Tag: Havoc

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Havoc Reviews

Havoc – 13 album review

13 is the third solo album from Havoc, one half of the famous rap duo Mobb Deep. Even though it has been a while since the Mobb came together for a studio release, Havoc has made it a point to stay relevant in today’s industry. Clocking in at less than fifty minutes, 13 is a relatively short listen which is in form with Havoc’s previous albums. He has always been an artist who practiced quality over quantity ever since the early days of Mobb Deep and the result is a positive one. 13 comes across as a complete thought as Havoc uses each track to continue his decades long report on life in the streets. The subject matter is a familiar one but he manages to present it in a way that doesn’t feel stale. This has largely to do with the production which Havoc handles almost exclusively himself. Having total control over the sound of 13 gave him the chance to create an album with a purposeful tone and he does just that. With a dry, dark sound and the well-known haunting piano, it is plain to see that Havoc was trying to recreate the old Mobb Deep feel for this project and he succeeds to varying degrees.

There are some real gems on the album. “Favorite Rap Stars” is set to a beat straight out of 1995 and features solid rhymes from Styles P and Raekwon. “Get Busy” has a nice flow from Havoc over a great instrumental while “Already Tomorrow” shows him at his most reflective and creative. Royce da 5’9” absolutely rips the beat in half on “Tell Me to My Face” to the point where Havoc’s rhymes are almost irrelevant. “Hear Dat” sports the most artistic beat on the album and can be considered one of Havoc’s best.

The problems of the album are more big picture issues. Havoc’s rhymes are not bad by any means but some of the songs can run together when the content matter is so similar. This becomes problematic when featured artist come though and outshine him on tracks such as Royce mentioned above. There are other minor gripes. “Colder Days” is a song that goes on for two minutes too long and features the laziest rhyming from Havoc. “Eyes Open” does have a great verse from Twista but the beat itself feels out of place when compared to other songs on the album.

At the end of the day, 13 is another entry in the long running discography of one of rap’s most famous artists. Havoc presents more of what fans love and shows no signs of slowing down in the future.

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Videos

Havoc, Cory Gunz & Nyce Tha Future "Real Talk" [In Studio]

Havoc, Cory Gunz & Nyce Tha Future "Real Talk" [In Studio]

“Nyce and Cory were working on a joint for “The Still Infamous Mixtape: Free P Edition” when Havoc walked in, so we bumped the joint “Real Talk” that H, Cory, and Nyce recorded the night before in the lab. Infamous.”

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Press Releases

HIP HOP’S RISING STAR, TERMANOLOGY, READIES DEBUT ALBUM BOASTING A DREAM TEAM CAST OF PLATINUM PRODUCERS INCLUDING DJ PREMIER, ALCHEMIST, HAVOC, NOTTZ, BUCKWILD, LARGE PROFESSOR, PETE ROCK, HI-TEK, EASY MO BEE AND GUEST APPEARANCES FROM PRODIGY, BUN B, SHEEK LOUCH, FREEWAY, LIL FAME,

HIP HOP’S RISING STAR, TERMANOLOGY, READIES DEBUT ALBUM BOASTING A DREAM TEAM CAST OF PLATINUM PRODUCERS INCLUDING DJ PREMIER, ALCHEMIST, HAVOC, NOTTZ, BUCKWILD, LARGE PROFESSOR, PETE ROCK, HI-TEK, EASY MO BEE AND GUEST APPEARANCES FROM PRODIGY, BUN B, SHEEK LOUCH, FREEWAY, LIL FAME,

“POLITICS AS USUAL” WILL BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 30th, 2008 ST RECORDS/NATURE SOUND RECORDS

What the industry is saying about Termanology:

“Term has a unique desire for the culture because he touches the issues that I can relate to as a TRUE HIP-HOP HEAD..his flows are nice, and he stays creative with his subject matter…he even speaks for me and not every new MC comin’ up can do that.” – DJ Premier

“Termanology puts the MC back in MC’ing, he’s a breath of fresh air in this dirty game.” – Bun B

“Termanology shows he could be a leader of the new school” – The Source Magazine

New York, NY – Massachusetts-bred; New York-based rapper Termanology has now finished his official debut album Politics As Usual. One of this year’s most anticipated albums; it drops September 30th, 2008 through a joint venture between Term’s own ST. Records and Indy powerhouse Nature Sounds. Termanology’s debut merges the best of both worlds for all Hip-Hop fans, as its meshes classic boom-bap production from a virtual who’s who list of production royalty; DJ Premier, Hi-Tek, Pete Rock, The Alchemist, Havoc, Buckwild, Nottz and Large Professor all provide tracks, with Term’s lyricism, swagger and bravado.

Growing up in the streets of the post-industrial, predominantly Latino city of Lawrence, MA, the half-white, half-Puerto Rican MC transitioned from silly freestyles at age nine to full-fledged records by 15. Constantly traveling between Boston and New York to pursue his music business dream, Termanology released his first 12-inch in 2002. Through his alliance with influential mixtape DJ (and fellow Massachusetts native) Statik Selektah, Term began earning the respect of Boston’s Hip-Hop scene with several highly acclaimed 12″ singles.

At the onset of 2006, Term caught his big break when legendary producer DJ Premier, whom he met three years earlier, finally blessed him with one of his signature, scratch-laden beats. “Watch How It Go Down” instantly became an underground classic and Termanology appeared on Hip-Hop’s international radar. The conscious hood anthem garnered the earnest MC tons of praise, landing him in The Source’s “Unsigned Hype” and XXL’s “Show and Prove” columns.

Since then, Termanology has quickly climbed the industry ranks with his Hood Politics mixtape series and continued collaborations with DJ Premier and other big name producers. Term’s hard work resulted in a joint venture deal with Brooklyn-based label Nature Sounds, which he signed in late 2007. “I decided to go the Indy route to have total control of everything related to my project,” Term explains.

