Mobb Deep & Big Noyd’s 1994 Version Update Of MC Shan’s Classic Is Liberated (Audio)
The Bridge Wars were very real. Most Heads know about the Juice Crew vs. Boogie Down Productions main event featuring MC Shan, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shante and more versus KRS-One, Scott La Rock, Just-Ice, DJ Kenny Parker and others. However, throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, other artists were involved, including Kool DJ Red Alert, DJ. Mr. Magic, Blaq Poet (who solo and with Screwball had things to say), MC Mitchski (who hailed from Brooklyn), and even Philadelphia’s Cool C.
By the late 2000s, things had come full circle; KRS-One and Marley Marl made an entire LP together, Hip-Hop Lives. However, between the eras, Queens was still forever on the defense (or offense). Early in their career, Mobb Deep made their own version of “The Bridge.” Featuring longtime affiliate Big Noyd, this jam was liberated by Unkut.com today. Presumably, this 1994 version came from the makings of The Infamous, which is being honored next week with new/old material on The Infamous Mobb Deep.
You can hear the transition from Juvenile Hell to the sound that Prodigy and Havoc stuck with through the early 2000s. Like Tragedy Khadafi and Capone-N-Noreaga, Mobb Deep never backed down from representing where they came from.