Drop a Gem on 'Em
"Drop a Gem on 'em" is a promotional single for Mobb Deep's Hell on Earth album. The song contains a sample from "Can't Help but Love You" by The Whispers.
| "Drop a Gem on 'em" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Mobb Deep | ||||
| from the album Hell on Earth | ||||
| Released | August 25, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1996 | |||
| Genre | East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop | |||
| Length | 4:10 | |||
| Label | Loud | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Havoc, Prodigy | |||
| Producer(s) | Havoc, Prodigy | |||
| Mobb Deep singles chronology | ||||
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Background and release
The song is a diss to West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur's feud with the group. It was recorded and released while Shakur was alive and was put on the album after his death. The cryptic lyrics in the song caused controversy after Tupac's murder. Lines such as "I had the whole New York state aiming at your face/At the gate, bottom line off top soon as you came through/Shot through, don't even know the half of my crew" and "Think fast or get reminded of robberies in Manhattan, you know what happened/ 60 G's worth of gun-clappin'" are some of the "threats" contained in the song, by making reference to the 1994 Quad Recordings Studio Shooting. Furthermore, Prodigy's line "Clocks tick, your days are numbered in low digits" also made some feel suspicious of Mobb Deep being responsible for Tupac's murder as latter died 19 days after the song was released, which is indeed very low-digit number.
Following Shakur's death shortly after the song's release, Mobb Deep pulled "Drop a Gem on 'em" from radio airplay out of respect for Shakur and his family: plans to record a music video for the song, intended to further disparage Shakur, were also cancelled.[1]
References
- Ahmed, Insanul (May 12, 2011). "Prodigy Breaks Down His 25 Most Essential Songs – Mobb Deep "Drop a Gem on 'Em" (1996)". Complex. Complex Media. Retrieved August 8, 2017.