Mobb Deep Interview & Performance on KEXP 4.22.2014 [YouTube Video]

Veteran Queensbridge hip hop duo Mobb Deep are currently touring the US in support of their new album, The Infamous Mobb Deep, their first independent release. While in Seattle around a month ago, they stopped into the KEXP studios to perform three songs and chat with host Larry Mizell Jr. about their two decades spent toiling in the rap game.

Kicking things off with 1999's "Quiet Storm," the duo (accompanied by a touring DJ) gave a well-rounded sampling of their career, with a new song and 1995's "Shook Ones Pt. II," which Mizell called "the definitive '90s hardcore rap song of all time," closing out their set. Their last song is mislabeled in the video as its lesser-known predecessor -- a common mistake -- but when performed by Havoc and Prodigy, the song seems to have never aged a day in the nineteen years since its release.

After spending a brief minute discussing The Infamous Mobb Deep, during which Prodigy remained much more composed than he has during Twitter discussions of the album, talk moved to Mobb Deep's similarly-titled breakout album, 1995's The Infamous. Havoc said the duo first became "serious about our craft" during the making of the album, and Prodigy backs him up by revealing that "Hav took hold of the production side," though "Mobb Deep" is credited as producing the bulk of the album. Having linked up with big names like DJ Premier and Large Professor on their ill-received debut, Mobb Deep initially went with in-house production (along with three songs done by Q-Tip under his pseudonym "The Abstract") to save money, with Havoc telling the tale of a nameless producer asking $25,000 for his beats at the time, but it ended up paying off with their biggest success to date.

Check out more of Mobb Deep's music and videos right here on Zumic.

Source: KEXP Official YouTube Channel