On Mobb Deep's first single, "Put Em in Their Place," from their G-Unit debut, Blood Money, Prodigy boasts, "Kings of New York / I'm one of the few of those." It's a surprisingly level-headed statement from a usually pretentious P. Though he'll never be mentioned in the same revered realm as some of the other crown holders, such as Biggie, Jay-Z and Nas, Prodigy and his production partner, Havoc, have resiliently weathered the cut-throat climate that is the New York rap scene. Put into perspective that as part of Mobb Deep, P has logged more albums and sales than Jadakiss (including his LOX and D-Block releases) and enjoyed longevity that has sadly evaded the relics of the Wu-Tang Clan. Not to shabby for a rapper whose lyrical prowess has never matched that of his aforementioned peers, yet he's carved himself a niche of gemstar precision. You may "ooh" and "ahh" while deciphering the metaphorical magic of Hov, but there's nothing like hearing a focused P spewing his nonchalant nihilism over one of Havoc's or Alchemist's pulse-pounding productions. It's the kind of music that makes your neighborhood knuckleheads pop off for no reason other than the fact that Prodigy's guttural voice makes their blood boil. That being said, P's latest opus, Return Of The Mac, should evoke lead showers from Queens to Compton.
Alchemist, who is the sole producer on the album, samples a slew of Blaxploitation movie scores and soundtracks for Return Of The Mac. This gives the record an ambiance that accentuates Prodigy's Mafioso manifestos. The album plays like a throwback, conceptual album from the 90s era, a la Biggie casting himself as Frank White on Life After Death, or Nas rapping vicariously through Escobar on It Was Written. P's rhymes are much more compelling in this context as opposed to the this-is-real redundancy that most rappers employ. When P drops charismatic couplets like, "My hammer got the cure for your amnesia / How conveniently we forget that P is Black Caesar / There's hell over in Queens / That swell up in my jeans / Don't mean I'm happy to see you / That mean I got the thing," he evokes the imagery of classic black gangster flicks like "Hoodlum" and P's self-described "Black Caesar."
The Mobb Deep veteran begins by setting the backdrop to his crime epic on the ominous ode, "Return of The Mac (aka New York Shit)." New York City is portrayed as a hedonistic habitat where only an uber gangsta like Prodigy could survive. Because they're "Twelve homicides in a New York minute" P has to constantly dodge "NYPD, New York Prick and Dicks" and "Guzzles the whole bottle, that's a New York sip" to calm his nerves. Paranoia constantly punctuates P's thoughts because of the boys in blue. On "Mac10 Handle," to Alchemist's striped down production of tambourines and hollow drums, a pensive Bandanna P "Sits in his four cornered room, high on drugs" lamenting on the pressure from the police -- from "Eyes in the skies" to shooting yourself in the leg by having "Onstar in your car track everywhere you've been." P counters the inevitable implications of his lifestyle with a firearm fetish on tracks like "Nickel and a Nail" and "Bang on Em." Both song's malicious melodies of synthesized snippets from soul singers O.V. Wright and The Montclairs, create and aura of vehement violence, while Prodigy certifies himself as one of rap's most talented tough talkers.
Like every mobster from Tony Montana to Tony Soprano, P revels in materialism on "Stop Fronting." To the track's infectious Barry White sample of smooth saxes, sultry strings and placid percussions, P gloats with polysyllabic perfection, "It's the return of the Mac11, Mac 10 getter / Hennessy Liquor / Some weed and a cigar / Ain't sh-- change but the diamonds got bigger / Watch mucho frio, something like a blizzard / the summer time is hot and you ain't got no freon / I'm in the Bentley drop, the mean European."
It's because Prodigy and Alchemist put forth his type of effort throughout Return Of The Mac that the album transitions seamlessly from track to track. Of course, there are a few exceptions like "To The Top" and "7th Heaven." However, these missteps are consistent with Prodigy's career, in the sense that poor production usually cripples P's cadence. He's never been an intricate lyricist whose rhymes can conceal a week beat. Fortunately for Prodigy, he mostly picks Alchemist's best beats.
Features Slim (of 112): Hi Haters What else do you want from Slim? His prolific group 112 has sold over 20 million records worldwide, and with a bevy ... full story
Editorials & Columns Scouting Report: Bambu You can refer to Bambu with various terms: rebel, revolutionist, Filipino, thug, artist. From the outside looking in, ... full story
Beyond Hip-Hop Game Review: Far Cry 2 Gone are Jack Carver, his Hawaiian shirt, and the trigens from the first installment of "Far Cry," but in comes spine ... full story
Video Bambu: Like Us (Music Video) We recently featured Filipino rapper, Bambu, in our Scouting Report column, and now, he's just dropped a new video. ... full story
Digg It
Del.icio.us