Nature Sounds is quickly becoming the indy home for classic hip-hop. During the last couple of years the label has released projects by several artists that include hip hop cult icon MF DOOM, Wu-Tang’s Masta Killa (Made In Brooklyn), the debut album from Havoc of Mobb Deep (The Kush), most recently, Pete Rock’s latest (NY’s Finest).

Term has already set things in motion for his debut, Politics As Usual, with the recent leak of the LP’s buzz-single, How We Rock,” which has the Internet buzzing and features Term rocking with two of Hip-Hop’s most beloved individuals, Bun B and DJ Premier (who produced “How We Rock”). Term has also shot a video for “How We Rock” and the video will be released to the masses shortly.

Tracklisting and credits for Termanology’s “Politics As Usual”:

1.) Its Time (Produced by Easy Mo Bee)
2.) Watch How It Go Down (Produced by DJ Premier)
3.) Respect My Walk (Produced by Buckwild)
4.) Hood Shit f/ Prodigy of Mobb Deep (Produced by The Alchemist)
5.) Float (Produced by Nottz)
6.) Please Don’t Go (Produced by Nottz)
7.) How We Rock f/ Bun B of UGK (Produced by DJ Premier)
8.) Drugs Crime & Gorillaz f/ Sheek Louch & Freeway (Produced by Nottz)
9.) In The Streets f/Lil Fame of M.O.P. (produced by Hi-Tek)
10.) So Amazing (Produced by DJ Premier)
11.) Sorry I Lied (Produced by Large Professor)
12.) We Killin Ourselves (Produced by Pete Rock)
13.) The Chosen (Resurrecting The Game) (Produced by Havoc)

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Havoc Mobb Deep Press Releases Videos

Havoc – I’m The Boss video

Lead-single, “I’m The Boss,” from Havoc’s solo-debut, The Kush (9-18-07),

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Havoc Mobb Deep

Mobb Deep’s Havoc To Release Debut On Nature Sounds

NATURE SOUNDS TO RELEASE EAGERLY-ANTICIPATED

DEBUT FROM Havoc OF MOBB DEEP

The Kush TO BE RELEASED
ON SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2007

Mobb Deep’s Havoc To Release Debut On Nature Sounds

NY, NY—–Nature Sounds Records announces the eagerly-anticipated debut, The Kush, from Mobb Deep’s Havoc.

Havoc is one half of the musical force that rap fans have to come to know and love as Mobb Deep. For the past 14-years, Havoc (along with partner Prodigy) have become one of Hip-Hop’s most influential entities and has released a string of indelible LP’s including acclaimed classics like The Infamous, Hell On Earth and Amerikaz Nightmare. To date, Mobb Deep has sold over 4 millions records.

While Havoc’s partner Prodigy has already leaped into the solo-realm, Havoc has previously not done so due to a hectic recording schedule with Mobb Deep where he has produced some of the most essential Hip-Hop tracks of the last decade (“Shook Ones Pt.2,” “Drop A Gem On Em,” “Quiet Storm,” and “The Learning” among just a handful of classics) and due to the fact that he is one of Hip-Hop’s most sought after producers (as he has previously worked with a who’s who list of artists including: Nas, Capone & Noreaga, Foxy Brown, 50 Cent, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Lloyd Banks, The Game, Jadakiss, Lil Kim, Method Man, Notorious B.I.G., etc) as Havoc reaffirms “I was always ready (to drop a solo-album), but the reason why it took me so long is because the timing wasn’t right. I was always working on Mobb Deep material and working with other artists and I used allot of the material I was going to use for a solo-LP for Mobb Deep records.” However, that all changes with the release of Havoc’s debut, The Kush, (the prequel to his official solo-LP) on 9-18-07.

Havoc’s debut has been buzzed about for quite some time and is eagerly anticipated by the group’s fan base and fans of the duo’s hardcore brand of NY hip-hop. Over the years, Havoc’s eerily chilling production has influenced countless producers, set the bar for NYC producers and become the identity for the “Queensbridge sound.” That trend continues with The Kush, as the LP is entirely self-produced by Havoc and as he laments he’s keeping it grimy “basically, The Kush is dark and gutter, I really wanted to go that direction.”

Forsaking littering The Kush with numerous guest-appearances, Havoc choose to keep things entirely in-house and make it an all-family endeavor by design states Havoc “Besides Prodigy, I did not want a bunch of big stars on it, as it would have taken away from the real objective of the LP, which is grimy and down to earth.”

After working with virtually every big name artist in the Urban genre and creating some of the most timeless music Hip-Hop fans have had the pleasure to lay ears upon, Havoc did not need to step out of his zone to stay motivated for The Kush, as he states “the thing that keeps me motivated is just my love of music, I just love to create. The Kush represents me as an individual and my growth as a producer and lyricist.”

The Kush; another Queensbridge classic!

Tracklisting and credits for Havoc’s The Kush:

1.) NY For Life (produced by Havoc)
2.) I’m The Boss (produced by Havoc)
3.) By My Side f/40 Glocc (produced by Havoc)
4.) One Less Nigga (produced by Havoc)
5.) Ride Out f/Nyce (produced by Havoc)
6.) Balling Out f/Un Pachino (produced by Havoc)
7.) What’s Poppin Tonite (produced by Havoc)
8.) Class By Myself f/Nitti (produced by Havoc)
9.) Set Me Free f/Prodigy & Nyce (produced by Havoc)
10.) Be There (produced by Havoc)
11.) Hit Me Up f/Un Pacihno (produced by Havoc)
12.) Get Off My Dick (produced by Havoc)