Blood Money [PA] (CD - 2006)

Personnel: "Fredwreck" Farid Nassar (guitar, keyboards); Sean Cruse (guitar); Keyon Harrold (trumpet, French horn, percussion); Raymond Angry (Fender Rhodes piano); Daniel Jones (Clavinet, Wurlitzer organ); Mark Batson, Mike Elizondo (keyboards); D. Prosper (percussion, background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Dr. Dre; "Fredwreck" Farid Nassar; Patrick Viala; Steve Sola.

Recording information: Bass Clef Studios, Ozone Park, NY; Digital Insight Recording, Las Vegas, NV; Live Wire Remote Recording Truck; Nate's Crib, LA, CA; Record One; Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA; Right Track Studios, New York, NY; Sound on Sound Studios, New York, NY.

Editor: Carlos Bess.

Photographer: Sarah A. Friedman.

BLOOD MONEY marks the seventh release by Havoc and Prodigy, a.k.a. Mobb Deep. Hailing from New York City's notorious Queens Bridge Projects, the Mobb signed to G-Unit Records for their 2006 release, a returned favor of sorts from mega-star and label honcho 50 Cent for the influence the duo surely had on him.

Not just a G-Unit album in label name only, BLOOD MONEY features crew members Lloyd Banks ("You Can't Get With This"), Young Buck ("Give It To Me"), Tony Yayo ("Night Rider"), and 50 Cent himself ("Pearly Gates" and "Creep") flowing over the Mobb's darkly aggressive and deeply mesmerizing signature sound. BLOOD MONEY also represents the first instance of the duo's use of outsider producers. Not to worry, though: the list includes heavy hitters like Sha Money XL, The Alchemist, and the heaviest hitter of all, Dr. Dre, all whom approach the Deep sound with respect and a deft touch. These new associations ensure that Mobb Deep will reach a broader audience without sullying the duo's teflon reputation.

Blood Money provides G-Unit with the opportunity to attach themselves to the legacy of Mobb Deep, and it gives Mobb Deep the chance to connect with a younger set of rap fans. Both groups take full advantage. The G-Unit stamp is all over the album, from the packaging to the mostly self-contained content -- 50 Cent drops in on five tracks, while Young Buck, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks also guest. The album alternately sounds like a proper Mobb Deep album and a Mobb Deep album hosted (and occasionally overrun) by G-Unit, and neither camp is close to operating at full strength. The best example of the alliance's negative effect on the headliners is "Give It to Me," a rote "Candy Shop" knockoff in which Prodigy only fuels the argument that he has slipped as a lyricist: "I'm tired of finger-f*cking this phone/Phone calls bore me, you got me horny." Though Havoc (six tracks), Alchemist ("The Infamous"), and Sha Money XL and Ky Miller ("Put Em in Their Place") come up with some productions worthy of Mobb Deep's old standard, they're easy to lose in multiple stretches of plodding low-wattage tracks. The flashes of brilliance that were once routinely delivered by Havoc and Prodigy are few and fleeting here. ~ Andy Kellman

Blood Money provides G-Unit with the opportunity to attach themselves to the legacy of Mobb Deep, and it gives Mobb Deep the chance to connect with a younger set of rap fans. Both groups take full advantage. The G-Unit stamp is all over the album, from the packaging to the mostly self-contained content -- 50 Cent drops in on five tracks, while Young Buck, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks also guest. The album alternately sounds like a proper Mobb Deep album and a Mobb Deep album hosted (and occasionally overrun) by G-Unit, and neither camp is close to operating at full strength. The best example of the alliance's negative effect on the headliners is "Give It to Me," a rote "Candy Shop" knockoff in which Prodigy only fuels the argument that he has slipped as a lyricist: "I'm tired of finger-f*cking this phone/Phone calls bore me, you got me horny." Havoc (six tracks), Alchemist ("The Infamous"), and Sha Money XL and Ky Miller ("Put Em in Their Place") do come up with some productions worthy of Mobb Deep's old standard. ~ Andy Kellman minimize