*Mobb Deep – comprised of rappers Havoc and Prodigy – is considered one of the legendary hip hop groups of all time. They are one of the key progenitors of hardcore East Coast hip hop in the mid-1990s and became one of the most successful rap duos in history having sold over three million records.
Tragedy struck when Prodigy died in 2017 at just 42-years-old under mysterious circumstances.
Today Havoc has teamed up with rapper Styles P for an album “Wreckage Manner” and they are nominated for the best duo or group at the BET Hip-Hip awards airing October 4.
Havoc sits down with iHeart radio personality and EURweb.com Spotlight host Jazmyn ‘Jaz’ Summers for an exclusive conversation.
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How Did Wreckage Manner which you also produced come about?
Havoc: “One day, I was sitting around in my crib about a year or so ago, and I was like, I want to do a project with one of my favorite artists, and one of my favorite artists is the Lox and I get along with Styles. I hit him up. He was receptive to the idea, and as soon as I mentioned it to him, I sent him a record. He sent it back to me in about, like, an hour. And I was like, Whoa.”
Havoc: “It really reminded me of working with Prodigy, and I think Styles P brought out the essence of Prodigy in this project. Of course, the tracks that I produce and make for it will remind you of Mobb Deep and Prodigy. And I definitely tried to channel Prodigy’s energy on this project. ”
What will winning the BET award mean to you?
Havoc: “That one is going to be a win for Mobb Deep. That win is going to be a win for the Lox. That win is going to be for Prodigy. He’s not here. He’s with us in spiritual essence. And it’s just a win to all the OGS out there that somebody might want to consider dusty. ”
You are a legendary beatmaker and your song Shook Ones is one of the most sampled beats in hip hop?
Havoc: “It never gets a chance for Dust to settle on. I feel honored that artists appreciate those beats 25 years later. As a producer and an MC, it’s something that you couldn’t ask for more. It will live forever in infamy. Yes, it will.”
You produced the entire Mobb Deep catalog, for Nas, Noriega and Capone, Biggie. Raekwon, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Method Man, 50 Cent and so many others. Who are you working with now?
Havoc: I’m a fan of the artists, you know what I mean? The young artists, the older generation. I’m just a fan of music, and recently I worked with Coremega. He’s not a new artist, but he brings new energy every time he comes with a project. So I just did something with him. I got two records on 2 Chainz, and Lil Wayne‘s new project is about to come out.. I can’t forget the Method Man and Havoc project that I fully produced. That’s going to be coming out soon,
Now, what about your love life? The internet links you with Erica Mena and video vixen Karrine Steffans They don’t seem like those were real serious relationships, were they?
Havoc: No. I actually never even knew Karrine number one. I don’t even know how that even happened. Erica Mena was just a friend. We all met on the video set. She was mad cool and she was just like one of the homies to me.
Homies with benefits?
Havoc: I wish I could brag about that. No, that was all that was.
Are you cuffed up right now? Can the ladies slide in your DMs?
It’s a free country. I don’t discourage anybody from following their dreams. You know what I mean? Slide on in.
What do you like in a woman?
Honesty is number one, because with honesty can come loyalty. I love that. Once honesty is on the playing field, the possibilities are endless.
You like us melanated girls?
That’s all I rock.
And the DMs are open. Good news for my ladies out there.
Tell me about your journey.
As a kid, I was very artistic. I loved to draw. I loved to paint. I loved science. I ended up in the High School of Art and Design. I took architecture as a major because I wanted to design buildings. But I ended up building a hip-hop career instead. I met Prodigy in high school, and one thing led to another.
It’s interesting because you went to the Manhattan School of Art and Design. Some of the alums from there are like Calvin Klein, Mark Jacobs, but Mobb Deep lyrics are straight gangsta?
That dichotomy is just crazy because you have to think just because we were from the streets didn’t mean that we weren’t artistic and creative. There’s a lot of creativity and genius in the hood. They just have to be exposed to other outside forces other than what’s in the neighborhood. And luckily we were exposed to other things early as teenagers to know that there was more out there than just the projects. But having the knowledge from the projects gave us a little edge. Because when you street smart, it takes you a longer way than if you were just book smart,
So who were you as a child?
