Poker School - Omaha 8

Amid the burgeoning mid-'90s Omaha 8 hardcore rap scene, Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep towered above their peers, instantly canonized for their influential, trendsetting The Infamous album.

The MobbThe duo, comprised of Prodigy and Havoc, initially began as just another hardcore rap act, a role the two youths actually typecast themselves as on their rudimentary debut album, Juvenile Hell (1993), and their breakthrough album, The Infamous (1995). The startling latter became a touchstone album among the hardcore rap community, driven by the song "Shook Ones, Pt. 2," a time-tested anthem. Mobb Deep became widely known from coast to coast for its hellishly lyrical depiction of New York street life in Queensbridge, the rough housing project the duo called home. Mobb Deep's production style also became widely known, driven by haunting melodies and hard-hitting beats, the bleak aural equivalent of the duo's sullen rhymes. By the end of the decade, Mobb Deep's Murda Muzik debuted at number Omaha 8 three on the Billboard album chart, exemplifying exactly how far the partypoker duo had come without compromising their harsh approach.

by Jay-Z in 2001 on the song "Takeover." Yet Omaha 8 Prodigy and Havoc bounced back, not by retaliating as Nas had, but by scoring their biggest crossover hit yet, "Hey Luv (Anything)."

Mutually residing in Queens and partypoker sharing a passion for hip-hop, Mobb Deep members Prodigy and Havoc originally met while both attending the prestigious Graphic Arts High School in Manhattan. Still in their late teens, Omaha 8 the duo released their debut album in 1993, Juvenile Hell, on the 4th and Broadway label. Though the album wasn't that successful from either a financial or critical standpoint, it did serve as a fitting platform for the duo to launch its career. Not only did Mobb Deep produce its own beats; it also Omaha 8 crafted its own style of beat-making: a street-smart poetic approach centering on the surrounding ghetto lifestyle. Prodigy and Havoc's brutally honest reality partypoker rapping and complementary melancholy beats landed them a deal in 1995 with the up-and-coming Loud label, who released The Infamous, Mobb Deep's breakthrough album.

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