Amerikaz Nightmare

Not to be confused with AmeriKKKa's Nightmare or All American Nightmare.

Amerikaz Nightmare
Studio album by Mobb Deep
Released	August 10, 2004 (2004-08-10)
Recorded	2003–2004
Studio	Battery Studios (New York, NY) Chung King Studios (New York, NY) Dunn Deal Studios (New York, NY) Ocean Way Studios (California) The Lab (New York, NY) The Hit Factory Criteria (Miami, FL) Powerhouse Studios (Yonkers, NY) Record Plant (Hollywood, CA) DSL Studios (Louisville, KY)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	61:27
Label	Infamous Jive Zomba
Producer	Alchemist Havoc Kanye West Lil Jon Red Spyda
Mobb Deep chronology
Infamy (2001) Amerikaz Nightmare (2004) Blood Money (2006)
Singles from Amerikaz Nightmare
"Got It Twisted" Released: March 30, 2004 "Real Gangstaz" Released: August 31, 2004

Amerikaz Nightmare is the sixth studio album by American hip hop duo Mobb Deep. It was released on August 10, 2004, via Infamous/Jive Records. The recording sessions took place at Battery Studios, Chung King Studios, Dunn Deal Studios and The Lab, in New York City, and at Ocean Way Studios in California, The Hit Factory Criteria in Miami, Powerhouse Studios in Yonkers, Record Plant in Hollywood, and DSL Studios in Louisville. The album was produced by member Havoc, as well as the Alchemist, Kanye West, Lil' Jon, and Red Spyda. It features guest appearances from Big Noyd, Jadakiss, Lil' Jon, Littles, Nate Dogg and Twista.

In the United States, the album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 with 109,000 copies sold in its first week. ^[1] It also made it to No. 33 in France, No. 50 in Switzerland, No. 68 on the UK Albums Chart, and No. 95 in Germany.

The album was supported with two singles: "Got It Twisted" and "Real Gangstaz". Its lead single, "Got It Twisted", reached No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in the United States. The second single off of the album, "Real Gangstaz", only peaked at No. 49 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Accompanying music videos for both singles were directed by Benny Boom.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100 [2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllHipHop	[3]
AllMusic	[4]
HipHopDX	3/5 [5]
Now	[6]
RapReviews	8.5/10 [7]
Spin	C- [8]
Vibe	[9]

Amerikaz Nightmare was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63, based on eight reviews. ^[2]

Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews praised the album, writing "there are songs on here so thorough and ill they'll send a chill down your spine and raise the hair on your neck". ^[7] AllMusic's David Jeffries resumed: "they've sounded stuck and overconfident before, but this old-school-styled, true hip-hop album finds the Mobb hungry again". ^[4] HipHopDX contributor found "just like every Mobb Deep release after Murda Muzik , Amerikaz Nightmare is highly inconsistent". ^[5] Nick Flanagan of Now admitted "Havoc's production stays strong while his verbal skills remain at the fore, and Prodigy returns to his earlier rhyme style after a short period of sluggish verses". ^[6] Spin reviewer gave a mixed feedback, stating "big-name cameos... can't disguise the fact that this is one more rote chapter in the infamous Queensbridge duo's twilight". ^[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Amerikaz Nightmare"	Kejuan Muchita Albert Johnson	Havoc	4:57
2.	"Win or Lose"	Muchita Johnson Alan Maman William Mitchell Earl Randle James Shaw	The Alchemist	3:12
3.	"Flood the Block"	Muchita Johnson	Havoc	2:56
4.	"Dump" (featuring Nate Dogg)	Muchita Johnson Nathaniel Hale	Havoc	3:17
5.	"Got It Twisted"	Muchita Johnson Maman Jonathan Kerr Thomas Robertson	The Alchemist	3:41
6.	"When U Hear The"	Muchita Johnson Maman	The Alchemist	2:52
7.	"Real Niggaz"	Muchita Johnson Andy Thelusma	Red Spyda	4:39
8.	"Shorty Wop"	Muchita Johnson	Havoc	3:33
9.	"Real Gangstaz" (featuring Lil' Jon)	Muchita Johnson Jonathan Smith	Lil' Jon	4:08
10.	"One of Ours Part II" (featuring Jadakiss)	Muchita Johnson Jason Phillips	Havoc	4:21
11.	"On the Run"	Muchita Johnson	Havoc	3:46
12.	"Throw Your Hands (In the Air)"	Muchita Johnson Kanye West	Kanye West	3:57
13.	"Get Me" (featuring Littles and Big Noyd)	Muchita Johnson Alfredo Bryant Tajuan Perry	Havoc	4:31
14.	"We Up"	Muchita Johnson	Havoc	2:58
15.	"Neva Change"	Muchita Johnson James Porter	Havoc	3:55
16.	"Got It Twisted Remix" (featuring Twista)	Muchita Johnson Maman Kerr Robertson	The Alchemist	4:43
Total length:				1:01:27

