Today, we get to hear what happens when two of the all-time great rap duos join forces. We'll never get to hear what might've happened if Mobb Deep and Clipse had teamed up in the studio and made an actual song together, something that easily could've happened in, say, 2006 if the dominoes fell in a slightly different way. The new track arrives eight years after the death of Mobb Deep member Prodigy, as part of a long-promised posthumous album. But still, it exists -- Mobb Deep and Clipse on the same track.
Last month, surviving Mobb Deep member Havoc announced the impending release of the new album Infinite, part of Mass Appeal's ongoing Legend Has It series. Havoc and close Mobb Deep associate the Alchemist worked to assemble Infinite building the LP around unused Prodigy verses and hooks. It feels a lot more cohesive than many posthumous rap albums, though it's still a long way from peak Mobb Deep. We already posted lead single "Against The World," and the album has appearances from Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, H.E.R., Jorja Smith, longtime affiliate Big Noyd, and the reunited Clipse.
Clipse have been together for a few years, and their excellent comeback LP Let God Sort Em Out arrived to great ballyhoo this past summer. They show up the new Infinite track "Look At Me," taking on a supporting role. Like most of Infinite, "Look At Me" is a Havoc production, and it's got the foggy darkness of the duo's classic sound. Clipse's Pusha T and Malice have the last verse on the track, and they do it in old-school tag-team style, trading off bars. Havoc even joins in on one line. Listen below.
This feels like a good place to mention that the Clipse & Re-Up Gang's classic mixtape We Got It 4 Cheap, Vol. 2 is now 20 years old. One of that tape's hardest tracks is "Play Your Part," recorded over the incredible Havoc beat from the unheralded Mobb Deep single "Cobra." At least to me, "Play Your Part" represents a better fusion of Mobb Deep and Clipse. Here's that one:
Infinite might not be an essential Mobb Deep record, but it's worth your time. Stream it below.
Infinite is out now on Mass Appeal.
