It's arguable that Mobb Deep [ tickets ]'s Prodigy and Havoc have been making the same record over the course of their 10-year-plus career, that they're the Northeast's answer to Too Short or the gangsta-rap Smithereens.

"Amerikaz Nightmare," Mobb Deep's return to major-label glory, shows this consistency is no mean feat. By fleshing out a formula of cleverly expressed malevolent threats over Havoc's dour beats--with production assistance from the likes of Alchemist, Lil Jon and Kanye West--the former Queensbridge housing-projects denizens reframe their earlier work as suspense-building first act. Now the single "Got It Twisted" vies for the nation's summer-anthem title, chart-topper Jadakiss sounds right at home on "One of Ours Part II" and Mobb Deep might just be a pop group.

"Amerikaz Nightmare" certainly isn't going to make the world a better place. But it does provide tangible proof that the sound of New York rap transcends Terror Squad, G-Unit and even the more commercial Roc-A-Fella offerings. And that's not nothing.