Sample credits

• Track 2 contains a sample from "Here I Go Again" written by Willie Mitchell, Earl Randle and James Shaw as performed by Jean Plum.
• Tracks 5 and 16 contain samples from "She Blinded Me with Science" written by Jonathan Kerr and Thomas Robertson as performed by Thomas Dolby and "Saturday Night Style" written by Michael Campbell as performed by Mikey Dread.
• Track 12 contains a sample from "Live In Connecticut" written by Curtis Fisher as performed by The Cold Crush Brothers.
• Track 15 contains a sample from "Time for a Change" written by Jim Porter as performed by The Eight Minutes.

Leftover tracks

• "Gangstaz Roll"
• "Clap Those Thangs" (with 50 Cent)

Personnel

• Kejuan "Havoc" Muchita – vocals, producer (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 13–15)
• Albert "Prodigy" Johnson – vocals
• Nathaniel "Nate Dogg" Hale – vocals (track 4)
• Jonathan "Lil Jon" Smith – vocals & producer (track 9)
• Jason "Jadakiss" Phillips – vocals (track 10)
• Alfredo "Littles" Bryant – vocals (track 13)
• Tajuan "Big Noyd" Perry – vocals (track 13)
• Carl "Twista" Mitchell – vocals (track 16)
• Robert "R.O.B." McDowell – keyboards (track 9)
• Alan "The Alchemist" Maman – producer (tracks 2, 5, 6, 16)
• Andy "Red Spyda" Thelusma – producer (track 7)
• Kanye West – producer (track 12)
• Steve Sola – recording, mixing
• Ray Seay – recording (track 9)
• Dragan Čačinović – recording (track 10)
• Manny Marroquin – recording (track 12)
• Mike Baker – recording (track 16)
• Michael Berman – recording assistant (tracks 1, 3–5, 7–9, 13–15), mixing assistant (tracks 5, 7, 9, 11, 13–16)
• Jay Nicholas – recording assistant & mixing assistant (track 2)
• Chris Steffen – recording assistant (track 4)
• Keith Sengbusch – recording assistant (tracks: 5, 11), mixing assistant (track 5)
• Steve Sisco – recording assistant & mixing assistant (track 6)
• Ari Raskin – recording assistant (tracks: 7, 8), mixing assistant (tracks: 8, 10)
• Kevin Smestead – mixing assistant (track 1)
• Mike Tschupp – mixing assistant (track 3)
• Jason Finkel – mixing assistant (track 4)
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Daniel Hastings – art direction, design, photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position French Albums (SNEP) [10] 33 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [11] 95 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [12] 50 UK Albums (OCC) [13] 68 UK R&B Albums (OCC) [14] 14 US Billboard 200 [15] 4 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [16] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums ( Billboard ) [17] 82

References

1. "Simpson Stays Steady With No. 1 Album". Billboard . August 18, 2004. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
2. "Critic Reviews for Amerikaz Nightmare - Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved August 10, 2024.
3. Barone, Matt (August 10, 2004). "Americaz Nightmare". AllHipHop . Retrieved August 10, 2024.
4. Jeffries, David. "Amerikaz Nightmare - Mobb Deep | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved August 10, 2024.
5. "Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare". HipHopDX . August 10, 2004. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
6. Flanagan, Nick (August 19, 2004). "NOW Discs – AMERICAZ NIGHTMARE: Mobb Deep (Jive)". NOW Toronto . Vol. 23, no. 51. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved December 13, 2004– via Wayback Machine.
7. Juon, Steve 'Flash' (April 10, 2004). "Mobb Deep :: Amerikaz Nightmare :: Jive/Zomba". RapReviews. Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
8. Dolan, Jon; Gross, Joe; Klosterman, Chuck; Ryan, Chris (October 2004). "Breakdown". Spin . Vol. 20, no. 10. SPIN Media LLC. p. 120. ISSN   0886-3032.
9. Kondo, Toshitaka (July 29, 2004). "Mobb Deep – Amerikaz Nightmare (Infamous/Jive)". Vibe .{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
10. "Lescharts.com – Mobb Deep – Amerikaz Nightmare". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Mobb Deep – Amerikaz Nightmare" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
12. "Swisscharts.com – Mobb Deep – Amerikaz Nightmare". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
13. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
14. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
15. "Mobb Deep Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
16. "Mobb Deep Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
17. "2004 Year-End Charts – Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard . 2004. Retrieved May 14, 2016.

External links

• Amerikaz Nightmare at Discogs (list of releases)