Havoc, the other half of the Queensbridge hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, returns with his sophomore solo album Hidden Files, released by indie label E1 Music (formerly Koch Records). A follow up to 2007’s Kush, Havoc makes an attempt to prove to audiences that he still has his production and lyrical game on lock. Whether he can convince listeners seems to be the album’s challenge.

The first released single, “Watch Me” featuring Brooklyn crooner Ricky Blaze, is far from the dark beat production that has been embedded in Mobb Deep’s last seven albums. A chameleon 2009 pop tune laced with the most beloved and hated auto-tune, is heavy on the snare and cymbals, with a rhythmic overdriven guitar lick that carefully lays low in the background. Although Havoc admits that the label added the T-Pain effect after he was finished with his work on the track, doesn’t take the sting (or should I say the screech) out of loyal Mobb Deep fans’ ears. It may even leave the impression that Havoc has made a sell out move into the mainstream.

This intention is seen less in “Tell Me More” featuring Sonyae Elise (which is perhaps a good risky move for Havoc). The synths filled dance track mimics a Jazze Pha, Ciara and Ludacris tune in reverse. It is also where Havoc adopts a southern, sped up flow that comes off very naturally. However, these two songs are the only ones that are musically different from all the other records on an album that seems to be driving in the same gear the whole ride.

Hidden Files is mundane in content and in production. “You Treated Me” featuring Cassidy and “Don’t Knock It Till You Try It” sends two messages to the ladies with one being a little bit less misogynistic than the other. The rest of the album is simply a collection of hood anthems and gun banging records, that I must admit just gets boring after a while. “Walk Whit Me” comes off as a heartfelt track, but the inability of the verses to connect with the hook, makes the message unclear. “On A Mission” unexpectedly features Prodigy. Although at first listen the song seems like a breath of fresh air, it then becomes a minor disappointment as the hook lacks the creativity that will make the song as a whole stand out.

But there are some highlights on this 14 track album. “Can’t Get Touched” is special particularly for its Isaac Hayes’ composed 70’s soul feel. “Heart of the Grind”, Havoc’s second single, and “The Hustler” are strong and solid songs that effectively conveys Havoc’s thug persona.

“Thats My Word” is catchy yet consistent with Havoc’s rap swagger. The up-tempo record where Havoc boasts about his rap dominance and threatens haters along the way, sounds as if it is the creation of a chopped and screwed version of Swizz beats’ Ruff Ryders 1990’s hit, “What Y’all Ni**as Want”. The nostalgia in itself is tantalizing. Here Havoc rhymes, I speak my mind and the truth will hurt em all the time/well rounded at any given moment these hollows are flyin/ enough to make a grown man swallow his pride/and literally lose a piece of his mind.

His violent, slug toting motif shows up strongly in “My Life”, where the hook rocks, my gun, these slugs/ my life, your blood/ off impulse we squeezing, these things will stop that breathing. However, tracks like “This Where Its At” and “The Millennium” fail because you feel as if you just heard them all before early on in the album. Also the gun hailing is ironically digested as his partner in rhyme, Prodigy, lies in an upstate prison for the very crime of gun possession.

While Havoc and The Alchemist’s production may not be diverse on the album, it is still nice to have that dark sonic feel present in a hip-hop world where upbeat pop rules. But to listen to them one after the other in album form can become a bore.

Although Havoc has come second in lyricism to his bandmate in fan opinion polls, Hidden Files reveal that he is not a bad emcee. His lyricism just registers as weak, not because its absent of clever wordplay (and it is), but simply because he fails to bring an assortment of content coupled with his inability to present his subject matter in creative and interesting ways.

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