Pete Rock and CL Smooth
Mecca and the Soul Brother
Is 14 years long enough to declare an album most people have only heard of on their Playstation 2 a "forgotten masterpiece?" What if said album straddles the line between Soul, Hip-Hop and R & B; a debate that's been resoundingly dismantled by R. Kelly and, less disgustingly, Montell Jordan? We've decided yes: take out the usage of "shit" and remove the cover art and Pete Rock and CL Smooth gave us 92's best knapsack rap. (Of course, they did it and then watched Dr. Dre and Ice Cube get rich off weed and guns, but that's not really our concern.) The hottest tracks off Soul Brother, "Ghettos of the Mind" and "T.R.O.Y.", still hold up, losing none of their power to their current status as "Those old school hip-hop songs on NBA Street," in part because Soul Brother itself still holds up, a best case example of what the genre of Black Muslim Rap used to sound like, before airplanes made us leery of Koran quotes. Pete Rock has seen a lot more love in his (ongoing) production career, CL Smooth just released his first solo album last week--and yet still, these guys are treated as archaic fossils. At some point, hip-hop culture will need to stop archiving everyone who put out an album less than five years ago--and shout-outs on hidden tracks won't do it. Until then, you'll find Mecca and the Soul Brother in the "Classic Rap" section.
-Tucker Stone, 2006
"T.R.O.Y." is one of my top 20 favorite songs ever--there's really not much that can touch it.
Also, I'd be willing to bet that if you looked at all of the hip-hop coming out now, Pete Rock would be by far the most influential producer. With maybe DJ Premier coming up a close second.
Posted by: MC Stank Booty | 2006.10.16 at 15:40
Truetruetrue, not a lot can touch this. Please tell me there's more hip-hop in this list.
Posted by: Justin Charles | 2006.10.18 at 15:57