The Infamous Mobb Deep Concert: Hip Hip is Not a Genre, it’s an Attitude

Nearly 20 years in the making: As an impressionable kid growing up in Queens, New York, we had a few things all to our own.  We had close friends, city dreams and music.  Mobb Deep was one of those musical influences.  On Thursday July 17, the infamous Havoc and Prodigy, often called the “most feared” rappers in the game returned home to Queensbridge Park to perform a free show as part of NYC Summerstage, a collective of entertainment ranging from Queens, Central Park and the surrounding boroughs.  As supporters of artists everywhere, LIB Magazine was there to watch Mobb Deep perform a decade’s worth of hits.

The Borough of Queens has been home to some of the most influential musicians of all time.  Artists like A Tribe Called Quest (raised in St. Albans), LL Cool J (St. Albans), Onyx (from South Jamaica) all called my backyard of Queens home.  In other words, the Queensbridge area has produced some of the greatest hip hop talents ever seen.  Legendary names such as Capone N. Noriega, Nas (probably the best poet I’ve ever heard) and Mobb Deep made it seem possible to succeed.  Their successes have, in many ways, become our success.

I believed if they made it, maybe I can make it too.

During the show, a beautifully lit Manhattan skyline loomed over Queensboro Park.  The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge stood less than a quarter mile away, but we couldn’t hear the traffic.  Fans were unwaveringly focused on the duo that is Mobb Deep.  With a performance such as this, who needs Manhattan anyway?

As we sprawled out onto the baseball field and stared at the stars, the infectious bass lines got to us.  Mobb Deep’s hit “Shook Ones” is still a banger.

In several cultures, hip hop was not an option; it was a way of life.  Old school hip hop music is a mashup of street poetry, style and storytelling.  I believe hip hop to be one of the last true American art forms.

Mobb Deep re released their eighth studio album titled The Infamous Mobb Deep. on April 1, 2014.