Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones II" has been voted the greatest hip-hop beat of all time.
Ahead of the New Year, Rock the Bells gathered a panel of legendary hip-hop stars consisting of DJ Epps, Cool of Cool & Dre, DJ Scratch, and Torae to rank the top 50 hip-hop beats ever.
The group ranked "Shook Ones Part II" at No. 1.
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.” filled up the rest of the group's top five.
Produced by one half of Mobb Deep, Havoc, "Shook Ones Part II" was released in 1995 as the lead single to their sophomore album, "The Infamous."
While the song found reasonable chart success at the time, peaking at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100, it has since gone on to become a cult classic.
Responding to "Shook Ones Part II" being voted the greatest hip-hop beat of all time, Havoc said he was "honored."
“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," he said. "And here we are this many years later, being saluted and held as the number one beat and hip-hop greatest of all time.”
Havoc added that Prodigy, his fellow Mobb Deep member who passed away in 2017, would be delighted by the news.
"Rest in peace to my brother Prodigy, he would be just excited – as excited as I am," he said.
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