Havoc

Hailing from Queens as Kejuan Muchita, producer-MC Havoc stands among the underrecognized builders of 1990s hardcore rap, receiving far less acclaim than Wu-Tang Clan's RZA despite crafting some of the era's starkest, grimiest, and most deceptively musical beats on Mobb Deep albums recorded with Prodigy, most notably the 1995 classic The Infamous. Beyond those projects, Havoc supplied early productions to Nas' It Was Written and Nastradamus, Capone-N-Noreaga's The War Report, the Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death, and Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day. Mobb Deep persisted as an active group through the 2000s, yet Havoc also released his initial solo efforts, The Kush in 2007 and Hidden Files in 2009, each featuring a contribution from his longtime partner. A falling-out between the two preceded the 2013 album 13, titled after Havoc's lucky number and bolstered by guest verses from Royce da 5'9" and Raekwon, which was soon followed by the production-focused 13 Reloaded in 2014. The same year that brought his full-length collaboration with the Alchemist, The Silent Partner, in 2016 also saw Havoc earn co-production credits on Kanye West's The Life of Pablo.