Distraught fans of twenty year old records were shaking their damn heads yesterday over some harsh twitter words supposedly brandished by the low(er) key (publicly anyway), though equally influential, member of Mobb Deep, toward his long time rap partner. Today heads are still a little confused even after Havoc issued a press release claiming that his cellphone was jacked and also calling in to The Breakfast Club to explain the misunderstanding. People are calling bullshit, saying it had to be him blah blah blah.

So setting aside the validity of the initial public outburst and the subsequent damage control, what we do know is this, Mobb Deep hasn’t exactly been nineties Mobb Deep in a long ass time. Astute listeners/observers likely were not caught completely off guard at the notion of a riff as there has been a long simmering sense of distance between P and Havoc and, more openly, a fallout between P and members of Infamous Mobb. Adept googlers will find tracks and videos and of course, if you haven’t already, and rap group conflict is your thing, you should cop Prodigy’s autobio which provides an indepth, albeit one sided, look into the ups and downs.

My outlook on this is mostly one of passing curiosity, as I’ve carried Mobb Deep with me, in one format or another, for a long time. So wanting to know what becomes of them is a natural outgrowth. But whether or not everything is sweet between them, I have no preference. And as I pointed out previously, I am of the thought that I would rather know. As a consumer I prefer transparency.

Prodigy has arguably been able to maintain more of an appeal to the youthful target markets that hip-hop management dickrides. Being primarily an MC, and a historically notable one at that, he is inevitably in the limelight and has slowly been developing an individual brand independent of Mobb Deep. The myth of a cohesive thugged out musically inclined unit seems less necessary to perpetuate at this point so I was a little surprised to see the strong reactions. Although to P’s credit he has managed to maintain an undercurrent of Mobb Deep in every recent Prodigy wave, that I can recall anyway. Which I guess is what is most disappointing about this whole f*ckery from a casual music consumer perspective. Many heads were/are holding out for the second coming, a resurrection, no Easter. And, to Wendy Day’s point, fans might be feeling a little like disenchanted disciples, when all they want is a movie with a happy ending, nhjic. Or a crazy ass posse cut with a group video where Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep and A Tribe Called Quest have a big BBQ. Or, then again, maybe we’re good with reality rap and they shouldn’t underestimate us.