With a long career as one half of Mobb Deep
[click to read] and a well-respected
career as a producer, Havoc would naturally want to branch out and try
his hand at solo albums. He resisted the temptation for years and as a
result, Hidden Files is actually only his second solo album in the 17
or so years that he’s been active. Some will say that another Mobb Deep
album would’ve been the better use of his time, but what he’s come up
with instead will do enough to tide them over in the meantime.
Havoc‘s
strong suit has always been production, and that hasn’t changed for his
solo effort. His work for other artists has consistently been of
high-quality so he can’t be accused of keeping real the heat for
himself–just about anything on Hidden Files would’ve been one of the
better songs on the albums of a dozen other rappers you could name.
Dark
and menacing as always, Havoc‘s work has a familiar sound without
seeming totally outdated. “I Clap Em Up” and “Heart of the Grind” would
sound equally at home on an old Mobb Deep album as on a new 50 Cent
[click to read] one. “Watch Me” is
maybe a little too 2009, clearly begging for T-Pain
[click to read]
and a video with a speedboat, but it doesn’t sound so out of place as
to be a real problem.
Hidden Files does have its weaknesses,
though they’re fairly predicable and probably won’t change your opinion
of the album overall. To begin with, Havoc is a fine emcee but no one’s
going to wear out their rewind buttons checking for his punch lines.
The rhymes are mostly interchangeable and the subject matter is typical
and impersonal.
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He follows the usual blueprint for how a rap
album was made from about 1996-2003. There’s the song for the ladies
(“You Treated Me”), the fast-rap club joint (“Tell Me More”) and the
thugged-out tough talk (basically everything else). Again, this isn’t
anything that you don’t see coming but its just not exiting anymore.
After so many years in the game, it seems like Havoc would have
something more to say.
It would be one thing if Havoc was
simply incompetent but he’s proven that it’s not unfair to expect more.
For the Mobb Deep legacy to truly continue, he needs to start acting
like the veteran he is instead of falling back into the same old roles
as the freshmen. Worth checking out for fans, Hidden Files isn’t a
disappointment, but if anything, it’ll mostly just make you want to
dust off The Infamous or Hell on Earth.
