When did the golden era end?

[Combo7]

LOL @ acting like RZA's feelings lend legitimacy to one's shitty opinions.

Hell on Earth has Prodigy rapping at his peak and is much more cohesive from a production standpoint. The spooky, ethereal tone leaves a more lasting impression than the scattershot vibes of their sophomore album. It's the most "Mobb Deep-sounding" album in their catalog, and what a new listener should start with to get an idea of what their music is all about.

[Ominous]

the albums exec producers FACTS hold a lot more weight than your OPINION, thats for sure (lol another ladyboy in here catchin feelings, thats 2)

only reason i brought it up is cause people are acting like its an absurd idea to even suggest ironman being a weaker album, like i said earlier ive held this opinion since the album was released and found out a good reason why by rzas own words YEARS later

of course hes not gonna admit it while hes trying to market and capitalize of the album

[clark bent]

Hell on Earth has Prodigy rapping at his peak and is much more cohesive from a production standpoint. The spooky, ethereal tone leaves a more lasting impression than the scattershot vibes of their sophomore album. It's the most "Mobb Deep-sounding" album in their catalog, and what a new listener should start with to get an idea of what their music is all about.

i agree HOE has a much more mob deep centric vibe than the infamous...but i much prefer the infamous due to the fact that HOE is way too clean sounding for me....the production (not the beats) is crispy clean in a 97 to 2000 way...like the lox dmx or puffys shit...it doesnt have that crate digging dustiness of the golden era....that being said i think its a great record with some monumental songs particularly the title track and qu hectic

people are acting like its an absurd idea to even suggest ironman being a weaker album

thats because to attach the word weak in any context to ironman is absurd

also do you really think tical (or return to 36) is easily better than ironman...because by calling ironman weak compared to those albums is to insinuate they are much better...that also is absurd

personally i think its crazy to think they are better at all...ironman belongs in an argument with the debut and liquid swords....imo meth and odb albums are pretty forgettable as full length listens

[HipHopInfinityRIPLOL]

when people say "mobb deep's second album" i almost always assume they're thinking hell on earth. Shit, i didn't even know about juvenile hell until 95.

[fatboybrandon]

the shitstain called juvenile hell wasnt even worth acknowledging

haha, I wouldn't say it was that bad. Songs that stand out to me are Flava For The Non-Believes and the Large Pro remix of Peer Pressure. I remember Juvenile definitely being hard to listen to after The Infamous and subsequent releases by The Mobb.

There is an audio interview on Soundcloud of Bobbito talking about the progression of HIp Hop over the years, it should still be up. I remember him sharing the same sentiment of most people in this thread of Hip Hop music losing it's quality and originality around 95-96. I think it has in a sense overall but it has also maintained quality over the years, it depends on where your ear is at as a listener and consumer.

Regardless of the commercial garbage I always dug the crates, shopped Fat Beats, listen to Premo, Pete & Marley and stayed in tune to what satisfies my tastes of good Hip Hop. Even though that Hip Hop I found (and continue to find) past '95 doesn't sound like 87 to 96 music I can still appreciate it all for what it is and accept change.

[I Smell Like Un Kasa]

Pretty much right after Biggie & Pac died.

[vaporized2]

98. there's quite a few albums from 98 in my collection. from 99 I can hardly think of any. Nas dropped the double strength turd-bomb of Am/Nastradamus, and I've always thought Mobb's Murda Muzik was horrible. synthy half assed beats that sound like they were put together by an epileptic on downers became the norm for just about everyone. even the authentic keep-it-real artists like the Roots lost something, I've never rated Things Fall Apart much. has to be 98

[stevieebola]

Yeah definitely around 96 / 97 . Albums were starting to sound like compilation LP's with all the different producers . And around this time people started being labelled 'haters' for critiquing some of the borderline pop stuff coming out.
Plus radio stations like Hot 97 were brainwashing everyone with their playlist of the same 10 songs all day everyday .
Sampling started to go out of fashion with the one finger keyboard /casio type beats .