Throwback Thursday: Mobb Deep [VIDEO]

For this week's Throwback Thursday, we head to Queensbridge, which birthed the legends of Prodigy and Havoc, collectively known as Mobb Deep.

1995 was the year, Shook Ones Part II was the song. The beat caught my ear first, but the lyrics kept me locked in. As the members of Mobb Deep were only a few years my senior and had grown up in a rough inner-city neighborhood, I really took to their rhymes. In some ways, it felt like a (way more dramatic) version of my life at the time. This song is what catapulted the duo into the limelight. Even to those that have never heard Shook Ones, most recognize the instrumental from movies like Eminem's semi-atuobiographical: 8 Mile.

The beat was entirely produced by Havoc and is a work of art. Yes, the song does incorporate several samples, but you'd never be able to tell by the way he masterfully changed pitch elements and speeds. Don't believe me? Check out the short 1 minute video below of the original sample being slowly turned into the classic it is now. Simply amazing!!!