I was a lot of things. I definitely was quiet. Curious. Got into a little bit of trouble, tested the waters, and quickly found out that the mischievous life wasn’t for me. I grew up with my mom, my dad, my brothers and my sisters, but my moms and pops broke up when I was about ten years old. A single mom household wasn’t easy, but my mother made sure that we always ate. We learned to appreciate things more. It made me want to really get out of the projects. I didn’t really like the situation that we were in, not having much and being around all this crime. I have to thank Queensbridge for the man I am today but living there compelled me to really become an artist and a better person. I wanted to strive for more.
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Did you have a close relationship with your pops?
We had a decent relationship. He still was in our lives. He just wasn’t home, but he still was very much in our lives.
And now you’re a good daddy.
I have two sons. Being a father is one of the most important things you can be because it’s not about you anymore and it’s about setting them up for the future. Making sure that they are better than you and they don’t have to struggle as much as you did, but at the same time teaching them values. So it’s like you become a teacher once you become a parent.
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What are your biggest regrets?
There are things that I did that I wasn’t proud of but later on, I redeemed myself by becoming a better person. People make mistakes, but mistakes make people. My biggest regret I rarely speak about is my younger brother committed suicide way back. I always say to myself, I wish that I kept him closer to me.
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You’ve had a lot of pain with your brother and Prodigy’s deaths?
That pain is still with me and Prodigy is still fresh, I’m sure I got some kind of PTSD trauma from it all, but I try to remain strong, positive, and upbeat. Everything happens for a reason. And our life’s path, sometimes it’s unpredictable, but you got to be able to deal with it.
And what a blessing that you deaded your beef with Prodigy before he left us. You went on Twitter and accused him of having sex with the homies when he was in prison. Back then homophobia was strong in the hip-hop community. What was behind that?
That is one of the things that I do regret, having that beef with Prodigy at that time. Back then, I was beside myself. But as a man, I’m able to recognize when I was wrong. I apologized to Prodigy, to his family, and most importantly, I forgave myself for it. That really festered in my mind for a long time. But the silver lining of it all is we made up before he passed away. Nobody can predict who’s going to die and when but that was the universe bringing me and him back together. And to be honest with you, that’s the closest I’ve gotten to him since I met him. I felt like, wow, I got my brother back. We was sharing diet tips and eating healthier. During the time we got closer, we really was vibing. And not too long after, a couple of days later, he passed away.
People speculate that Illuminati was involved in the killing. It’s strange he would die from choking in a hospital with medical personnel around.
I hate to call myself a conspiracy theorist but to answer your question real quick, I’m very open-minded, right? And that being said part of me reserves the right to believe that something nefarious happened, I’m not closing the door to that. Do I have any proof of it? No, I don’t. But inquiring minds want to know, you. And maybe one day something might come of it and be like, oh wow, this is what happened. But until then, I’m always going to have questions.
Now you’ve had some other beefs Kanye who you told to eat a d*ck?
The Kanye thing was kind of taken out of context. Kanye is known as this fashion icon. So we all look up to him like he’s a fly-ass dresser. At the time, I was at a show that I was about to perform, and I thought I had on Dolce and Gabanna and sh*t, and then I had a couple of drinks and somebody had the camera on me. I felt like the flyest nigga in the world. So I was like, Kanye look at this shit I got on, eat a d*ck. And so people just took the eat a d*ck part out of context. I was challenging him to a fashion duel.”
Do you miss the days with the clubs, like the famous Tunnel ?
Yeah, you don’t have clubs like that no more. Everything now is like $1,000 bottle service. You got to pay $10,000 to get in. Not The Tunnel. It was one of those places, man. It was for hip hop, That’s where hip hop was. Anybody that was somebody was always there and shout out to the Tunnel, man. One day, maybe we’re going to have another hip-hop club like the Tunnel.
You want that notorious coed bathroom with the champagne back?
Got to keep the coed bathroom.
Did you ever wild out in there?
My lips are sealed.
You can catch the full conversation in the video at the top of this page (or immediately below) and hear Havoc’s reflections on 50 Cent, Puffy, Kanye and Lil Kim, his beef with Tupac and more.
Interview/article by Jazmyn Summers. Follow her @jaztalk1 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. And please don’t forget to subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ YouTube.
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