Mobb Deep's album "The Infamous" deserves the pedestal most fans place it on. The album, the duo's second full-length, was released in 1995 — launched into the world roughly a year behind Nas' "Illmatic," and Wu-Tang's "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" — around the time that East Coast hip-hop was well on its way to a grittier, darker tone. But Mobb Deep took it a step further. "The Infamous" is a pillar of hardcore hip-hop because of its dead-cold approach to drugs and street violence that hadn't been seen before. It firmly established Mobb Deep into the world, and the duo just cemented its place with a string of successful albums through the 90's and early 2000's — some will probably argue against 2006's "Blood Money," though. In April, Mobb Deep released its 8th studio album, and first in eight years, "The Infamous Mobb Deep," showing that Prodigy and Havoc can still reach the same level of quality as they always have.

Mobb Deep will perform Friday, September 5, at the California Brew Haus, 402 West Ridge Road. 7 p.m. $25. Ticketfly.com; Facebook.com/MobbdeepQB.