Havoc and Prodigy also known as Mobb Deep, started out together at the tender age of 15. Mutually residing in Queens and sharing a passion for hip-hop, Mobb Deep members Prodigy and Havoc originally met while both attending the prestigious Graphic AHs High School in Manhattan. They became friends soon after and took their infamous style to the hip hop industry. They were from the QB or more commonly known as Queensbridge, this was not only where they originated from but also where they would represent for their careers. Prodigy unfortunately suffered and does suffer from sickle-cell anaemia, though that didn’t effect their career as much as it could have.

They were first publicly showcased in the ’Unsigned Hype’ column of ’The Source’. Signed with Island Records, They began as just another hardcore rap act, a role the two youths actually typecast themselves as on their rudimentary debut album, “Juvenile Hell” in 1993. the album featured production from such producers as DJ Premier and Large Professor. They recorded their first public guest appearance on Black Moon’s ’U’da Man.’ Mobb Deep were also and are also closely affiliated with the crew, the ’Infamous Mobb.’ The ’Infamous Mobb’ consist of Ty Knitty, Gambino, Godfather Money No, Gotti, Big Noyd and Scarface. Scarface and Gambino were twins but unfortunately Scarface died in a car crash.

After that Mobb Deep left Island Records, signed with Loud and released their second album “The Infamous” in 1995, the album featured Wu-Tang’s Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, along with fellow QBC artist Nas. The album featured an interlude where the Mobb dissed rappers who smoke weed all the time and rap about it ; Keith Murray took this as a personal diss. As time went on, Mobb Deep featured on various other artists tracks, sometimes collectively as Mobb Deep and sometimes separately as either Havoc(usually in production) or Prodigy(usually the man who rhymes).

A year later in 1996, Prodigy and Havoc released "Hell on Earth" ; debuting at number six on the Billboard album chart, the album found the duo further realizing its approach, dropping both evocative beats and cinematic rhymes that communicated the dark side of New York’s urban landscape. Mobb Deep’s third album featured such artists as Method Man and Raekwon the Chef, it also included the track ’Drop A Gem On ’Em’ which within the lyrics replies to the diss given to the group by the late Tupac Shakur. On Tupac’s ’Hit ’Em Up.’ The lyrics within the track which were aimed at the group were ; "Mobb Deep, you better back the f*ck up before you get smacked the f*ck up / Ain’t one of you ni**ers got sickle-cell or something / Turn around have a seizure or a heart attack or something." This was not taken well, Havoc was as if not more annoyed than Prodigy but at first, it would have been very controversial if they would have replied as ’pac was murdered soon after.

Months after the bootlegs first leaked and after several pushed-back street dates, “Murda Muzik” finally dropped in early 1999. It debuted at number three on Billboard and quickly went platinum on the strength of "Quiet Storm," a song epitomizing the signature Mobb Deep style.
Several tracks were removed and new ones were recorded for the proper release of the LP which dropped late ’99. The buzz track for the LP’s release was initially ’Quiet Storm’ which was released on 12". But later in the year, collaborating with Lil’Kim and filming a cool video, they remixed the joint and made the remix a huge hit.

In late 2000, Prodigy finally released his long-rumored solo album, “H.N.I.C”, which saw the more outspoken member of the group collaborating with outside producers such as Alchemist and Rockwilder on tracks similar to the trademark Mobb Deep style. On H.N.I.C. and later in an interview with The Source, Prodigy referenced his bout with illness during the time following Murda Muzik. During this same time, Jay-Z spoke out against Mobb Deep, and Prodigy in particular. The street-credibility challenging incident led to some publicity for Mobb Deep, who were then unwillingly thrown into the spotlight with New York’s biggest rappers at the time, Jay-Z and Nas.



Mobb Deep overcame its hurdles with the release of “Infamy” at the tail end of 2001. The duo didn’t challenge Jay-Z as Nas had. Instead, Mobb Deep veered notably toward pop-rap for the first time in its career, bringing in outside producers and vocalists. The crossover success of "Hey Luv (Anything)" resulted, upsetting some longtime fans who wanted to see the duo remain strictly hardcore. Soon after that, Loud was desolved.

A CD of new tracks - with Havoc doing most of the vocals - and a CD of remixes and collaborations were released together as “Murda Mix Tape” in 2003. The label was Landspped and the cover declared the group "free agents", addressing the group’s split with Loud and search for a new label. They found it in Jive who released the entirely new “Amerikaz Nightmare” in 2004.