Rubber bullets from Kanye West’s direction were recently fired towards Taylor Swift on The Life of Pablo’s most talked about track, “Famous.”
The stinging hook: “I feel like me and Taylor [Swift] might still have sex…I made that bitch famous” will forever live in musical registries (Tidal and beyond). While the choice of verbiage may split public opinion of West’s behavior down to the hairline fracture, no one has yet to accuse the record’s production (get the full breakdown here) of being anything less than stellar. Kejuan Muchita, best known by his menacing rap moniker Havoc, was among the song’s handful of studio wizards that pieced in the puzzle.
HipHopDX caught up with the Mobb Deep rep several days after the unceremonious release of The Life of Pablo, to see how his involvement came into play.
Havoc recalls he “just chilling” when Kanye’s management and team reached out for him to make the trip to L.A. and he wasn’t even aware it was for an album per se.
“It was really, really creative,” he tells DX of the studio session that ultimately produced the song. “He has a lot of input and because he knows what he wants. He gets a lot of input from the producer as well. He was interesting to work with him because I’ve never really worked with him before so I didn’t know what to expect. But it was really dope because for a brief moment, I got to get inside [his head] and see how he operates as an artist and producer.”
The veteran producer also says he heard the track’s shock value in its early creation stages but didn’t know what would come of the final product. He also revealed that he and West have much more material in the vault.
West may have went on to infiltrate pop culture lure through mainstream awards, reality show matrimony and global recognition, yet inside revered Hip Hop conversations, Havoc isn’t exactly considered his unequal. As the production half and ardent rhymer of Mobb Deep, most fans consider at least two out the duo’s three mid-90s albums (The Infamous, Hell on Earth and Murda Muzik) as documented classics and Havoc has crafted a slew of outside beat work for the likes of The Notorious B.I.G., Diddy and 50 Cent. When asked whether or not his intermediate group will attempt to piggyback on the evolving landscape of rap music, he didn’t rule it out but explained that being a Hip Hop legend also has its downside.
“Me and [Prodigy] are definitely open-minded to doing things different. It’s just, a lot of the times…our fans, our core audience, they hate to see us do something different,” he admitted with a chuckle. “We get kind of hated on. They throw us in such a box. So it’s kind of difficult for ‘Mobb Deep’ to do that.”
The trio of aforementioned seminal albums were indeed amongst the most influential for a time when hardcore subject matter intertwined with creative penmanship dominated the industry. However, one could easily win an argument that their approach was one-dimensional in the hardened topical flavor. Fans who were raised on Mobb Deep music only knew one way of looking through the lens so their vision was undoubtedly blurred when the Queensbridge outfit changed up their packaging. Namely on “Hey Luv (Anything),” the R&B-tinged flagship single to their 2001 album, Infamy, which also featured 112. Let Havoc tell it, the risk of alienating the core was a historic feat. The song is actually the group’s highest charting single on the Billboard 200.
“To this day, that’s still our No. 1 radio single to this,” he laughed, reflecting on all the hate he endured as they reached new plateaus. “We got mad SoundScan and Nielsen ratings off of that joint.”
Although you can’t please everybody, diehard supporters will be thrilled to know that Hell on Earth is getting its own 20th anniversary celebration, much like The Infamous did last year. Havoc promises the U.S. tour will “start in March” and the European leg will follow directly after.
They told you the Mobb was forever. Chronicle Havoc’s upcoming tour moves on his Instagram @MobbDeepHavoc.
Listened to Shook Ones pt II today…one of my top 5 beats of all time
The fans aren’tboxong you in. We just know you guys don’tthrive on the edge. Blood money was apretty main stream album and it waswas far from your best work. Hell y’allwent back to the old style after that album.
Hmmm. I’m guessing then that Throw Your Hands off the Amerikaz Nightmare album was a beat that was sent their way without them actually working with Kanye. But then, Havok was drinking a lot during that period if I’m not mistaken, and might have forgotten he worked with Kanye in the past if the opposite was true (that they did indeed work in the past). Anyways, Havoc still one of the dopest producers out there…
Don’t understand the hate on “Hey Luv.” That shit was straight banging. Man I fucked the hell outta my ex-girl to that jawn.
Havoc is one of the most overrated producers ever. Everyone thinks he’s some sort of genius when it’s really Kanye that’s the genius. Havoc begged and pleaded for that “Throw Your Hands In the Air” beat because he knew Kanye was a better producer than him and waved the white flag to the Roc after Hov verbally annihilated Mobb Deep on “Takeover” (“then you dropped Shook Ones, changed your demeanor, well, we don’t believe you, you need more people”). His work on TLOP was only because Ye would give him and Ballerina Prodigy a ham sandwich in exchange. You know them niggas been broke and starving since 2001. I’ll end my rant with this: “Shook Ones Part II” is the most overrated beat of all time next to “NY State of Mind”.
The Takeover killed Jay-Z! Nas dropped Stillmatic(Ether)and Mobb Deep dropped Infamy(there highest charting song ever is on the album,Hey Luv)Jay-Z dropped Blueprint 2…said he was retiring and tricked people with the overrated Black Album and EVERY ALBUM SINCE has been subpar *Facts*
Must’ve forgotten about American Gangster. I’d expect that from a hater though! J-Hov is best rapper to do it thus far! Keep being salty, lame!
Stop using word “facts” when in reality you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.. Thank you
Damn boy, good job. Let me give you a present.
Mobb deep is dope af
And that Hawaiin Soaphie bitch ass wouldn’t hated on Mobb Deep they shit wasn’t dope…on that Takeover nonsense,he rode on niggaz that he envied,that was doper than him like Nas coz they made his ass uncomfortable and he couldn’t make that King of NYC claim when they was around.But he has not attempted another ‘Takeover’ of New York ever since he got beat.
Didnt kanye work with mobb deep back in 04′ though? Could of swore havoc and kanye collabed before..
YESSSSS! WIN OR LOSE SONG KANYE PRODUCED ON THERE ALBUM
“Win or Lose” was by Alchemist. “Throw Your Hands” was the one Kanye produced.
thank you
Yep. Dopest song on that album if you ask me.
Mobb should spit on the Real Friends beat.
I hate I even clicked on this shit. Havoc who the fuck are u bro? Oh yeah, a dude that hasn’t done shit in……….. EVER. I’m mad at myself for even attempting to read this shit. Moments of life I will never get back lol
Slim shut your dumb ass up with that nonsense…btw blow ur noodles out also.
Havoc’s logic is really flawed, and I say this as a die-hard fan. All the great artists have to take the risk to alienate their fanbase at some point of their career. Mobb Deep should stop flattering their fans by making worldwide tours and dropping reissues of their 20 years old albums. It’s been 10 years since their last proper new album, and only Prodigy had the balls to try new things with Alchemist and Sid Roams. Havoc did drop a few dope beats from time to time (and the Kush album was actually dope too) but Mobb Deep as a group is pretty much history at this point. Would love to see them collaborating with southern producers for instance though (and yes, I loved that Lil Jon).
MOBBDEEP AND NAS