worst Tracks: Bitch Ass Nigga, Project Hallways

I haven't discussed any other Mobb Deep efforts yet, so here's some Nas, as the two seem to go well together.

All images taken from Discogs