AllHipHop: What’s
the state of the group and where are you headed?
H: Well, Mobb Deep
is very much intact. We still here. We here to make Mobb Deep albums. Me and
P are very focused-even more focused than ever. P is gonna make his solo joints.
I’m going to make one too. We gonna make Mobb albums. We gonna put out other
artists. P got the movies jumping off. Its gonna be a good look for the future
for us. We gonna work hard like it’s our first time in the game. That’s how
I see it.
AllHipHop: Who
did the Loud break up affect you guys as a group?
H: It stagnated
our career and how we eat. This is our future. We was looking for Infamy to
come out, blowing, going platinum, double platinum and for the company to start
falling apart at the time when you need it the most, its gonna hurt somebody,
you know? But you know, it made us stronger, we been through this before. We
stuck together and that’s that. It was a f*cked up situation and that’s that.
It ain’t easy but you know that saying – anything easy ain’t worth having.
It’s a struggle so, f*ck it. It just makes us stronger. Everything happens for
a reason.
AllHipHop: How
do you feel about Infamy?
H: I feel it was
getting a lot of recognition as far as what I saw. We came out with "Burn"
for the mix shows and mix DJ’s and they was thumpin’ it. Then we shocked motherf*ckers
when we put out the 112 sh*t. Some people was like "why did you do that"
and other n*ggas was feeling it. We got the most spins off the record than we
ever had, everything was looking good, we was on the road, we was going hard
and then [the Loud Records] sh*t happened. To me it was a good album and people
was feeling this as far as what I know.
AllHipHop: Also
on that album y’all decided that other people would produce on that album, which
seems like a first. Why did y’all decide to do that?
H: Times change
and just to be a little on the safe side, I was like aight f*ck it let some
other producers come in. Not too much though, but just to get some different
looks on the album.
AllHipHop: Alchemist,
credits you as one of his inspirations. How’d you meet up?
H: I hooked up
with Alchemist when we was doing something with DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill.
That’s they peoples and he came up with them. I guess we met through there and
we clicked with homeboy ever since. I think he’s very very talented and he’s
definitely on his way to becoming one of the biggest producers out there. People
say we sound similar but it’s all good. That sh*t don’t bother me in the least
’cause if he gets anything from me I’ll feel good. We exchange techniques anyway
so it’s all good.
AllHipHop: Do you
look to anybody for inspiration?
H: It’s a lot of
good people out there. A lot of tracks I be hearing and I don’t know who produced
it I’m not really easily influenced by listening to other brothers tracks. I
might be inspired by how good they might sound and become compelled to make
a better beat but, you know back in the day it was definitely people who influenced
me like Primo, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Q-Tip. I try not to let [outside
influences] get in my mind ’cause that’s like poison for a producer, that’s
like the start of your end. You definitely got to be able to make things that
people like and sh*t like that.
AllHipHop: How
were you as a kid and what was your home life like?
H: I grew up in
a single parent crib, nothing to different from the average young black male’s
experience in the 80’s. Been around the drugs, tryin to sell my lil’ bit of
drugs but, I had somewhat of a good support system. My Grandmom’s and my pops
taught me right from wrong and I took it from there to do what ever I chose
to do. I wasn’t no angel but I grew up in QB. I chose music at the end of the
day. I knew that music would be me.
AllHipHop: So you
grew up with your mom?
H: I grew up with
my moms until I was 13. Then I moved with my Grandmom’s ’cause my moms was going
through a couple of changes.
AllHipHop: I f
you don’t mind me asking, what issues were your moms dealing with?
H: Some drugs and
stuff. She’s a working church lady, in church every other day. I’m real proud
of my moms. She inspired me to beat my own drinking problems.
AllHipHop: What
School did you and P meet in?
H: Art and Design
H.S. right there in Manhattan, back in like ’89
AllHipHop: Did
that contribute to you growing as a producer?
H: Going to that school didn’t really affect me as far as being a producer because
I was already at home with the dual cassette tapes. I used to tape sh*t off
the radio from like the old stations and I used to hear a lil’ part in there
I like, I would just keep on dubbing and recording, dubbing and recording until
it was a whole loop kind of beat. So I was doing that before I got to H.S. I
can say that going to that school changed my life ’cause then I met P. Who knows
where I would be if I didn’t go to that High School.
AllHipHop: What
was some of the struggles that y’all have overcome through the years, did y’all
ever get discouraged around the early days?
H: Definitely,
when we was signed to 4th and Broadway. That’s when we did the “Hit It
From The Back” [song]. We was young, 16 and 17 and we made this album that
ain’t go nowhere. People in the hood are waiting for you to fail and that’s
even more f*cked up ’cause muthaf*ckers is waiting for you to fail and you failed.
n*ggas is pointing at you laughing and that sh*t would discourage anybody. That
sh*t helped me ’cause I was like f*ck all that I’m going to keep on going, I
don’t give a f*ck.
AllHipHop: How
would you say you have grown over the years as both a lyricist and a producer?
H: As a person,
I grew in the sense where it’s not one big party, this is my life, my career
and I got to at all times be in control of it and for the most part take it
like this sh*t can be taken away from me. Ain’t nobody promised tomorrow,
you got to go hard at this and work hard doing whatever it takes to try to be
on top.
AllHipHop: What’s
your take on your lil’ beefs with Jay and later Nas a couple years later?
H: It was all good,
it’s a part of life and a part of rap. Everybody ain’t going to be able
to get along, so I don’t have no regrets. It ain’t stop anything that I have
had to do, it was just a couple of lil’ verbal altercations. We men, take it
and keep it moving.