Mobb Deep Defend G-Unit And 50 Cent

For more than 10 years, Prodigy and Havoc, the duo known as Mobb Deep, have been holding it down for Queensbridge, the New York City neighbourhood known for its gritty, street-conscious hip-hop. So it was quite a shock when news broke that they had joined the commercially driven G-Unit crew.

To be fair, it's not like Mobb Deep were out knocking at G-Unit's door. On the contrary, as Prodigy explains, 50 Cent approached them with an offer that they just couldn't refuse after they found themselves without a label.

"Basically, 50 Cent called us up like a week later and said that he wanted to have a meeting because he wanted to work with us," he says. "What he gave us is more than just a record deal. There's lots of things we'll be doing we never had the chance to do before."

Because Mobb Deep's latest album, Blood Money, marks the first time that Havoc and Prodigy have collaborated with other hip-hop producers like The Alchemist, Sha Money XL and Dr. Dre, as well as with 50 Cent and G-Unit heavyweights like Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo, they're not completely blind to the fact that their artistic integrity is being questioned.

"I've read comments on hip-hop sites saying that 50 Cent wrote this and did that, but it's not even like that," asserts Prodigy. "We have creative control. Mobb Deep's got its own sound, our own studio in Queens, and we still write our own lyrics."

In truth, Mobb Deep are hoping that Blood Money puts an end to their streak of critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums.

"The reality of the situation is to put Mobb Deep on a bigger platform," admits Prodigy. "There's a lot of people out there who still don't know about Mobb Deep... We're hoping that the same people who are into 50 Cent can now be into Mobb Deep, too."

While fans will have to judge for themselves whether the only thing that's changed about Mobb Deep is their label, there's no cause for concern in Prodigy's mind.

"We're the same Mobb Deep that our fans have always heard," he insists.

"When we were offered the G-Unit deal, the main point was that 50 Cent was like, 'Go do your own thing.' So we did what we did just like any album. Blood Money is all Mobb Deep."