Mobb Deep‘s 1995 classic “Shook Ones Pt. II” has been crowned the greatest Hip Hop beat of all time by Rock The Bells.
Just ahead of the new year, RTB gathered a panel that consisted of DJ Epps, Cool (of Cool & Dre), DJ Scratch and Torae to rank the top 50 Hip Hop beats. With a Top 5 that consisted of Nas‘ “NY State of Mind,” Craig Mack‘s “Flava In Ya Ear,” A Tribe Called Quest‘s “Electric Relaxation” and Dr. Dre‘s “Still D.R.E.,” Mobb Deep’s banger topped the list.
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Produced by one half of the duo, Havoc, the song served as the lead single to their sophomore album, The Infamous.
You can watch a video of the panel’s debate over the beats below:
Responding to the accolade, Havoc said: “I just want to say how honored I am to have ‘Shook Ones Pt. II’ by Mobb Deep produced by myself, voted number one Hip Hop beat of all time.
“I remember being in the projects in Queensbridge, me and Prodigy just being there trying to make something for the world to hear our voice. And here we are this many years later, being saluted and held as the number one beat and Hip Hop greatest of all time.”
He continued: “But I just want to say thank you to all the Hip Hop fans, rest in peace to my brother Prodigy. He would be just excited — as excited as I am, and I just want to thank all y’all fans, man. Salute.”
In May of last year, Spotify’s RapCaviar debated their own list of the Top 50 Hip Hop beats ever made, crowning what was Rock The Bells‘ No. 2 pick, Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.” featuring Snoop Dogg.
Produced by Dre, Scott Storch and Mel-Man and anchored by an iconic piano melody, “Still D.R.E.” held the top spot over other classic tracks like “Shook Ones Pt. II” – which they conversely placed at No. 2 – Clipse’s “Grindin,'” Biggie’s “Who Shot Ya?” and Lil Wayne’s “A Milli.”
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“Hip-Hop turns 50 years old this year! To celebrate, we did the impossible and ranked the top 50 BEATS of all time,” RapCaviar wrote on Instagram while unveiling its full list. “Let us know how we did. Remember these are the top 50 beats, not songs.”
You can view the full list here.
