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6 hours ago
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Big Noyd holds up a half-drunk bottle of brandy as though it were an Olympic torch, pleading: “Lord forgive me, the Hennessy got me not knowing how to act!” He and Havoc of Mobb Deep have not lost a coulomb of their electric, heart-racing energy.
The first night of the New Yorkers’ European tour begins with a run of Survival of the Fittest, Eye for an Eye, Right Back at You and Give Up the Goods; Temperature’s Rising is performed by Havoc over isolated boom-bap drums, and stripped back, the song is all the more atmospheric. These tracks are all taken from their second album The Infamous, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and is still revered for its cinematic darkness, conveying the grittiness of their Queensbridge neighbourhood through evocative and scene-setting lyricism.
Mobb Deep were originally a duo of Havoc alongside Prodigy, who died in 2017 and whose absence is certainly tangible here. But Big Noyd – a major presence on The Infamous – and Havoc collaborate with the crowd to conjure his essence, all singing his verses together. Yet when Keep It Thoro plays, the performers stay mostly silent, allowing Prodigy’s flow, equal parts carnal and facetious, to permeate the room from the speaker stacks. It’s an understated tribute.
After Got It Twisted, Havoc promises a new Mobb Deep album, and a shoutout to acclaimed producer the Alchemist draws excited murmurs from the crowd. But considering they’re trying to mostly instil nostalgia, the duo’s crowd interaction is limited; some more anecdotes about their music or even direct addresses to the crowd would make this concert feel more personal. Instead, Havoc and Big Noyd rattle through 12 songs before saying a single word to the crowd – and then deliver the rest of their 26-song set seemingly without pausing to breathe. Arguably, though, there is no real need for a long speech; their extensive catalogue, and the audience’s undivided attention to it, speaks for itself.
This London crowd – including parents who’ve brought their children – could never relate directly to the lyrics. Mobb Deep never chased commercial success, and Havoc’s beats were too sinister for that anyway; the records crackle with static and record scratches. But, as is especially clear during It’s Mine and Big Noyd’s Shoot ’Em Up, Bang, Bang, something about the darkness just connects, and the crowd grooves along to the gunshot samples.
By now, the Hennessy bottle is bone dry. Havoc and Big Noyd close on Shook Ones Pt II, and the crowd departs with the track’s plea ringing in their ears: “Take these words home and think it through.”
