Sticky Figaz AKA the birth of Mob Figaz

There were two choices for tonight's post : one was a Martorial Elegance extravaganza investigating dudes who are just that bit too ample to be squeezing themselves into tight jeans, and the other was a music post about where it all began for the Mob Figaz crew when they went by the name Mob Figgas and made their debut on C-Bo's Til My Casket Drops album in 1998. The Martorial Elegance post is still in development stages since I only really have the one good picture of a tubby guy in much-too-tight-for-him jean-capri pants currently at my disposal, so it's back to the 'Bo again.





C-Bo ft. Mob Figgas & 151 - Ride Til' We Die



C-Bo ft. Mob Figgas - Real N*ggas



C-Bo ft. Laroo, Lil' Bo & Mob Figgas - Big Gangsta



I'm guessing that most of us discovered the Mob Figaz sometime around 2005 with the release of The Jack Artist after maybe being alerted to Jacka when Barney (More Crime) was featured on Cormega's Legal Hustle compilation (a patchy album with a handful of good songs on it which is most notable for being one of the first rap releases to be cruelly but hilariously chopped up before it had even hit stores when some 'net-nerd removed all the verses by 'Mega's female sub-Foxy weed-carrier DoñA from the leaked version) the year before, so going back to the crew's first appearances on here from 1998 you imagine that they're probably going to sound like lil' Les on A Gangsta's Fairytale or New Edition since they must've been in their teens at the time but, nope, they all sound like the twenty-somethings they were on The Jack Artist. They also appear to have had a clear sense of identity from the very beginning with their whole Bay mob shit-meets-late 90s NY thug rap steez, because even though Til My Casket Drops is a is a resolutely west coast Gang$ta-Rap album (all your standard motifs are present right up to the of-the-era references to 2pac getting shot, Mike Mosley, Rick Ross, and One Drop Scott are behind most of the production, and there are appearances from E-40, Spice1, JT The Bigga Figga and The Outlawz, who i'm regrettably realising that I'm actually quite fond of), the Mob's heavy influence of late 90s NY rap like Nas & AZ, and CNN/Tragedy & solo Nore shines through on their 3 songs.

Ride Til' We Die is the pick of the bunch, and since it's one of the finer examples of a full-crew track it usually starts any Mob Figaz mix I make. I'm not sute I have the chutzpah to suggest that it's better than a series of pictures of fat lads trying to dress like Russell Brand, but it's pretty damn good and it'll just have to do tonight.

Bonus beats :

C-Bo - Til My Casket Drops



C-Bo's hardbody title-track from the album where he gave the Mob Figaz their break. I've posted this on here before back in early 2009, but since it's easily the best song on the album and my favorite 'Bo song after Realer Than Real it's getting another outing. This is that panoramic nightmare which scares the bejusus outta you G-shit, that Phil "The Power" Taylor level of dominance shit, and that better-than-pictures-of-fat-lads-dressed as Russell Brand shit all rolled into one. What it isn't, however, is that better than a picture of some girl in A.A wet-look leggings scratching her probably quite sweaty arse shit :