Eight years after the passing of Prodigy, one half of the iconic Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep, the group has released its first posthumous single, “Against The World.” The track arrived today through Mass Appeal Records as part of the label’s ongoing Legend Has It series and serves as the lead single from Infinite, the long-anticipated album due October 10.

The record opens with Prodigy’s instantly recognizable cadence. “Stronger than ever, I’m back,” he declares, setting the stage for a performance that blends nostalgia with renewed urgency. His verses carry the grit and bravado that defined Mobb Deep’s most influential years, weaving lines about survival and dominance with flashes of exaggerated menace.

Havoc, the surviving member, follows Prodigy’s verse with sharp rhymes aimed at exposing false bravado and betrayal. His delivery feels both seasoned and immediate, a reminder of the chemistry that powered Mobb Deep into the canon of New York hip-hop. “This one feels like coming full circle,” Havoc told Rolling Stone. “It’s that classic Mobb energy, dark, real, unfiltered. The sound that shaped who we are but also speaks to where hip-hop is right now.”

“Against The World” is the opening chapter of Infinite, an album Havoc and longtime collaborator The Alchemist pieced together from unreleased material, archival vocals, and fresh studio sessions. According to Alchemist, the project was conceived before a label was even involved. “We had so much music, and we knew one day we’d figure out how to put it into the world,” he explained. “The idea was always to keep the spirit alive, because it’s missing.”

To capture that spirit, Alchemist and Havoc brought back familiar faces from the Mobb Deep circle. Big Twins, Ty Nitty, Chinky, and even Prodigy’s daughter Santana Fox took part in sessions, reconnecting a community that had once been inseparable in the New York underground. “We started the album the way we used to,” Alchemist said. “Everybody in the studio, vibing, building from the ground up. That energy carried through the whole project.”

While Havoc remains the driving force behind the bulk of the production, Alchemist contributed several tracks, balancing the duo’s original sound with his own distinctive style. The result is a project designed to honor Prodigy’s memory without straying from what made Mobb Deep resonate: the stark realism and unapologetic rawness of life in Queensbridge.

Prodigy’s catalog has had a turbulent posthumous journey. Legal and rights issues kept parts of his music off streaming platforms for years, only recently returning in full. His most recent solo posthumous release was The Hegelian Dialectic 2: The Book of Heroine, a continuation of his philosophical series. Havoc, meanwhile, has remained active, partnering with a rotating cast of lyricists, his 2024 collaboration Guttr with Ras Kass and RJ Payne being the most recent example.

As hip-hop celebrates over 50 years, the timing of Mobb Deep’s return feels significant. Their work, once rooted in the soundscape of mid-1990s New York, now stands as a marker of authenticity in a genre that is always evolving.

“Infinite” is scheduled to arrive on October 10.