Review Summary: hmmm a Mobb Deep-oriented record that's good... IN THE 21ST CENTRUY?! ARE YOU INSANE?!
Return of The Mac isn’t the lyrical comeback of one of hip hops greats as it claims to be. Not at all, it’s merely an old, rugged MC realizing the strengths of his new self. There is nothing on
Return of the Mac that revivals the pure street imagery and razor sharp flows of the ominous
Hell On Earth and
The Infamous, and instead, works around Prodigy’s strong points. With the help of a certain beat Alchemist,
Return of the Mac is an interesting enough record made to be consistently good.
One of the problems for most high expectant Mobb Deep listeners is that Prodigy is no longer that same image-evoking rap painter he once was. Indeed, his reliance on generic topics is what makes this album hard to get into at first. However, it’s how he does it is what makes this album worth a hardy listen. Prodigy’s flow is not sharpened, but sort of dampened by Prodigy’s miserable personality and general paranoia. He mumbles out his words joylessly, but creates a dark vibe in that sense. Some highlights come from this general pessimism and hatred, such as the truly paranoid jam “Mac 10 Handle”, the aggressive “Nickel And A Nail”, and the attempted reflective nature of “Legends”.
Prodigy makes it seem like
Return of The Mac a pure dread to listen to, however, this would not be true. The Alchemist, a loyal producer for the Mobb Deep, truly sweeps the record off of its feet and turns Prodigy’s selfless mumbling depression into something worth the effort. Characterized by 70s funk samples, chipmunk soul, and 90s rap drums, Alchemists production stays current throughout most of the entire record, and because of the records short duration (not even forty minutes long), doesn’t overstay its welcome. The title track leads the record into its built-up nature with a ferocious Tupac sampled hook, epic theatric 70s flick production, starting
Return… with a literal bang. Some highlights appear, but it’s generally an album led by its sound, which makes it more than the sum of its parts.
Essentially, that’s why
Return of the Mac works so well. No member of Mobb Deep has produced an actual record in the truest sense since
Hell on Earth, and surprisingly it doesn’t try to copy the haunting, drab sampling of that record, rather it keeps a much more funky, Alchemist defined sound. Prodigy’s general upset feelings mixed with dope production that backs up it well make
Return of The Mac a consuming listen, and it’s certainly the most interesting record that Mobb Deep has produced in just about one decade. Nice…
